Residential Internet Support

Launching Fetch

Double click on Fetch to get it running. You'll be presented with a dialog box. In the spaces provided, enter the name of the host you're trying to reach, the user ID you'll be using, and the password. If you want Fetch to start in a particular subdirectory once you make the connection, enter that in the "Directory:" box. Click "OK" when you're done. You'll enjoy playing with the "running dog" icon as Fetch establishes your connection.

Moving Files

Once the connection is made, Fetch presents a screen showing you the contents of the default directory on the
remote host. You can scroll the list, and double-click on folder icons, which symbolize subdirectories. Pop-edit
the box above the file listing to move to a previous directory. Moving files in Fetch is easy. Click the "Put File" button to move files from your Macintosh to the remote host. Click the "Get File" button to retrieve the highlighted file from the remote host to your Macintosh.

The three radio buttons at the bottom of the screen marked "Automatic", "Text" and "Binary" refer to different modes FTP uses to move different kinds of files. Text files contain no control codes or fancy formatting (beyond spaces and tabs). Binary files can contain any kind of control code, and might be formatted word processor documents, or even programs. "Binary" mode isn't a good choice for text files, though. Fortunately, Fetch is very good at choosing modes itself, so you can leave "Automatic" selected almost all the time.

Other Topics & More Help

Fetch has excellent built-in help! Just look under the "Windows" menu. It's quite detailed about both FTP and the program's operation.

Two topics that may prove of interest if you plan on doing a lot of work with Fetch, are Preferences and Shortcuts, both available under the "Customize" menu. "Preferences" are a motley collection of settings that allow you to customize Fetch's operation to your liking. In particular, the Download section lets your select the Mac folder you want to store files in (when you're "getting" a file).

"Edit Shortcuts", also on the "Customize" menu, let's you specify frequently-used FTP sites to be included on the "Shortcut" list that appears at the bottom of the "Open Connection" dialog box. Selecting a Shortcut by clicking on the triangle at the bottom left of the "Open Connection" dialog box quickly starts an FTP connection. It's also a very convenient place to store your list of useful FTP sites.

Again, please see Fetch's built-in help for many more details.