AFIS 2002 Workshop 1

Introduction

The simple purpose of this workshop is to get you set up, settled in and comfortable on the pafis.shh.fi server - the Linux computer on which you will be working through the course. You need to become familiar with how things work, and with the software tools that we will be using. Because all your workshops, cases and so on will be submitted as web pages on the pafis server, you also need to get your personal home pages up and running. This means that you will need to learn something about web pages and HTML as well.

In order to make sure that you know what you need to know, we have compiled the following checklist for you. Some of the items are directly linked to more detailed explanations, and the links after the items in the checklist refer to the relevant sections of two Linux guides on our server, the Rute User's Tutorial and the Linux Cookbook. Please spend some time going through this list and studying the different commands and concepts!

1. Make sure you can connect to the pafis.shh.fi Linux server.

• Use the Teraterm SSH application to establish a text-based login connection
• Change your password!
• Use the vnc client and server programs to set up and connect to a graphical user environment
• Note the ~ workaround

2. Make sure you can use the Linux operating system, X graphical user interface, and the basic utility and application programs.

• Know the basics:
  • File name rules & conventions
  • Basic directory structure
  • Life in a multi-user environment
  • Access permissions and file ownership
• Become familiar with the text-based command line interface (the bash shell)
  • Starting a command window (rxvt) from the graphical menu, and from the command line (rxvt &)
  • Use the command history (arrow up/down) and command line editor (arrow left + editing keys), and utilize the command line name extender (tab key)
  • Use the man command and the -? or --help command line options to learn about the different commands and programs ( Rute ) ( Cookbook )
  • Use the ls command with different options to view directory listings ( Rute ) ( Cookbook )
  • Use the cp (1) and mv (2) commands to copy and move files ( Rute (1))( Cookbook (1))( Cookbook (2))
  • Use the mkdir (1) and rmdir (2) commands to create and delete directories ( Rute (1)(2)) ( Cookbook (1)) ( Cookbook (2))
  • Use the cd command to traverse the directory hierarchy, and pwd to find out where you are ( Rute )( Cookbook )
  • Use the chmod command to change access permissions on files and directories ( Rute ) ( Cookbook )
  • Use the less and more commands (1) and understand the concept of pipes (2) ( Rute (1)) ( Rute (2)) ( Cookbook (1)) ( Cookbook (2) )
  • Use output redirection ( the > character) to store the output of programs ( Rute ) ( Cookbook )
  • Use the rm command to delete files ( Rute ) ( Cookbook )
  • Use wildcards (the ? and * characters) when selecting files ( Rute ) ( Cookbook )
  • Understand the difference between background and foreground programs, and how to utilize it ( Rute ) ( Cookbook )
  • Use the ps (1) and kill (2) programs to list and terminate running programs ( Rute (1))( Rute (2))( Cookbook (1)) ( Cookbook (2))
  • Use mc to move and copy files efficiently ( Rute )
• Become familiar with the X graphical user interface
  • Use window controls, desktops, clipboard
  • Starting graphical programs from the command line and detaching them (the & character)
  • Use the graphical file manager
  • Use xman
• Become familiar with the basic graphical applications
  • Start and configure the Netscape web browser and (optionally) mail client
  • Choose a text editor and (optionally) use it to set up a mail forwarding file
  • Start , configure, and try out the different OpenOffice applications
  • Become familiar with the XXX HTML editor and its features

3. Make sure you're familiar with the basic structure of the HTML file format and web pages.

• Know the basic tag structure and syntax of an HTML document( HTML Quick Reference ) ( Learn HTML )( HTML Specification, vs 4.0 )
• Know how to format, and how not to format,text ( HTML Quick Reference ) (Learn HTML )( HTML Specification, vs 4.0 )
• Know how to use hyperlinks, and their format, and how they relate to the file system, and of course the distinction between absolute and relative link references ( HTML Quick Reference ) (Learn HTML )
• Know how to specify and use colors ( Learn HTML )( HTML Specification, vs 4.0 )
• Know how to embed images ( HTML Quick Reference ) (Learn HTML )
• Know how to use tables ( Learn HTML ) ( HTML Specification, vs 4.0 )
• Know how frames work and how to utilize them to organize your pages (HTML Quick Reference ) (Learn HTML ) ( HTML Specification, vs 4.0 )
• Understand what happens when a user views a web page, the role of a web server, and the difference between viewing files locally and remotely

Deliverable

The deliverable, for this workshop, is your initial set of personal home pages on the pafis server (just a link to your personal homepage on some other server will not do). Your pages should, of course, include text, graphics and links.

Here are some points to guide you:

• Think about what you want to include - a quick browse among the home pages of last year's students might give you some ideas. People tend to include something about themeselves, perhaps their home country, friends et cetera. By all means. But the main purpose of your home page, in the context of this course, is to serve as the place where you submit your workshop deliverables by publishing them.
• Files and directories placed in the public_html directory you'll find in your home directory will, given that they have the proper access permissions, be visible to the world at the address http://www.pafis.shh.fi/~youruserid/. The file you name index.html (or index.php) will be shown as your top-level home page at that address; all other files will have to be explicitly named or linked to. Note that your home page can also be accessed through the link on our list of student web pages .
• You probably want to create a directory structure under your public_html directory that corresponds to the intended structure of your set of pages. A separate directory for each course, if you intend to take several, will for instance be very practical.
• By all means make your web pages look nice, but please keep them navigable and readable as well. People who inflict dark blue text on a black background on their faculty aren't really thinking things through. And do please keep in mind that your set of web pages will grow and evolve as the course progresses – a lot of tools and tricks will be introduced later. Excessive polishing of your visual design at this point is probably not a very productive use of your time.

Deadline

Because of the character of this workshop - a necessary preliminary to allow us to get on with the real stuff - there is a quick and firm deadline. You need to have your home pages up by Monday, September16th, 12 a.m., because that's when we'll start preparing for the following workshop. For kind of obvious reasons it cannot be submitted in groups - you will need to create one personal set of web pages each. Future excercises will be submitted as links from your personal web pages.

Please note: The idea is not that when you’ve created a web page you’re done. The idea is that you should use this week to become familiar and comfortable with the Unix / X / VNC / computer environment on the pafis.shh.fi server, so that we can get down to some serious work next week. Please take the time to do this, using the checklist above as a guide - it will be a very worthwhile investment!

Grading

No points, no grading for this one, but this is obviously still a necessary thing for you to do.

Resource kit

Here's some useful stuff - some of it was mentioned above, too:

• Linux guides and documentation links
• HTML documentation and guides
• The VNC home page (you can download the server and client program for your personal computer)
• The OpenOffice home pages (versions for Windows and Linux can be downloaded)

Questions?

If you need help, please try to cooperate – ask your colleagues, help your colleagues! The easiest way to ask questions is probably by e-mail: oana.g.velcu@shh.fi . Good luck!