Saving to NT Lockers from a NIC computer

These instructions are a work in progress

Recently, the NICs were updated with newer software. The only real difference that I'm currently aware of is that in some cases you have more choices than before, but these instructions still tell which which choices are correct. Hopefully these instructions will be completely revised soon.
-Ed.

These instructions will eventually cover all of the basics of working with the NIC computers MCCSC got through the Oracle grant. Section headings will be larger and bolded so you can scroll through and find what you're looking for fairly quickly. For the time being, they will concentrate on and cover just the process of starting the word processor (AbiWord), and saving to/opening from your locker using both AbiWord and Netscape.

Starting the Word Processor

There are two ways to start the AbiWord word processing program:

1. When the NIC first starts, you'll see a screen with three large buttons on the right hand side, under a white area that says "Oracle: Help us Help". One of these buttons is labelled "Word Processor". Click that button.
   Warning! One of the other buttons, the one labelled "Think.com", takes you to a subscription-only service, so clicking that button wil only result in user frustration. Please endeavor to keep users from ever clicking that button.



2. To start AbiWord from any Netscape screen, click the button on the far right hand side of the main button bar at the top of the page. It's labelled "Word", and will start the word processor as well.

Usage Notes

Once the word processor is started, use it like any other word processor. Before we get to the nuts and bolts of how to save, there are a few things to note:

• AbiWord will save files in one of only two formats: Rich Text Format (RTF) and unformatted text (definitions of RTF and unformatted text follow). It will not save files in the same format that Microsoft Word normally uses (.doc). What this means is that files that are created on a NIC and stored in the locker can be opened by Word, but double-clicking on those files will not necessarily cause Word to open. Best practice is to open Word first, and then open the files using the "Open" command in Word's "File" menu.
  
  It also means that if a user moves back and forth between the two types of computers while working on a document, they will end up with two different versions of the document in their locker (an RTF version and a .DOC version). The user will need to keep track of which version is the most up to date.
  
  File type definitions:
  • Unformatted text is exactly that - unformatted. Anything can open it, but the text will not retain any formatting at all. Any bold text, underlining, font changes, etc will be lost. Only the raw letters themselves will be retained.
  • RTF files will retain most formatting, unless it is something specific (like MS Word's 'WordArt' functions). Bold, underlining, etc will be retained.
  
  
  
• Microsoft Word can save RTF files as well as open them. As you'll see in the next note, this isn't absolutely necessary, but it is possible. This is useful to see which formatting elements will be retained after saving to RTF without committing yourself to that format by editing the same file with AbiWord on a NIC.



• AbiWord can open documents that have been created using Microsoft Word (.doc files), but it cannot save changes to these files and let the file remain in .doc format. In other words, files can be opened either direction, but if you have specific formatting that does not survive the translation to RTF, avoid using a NIC.

Now that I've foretold doom, let me say that in most cases, this probably won't be an issue. AbiWord uses RTF specifically because it is a nearly universal standard, and one that Microsoft Word natively understands. I doubt that most normal student papers/projects at the Elementary level will have any problems. But as with anything, test to be certain.

Actually Opening/Saving the Document

1. Once AbiWord is open, select the appropriate command ("Open" or "Save As") from the "File" menu.



2. A screen will appear with either two or three large buttons (two for saving, three for opening) in the upper left hand portion of the screen. The buttons will be labelled (in order) "Zip", "SMB" and "Scanner". Click the button labelled "SMB".



3. Once "SMB" has been selected, the buttons to the right will read "Connect" and "Disconnect" (and possibly "Refresh"). Click "Connect" to start the process of logging in to the Lockers.



4. A dialog box will appear with several text fields. Most should already be filled in, but if they are not, the following table will explain what the fields should contain.
   
   
   • Host       Name of your server (eg, BRO001)
   • Share       Lockers
   • Domain       MCCSC
   • Username       User's NT Username
   • Password       User's NT Password
   
   Once the fields are filled in, click the "Connect" button at the bottom of the window.



5. The window will now list all of the folders on the Lockers volume, most likely just "Students" and "Faculty-Staff". Double-click the appropriate folder.



6. The list in the window will change to show the contents of whichever folder was opened. Find the user's folder (labelled with their username), and double-click it to open it.



7. If you're opening a file, click the file to select it and click the "OK" button. If you're saving a file, select the file format from the "Save File As:" popup menu (RTF recommended), and enter the file name you want to save the file as in the "File:" text field. Click the "OK" button.

More usage notes

There are a couple of things to note:

• Every time you go to open a new file or re-save the same file, the file list will revert to the listing of all user's lockers rather than the contents of the individual user's locker. Double-clicking the user's locker folder again will restore the previous listing.



• After the current user is done using the NIC, they must be disconnected from the server before the next user begins using the NIC. There are two ways to accomplish this:
  
  
  1. Turn the NIC off and back on. Since these units have no hard drives, turning them off won't hurt them.
  
  
  
  2. Select "Open" from the "File" menu, select "SMB" from the next screen, and then click "Disconnect". Click "OK" in the confirmation box.

More information on the NICs will be added as is possible. If you have specific requests for instructions, send e-mail to Rick Schmelz (rschmelz@mccsc.edu). Please realize that I don't make my own schedule, and such requests might take a while to be answered.