Files

Attachments: Sending Files by Mail

The “attachment” feature of FirstClass lets you mail files to other users or directly to conferences by attaching the files to a message.  You then address and send the message as usual and can use the text of the message to describe the attached files.  Recipients can save any or all attached files onto their own disk.

Files attached to messages in FirstClass are automatically uploaded to the FirstClass system in the background... allowing you to continue using FirstClass while the file transfer progresses.  This is also the case when downloading attached files from a FirstClass system via network or modem.

Sending a File to a User or Conference

To send a file to another user or conference, first create and address a message as usual.  If you have not created a message, before refer to the Help section on Messaging.  To attach a file to the new message, pull down the Message menu and choose Attach.  A standard file dialog will appear to let you pick a file to be attached.  When you click on the Attach button the file will be transferred to the server (if you are connected by phone this may take a while, depending on the speed of your connection).  The attachment is shown in the header or envelope of the message.  There is no limit to the number of files you may attach.

You should add some descriptive text to the message to describe the attached file and then send the message.  A copy of the message is delivered to each recipient and they may each save a copy of the attachment to their own disk.

Saving An Attached File

To save a copy of an attached file on your own computer, open the message  containing the attached file and use the mouse to click on the attachment you wish to save.  Pull down the Message menu and choose Save Attachment and the file will be transferred from the server to your computer (again, if you are connected by phone this may take a while).

Viewing An Attached File

If you wish to view an attachment directly, hold down the option key and double-click on the attachment. If FirstClass is capable of displaying the attachment it will open a window, transfer the attachment, and display it. If FirstClass cannot display the attachment directly, it will attempt to start the application that created the attachment.

View and Sorting Options

Summary Windows & Panels

FirstClass provides various ways of viewing the information in your Mailbox, conferences and folders.  The summary windows for each of these objects are usually split into two panels: the upper panel which contains sub-lists, and the lower panel which contains files and messages.  Each panel may be viewed and sorted independently.

View by Icon

The View menu allows you to change the way the information in a summary list appears.  View “By Icon” shows a large icon for each object.  If you have the appropriate permissions, you may drag the icons around and FirstClass will remember the positions of the icons.  By default, the upper panel is displayed by icon.

Sorting Options

The other view options all provide a one-line summary of each object, showing the name/sender/recipient, subject and date.  The views differ in the way the items are sorted: “by Date” sorts the items according to the date of last modification, “by Name” sorts according to the file name or sender/recipient, “by Subject” sorts by the subject of a message and “by Size” sorts by the size of the file or message.  The “Reverse Sort” option may be used with any of these views to reverse the order of the sort.

If you have write permissions in the conference you are in, then the view and sort options will be remembered (similar to the Macintosh Finder or Windows Program Manager).  All users can select the view and sorting for their desktops, MailBoxes and any folders they have created.

To reverse the sort order for conferences that you do not have write access to, see help on “Preferences”.

About File Transfer

You can share files with other people using the file transfer features of FirstClass.  You may “attach” a file that is on your disk to a message and send it along with the message to one or more users.  The recipients can then save the attached file onto their disk.  The message can contain descriptive information about the attached files.

Files can also be placed on the server directly without being attached to a message.  You can transfer these files to your computer using the Download feature.  If you have a file which you wish to make available to others then you can Upload this file.  Although these features can be useful, most users will find the attachment feature easier to use, since attached files can be described in the message that they are attached to.

When files are transferred via phone lines,FirstClass takes care of the file transfer protocol so you don't have to. 

Any file from any computer can be transferred without loss of information.  This includes graphics, sound and special application dependent files (spreadsheets, word processor documents etc.).

Transferring Files to the Server

You can transfer files directly from your computer to the server and place them in a folder or conference.  It is often preferable to enclose the files in a message as attachments so that descriptive information may also be included.  See “Attaching Files” for more information.

To upload a file, first open the folder or conference you wish to upload to.  Next pull down the “File” menu and choose “Upload”.  You will be presented with a dialog box which allows you to pick the file to be uploaded.  When you click on the “Save” button, the file transfer will begin.  You are free to read your mail, browse conferences etc. while the transfer is taking place.  A small file transfer status window will show the progress of the upload.  When the transfer is complete, the status window is removed and the file appears.  You may also wish to use the “Get Info...” command under the File menu to add a descriptive subject to the file.

Transferring Files to Your Computer

If the icon and subject of a file indicate it can be downloaded, you may use the Download feature to copy this file to your computer.

To download a file, either double click on it or select it, by clicking on it once, and choose the “Download” command from the “File” menu.  You will be presented with a dialog box which allows you to select the name of the file to create on your local machine.  When you click on the “Save” button the file transfer will begin. You are free to read your mail, browse conferences etc. while the transfer is taking place.  A small file transfer status window will show the progress of the upload.  When the transfer is complete, the status window is removed and the file appears.  You may also wish to use the “Get Info...” command under the File menu to add a descriptive subject to the file.

Accessing CD-ROMS Using FirstClass

Your administrator can make CD-ROM disks available to you via FirstClass.  The CD-ROM appears as a folder, which can be opened by double-clicking or using the Open command under the File menu.  You may navigate the CD-ROM using the same cascading window display as the rest of FirstClass.  Each folder on the CD-ROM that you open is displayed using a summary window, with two panels.  The upper panel contains sub-folders, while the lower panel contains any files found in the folder.  If the file is a text file it may be viewed online by double clicking.  Other files may be downloaded to your local disk, also by double clicking.

While an item is downloading you may continue to do other things such as browsing other folders on the CD-ROM or reading your mail.

Note that CD-ROMS are much slower than hard disks, and if you open a large folder it may take several seconds for the disk to respond.

See also: File Transfer, Downloading

Using “Get Info...”

All messages, conference items and files have properties which can be displayed, and in some cases you can change them.  The obvious properties are the name and subject information, while other information includes the item's icon (picture) and the expiry date.

This information can be displayed and changed by selecting an item using the mouse (click once) and pulling down the File menu and choosing Get Info... .  The properties of the selected item are then displayed.  If the item is a message in your mailbox, you can change the name, subject, icon and expiry date.  The name and subject are displayed in the mailbox or conference summary.

In FirstClass, every item is assigned an expiry date when it is created.  On the expiry date, the item “expires”  and it is removed from the system soon after (usually at night).  This is done to keep the system from becoming cluttered with large numbers of old messages.  If you have an item which you wish to keep from expiring, click on the expiry date and set it to stay on hold.  You are responsible for making sure this item is deleted when it is no longer needed—so use this feature with discretion.

File Organization

FirstClass provides a number of features to help organize the information stored in conferences and mailboxes.  It is similar to the Macintosh Finder or Windows Program Manager and provides the ability to create folders and move messages and files into these folders.

Creating Folders

To create a folder, pull down the File menu and choose New Folder.  You can create folders on your desktop and in your mailbox (for organizing your mail) and in any folders you have created previously.  Once you have created a folder you can create messages in it for subsequent sending (thus you can create several “outboxes” if you wish) or also move items into the folder, for “Sent Mail” and “Received Mail” files if you like.

Moving Items Into Folders

You can move any messages you have into folders you've created by simply dragging them.  Moving items before they have been read is not recommended, since FirstClass only keeps the “unread” flags for mailboxes and conferences.

Deleting Files

In FirstClass, files are deleted automatically after the expiry date—however you can delete messages you are no longer interested in immediately by selecting them (click once with the mouse) and selecting the Delete command from the File menu.

NOTE: Dragging a message into a folder does not affect its expiry date.  It will still expire as normal.

Partial File Transfers

FirstClass allows you to resume a file transfer in the event your connection failsin the middle of the transfer.  If you are connected via modem a file transfer may take a long time, and occasionally the connection is lost due to telephone line noise.  If this happens, you may continue the file transfer the next time you connect.

Resuming a Download (Save Attachment)

When you download a file and it is interrupted, a partial file  will be left on your local disk.  The file will have the name you selected, but will have an icon which looks like a half-filled FirstClass document.  Do not rename this file; FirstClass checks that the names match when attempting to restart the transfer.
 
To resume a transfer after downloading a file or saving an attachment, follow these steps:

1)  Open the message containing the attachment you were saving, or find the file you were downloading.
2)  Initiate the transfer again by double clicking on the attachment/file.
3)  Download the file to the same folder or directory you first tried to.  FirstClass will find the partial transfer file on your disk, and you will be asked if you wish to replace this file.  Confirm this by pressing the Replace button.
4)  The file transfer will resume where it left off.

Resuming an Upload (File Attachment)

When you attach/upload a file and it is interrupted, a partial file  will be saved on the FirstClass Server.  The attachment/file will have the name you selected, but will have an icon which looks like a half-filled document.  Do not rename your original file; FirstClass checks that the names match when attempting to restart the transfer.
 
To resume a transfer after attaching/uploading a file, follow these steps:

1)  Highlight in FirstClass the partial file you were uploading.  Its icon should look like a half-filled document.
2)  Choose Attach or Upload and again select the original file on your local disk that you were trying to upload.
3)  The FirstClass system will see that the two files are the same, and the file transfer will resume where it left off.

Deleting a Partial Attachment

If you wish to delete a partially transferred file from a message in FirstClass, select it and press the Delete key.