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Net Know-How
Connecting remotely with Telnet
What's Telnet?
When should I use Telnet?
What kinds of resources are available over Telnet?
What software do I need to use Telnet?
How do I start Telnet?
How do I make the keyboard and screen work correctly?
How do I download files or save text from a Telnet window?

What's Telnet?

Telnet allows you to use a distant computer. It's a form of "terminal emulation," and it's a handy survivor from days when computing was handled by large machines whose resources were shared by a number of users on terminals connected to the main machine.

Telnet software opens a window on your desktop machine, giving you a terminal connection to the host computer. Communication is strictly text based: You don't have graphics, and must use the keyboard instead of a mouse.

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When should I use Telnet?

You need to use Telnet only when you are connecting to a "dumb" terminal interface on a remote system. Although most common jobs can be accomplished using the familiar windows on your home computer and, say, the Web and e-mail, some types of data may be found only on such remote systems. For example, a college student might use Telnet to connect to the card catalog of the college library to check the availability of a specific book, or the student might even connect to a distant, but affiliated library to see if the book is available there.

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What kinds of resources are available over Telnet?

While more and more of the resources that were once available only via Telnet are moving to the Web, it's still sometimes quicker to use Telnet. The Carl System, for example, is a network of more than 400 library catalogs and 20 commercial databases that includes magazines, encyclopedias, Books in Print, and more. Another example is The University of California's Melvyl card catalog. In addition, many local libaries, such as the library system of Alameda County, Calif., make their card catalogs available via Telnet.

If you have a shell account with your Internet Service Provider, you may also use Telnet to access your account. You can use your Telnet account to open a window directly into the operating system--generally Unix--of your service provider. If you want to learn the basics of Unix--which are not as difficult as you might fear--there are some tasks, such as automated processing of a text file or sharing files with other users, that are more efficiently performed on Unix.

Finally, many resources, such as e-mail, newsgroups, FTP, Gopher, and Veronica can be used via Telnet as well as via your Web browser.

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What software do I need to use Telnet?

Telnet clients are available for all platforms. Windows 95 includes the the telnet.exe client, but most users will prefer a client such as QVTNet or NCSA Telnet.

The two leading clients for the Mac are NCSA Telnet and Nifty Telnet. If you don't like these, some shopping around might lead to something you like better.

Additionally, if you have a generic communications program, it may be able to act as a Telnet client. Consult its documentation or help files for mention of Telnet or TCP/IP connections.

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How do I start Telnet?

While none of the leading Web browsers can act as Telnet clients, they can open up other Telnet clients and transfer control to them as part of a Telnet URL address. This means that Telnet links can be embedded in Web pages. Telnet URLs begin with telnet:// and follow the standard rules for addressing, as in telnet://alam1.lib.co.alameda.ca.us.

If you have a Telnet address to which you want to connect, simply start your Telnet client software, and use the Open Session command, and type the address of the host.

Once connected to the Telnet host, you will most likely be prompted for a username and a password. Your source for the Telnet host you're pursuing should tell you which password to use. Sometimes the screen prompt itself will tell you what to use.

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How do I make the keyboard and screen work correctly?

The Telnet host computer needs to know how to tell the Telnet client computer which characters to display, and it needs to know what various keyboard commands do. You need to tell your Telnet client which terminal it should emulate. Do this using the Options or Preferences command in your Telnet program. Set your Telnet client to emulate a "VT100" or "VT102" terminal, and most Telnet hosts will respond correctly. You'll know you've got the setting right when you see onscreen text formatted correctly, and your arrow keys working as you expect them to.

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Ain't misbehaving
The Backspace and Delete keys on your keyboard may not act the way you want them to in Telnet. If they misbehave, or if they generate mysterious text, look for--and use--an option labelled something like Swap Backspace and Delete, or Backspace Sends Delete, in your Telnet program's Preferences section. In a related vein, if nothing happens when you press Backspace or Delete, then type Control-H, which sends a Backspace code to the Telnet host.
How do I download files or save text from a Telnet window?

Telnet is a tool for using your computer as a terminal only, and so it does not offer any support for downloading files. For that, use FTP (File Transfer Protocol). You can, however, generally save the text of your Telnet session in either of two ways. First, most Telnet clients and communications programs will automatically save text to a disk file, which you can specify. You can then open that file with your word processor. If your Telnet client does not allow you to save files, you can use standard Copy commands to copy the text to a different program.

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By Steve Michel

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