Much of your work in developing ASP.NET pages takes place on your local PC. However, getting your pages to run properly requires that they be housed on and delivered by a Web server computer. There are three options.

If you are running Windows XP Professional on your desktop PC then you can install Internet Information Services from your installation CD. Doing so sets up your PC as a Web server computer in addition to being a Web client computer. This does not mean that your computer is accessible across the Internet, although it could. It does mean that you have the full development environment needed to produce and run ASP.NET applications from your desktop. This is the most efficient development setup.

Second, your Internet Service Provider may provide an ASP.NET environment for serving Web pages. Many do at very modest costs. If this is the case then it is only a matter of transferring your completed pages to your private directory on that server. Your ISP can provide instructions for setting up your directory and in establishing necessary permissions to read from and write to your databases.

Third, as a student at Macon State College you are provided with personal directory space on the campus Web server. This home directory can be used to serve pages to the Web. In order to take advantage of this resource you need to be aware of your personal email account and understand how to transfer Web documents to your directory.

Student Email Accounts

All registered students are provided with a campus email account and password. This account is in the format fllll### where

f	is the first letter of the student's first name,
llll	are the first four letters of the student's last name, and
###	are the last three digits of the student's Social Security number.

All accounts use lower-case letters. The default password is the student's full Social Security number -- the nine digits without the hyphens. This password can be changed by signing on to the Web email page.

A student's campus email address is in the format fllll###@student.maconstate.edu. Students may or may not wish to use this email address for correspondence. To check email sent to this address or to log on and change the default password, go to https://student.maconstate.edu.

Home Directories

All registered students are also provided with personal home directories which can be used as file storage areas or as Web directories for serving Web pages across the Internet. The names of these folders are the same as student email accounts: fllll###. Inside this main, root directory is a subdirectory named public_html. It is inside the public_html directory where pages must be placed for Web access.

You may also create additional subdirectories inside public_html in order to organize pages for different classes, different assignments, or for separate Web sites.

One special directory you need to create is the database directory, using this exact name. This directory is created inside the public_html folder. The importance of the database directory is that it is the only directory where you have database write permissions. Being able to update databases is crucial to Web applications, so make sure you create this folder and place all databases inside. This is also the only folder where your Web pages can write other files such as text documents and graphic images. You can create additional directories inside the database directory. Any of these directories are also writeable. Otherwise, Web pages and other read-only documents and graphic images can appear anywhere within the public_html folder and its subfolders.

Web Access

In order to access Web pages placed in your public_html directory use the URL:

Note that you do not include "public_html" as part of the URL path. If your page is inside a subdirectory, then that directory must be part of the path:

File Transfer

Web pages are copied to your personal home directory by using File Transfer Protocol (FTP) software. The easiest way to do this is by using the built-in FTP features of your browser. If you are using Internet Explorer, just enter the path to the Web server in the browser's Address box:

A Log On window appears where you enter your account (User name) and password. The account is prefixed with winnt/:

Your password is the nine digits of your Social Security number unless you have changed it.

Click the "Log On" button and you are connected to your root directory where you will see your public_html directory. You can manuever through your directory structure just as you navigate the folders and files on your local PC.

In order to transfer files to your remote directory you need also to open the local directory where your files reside. You can have both directories open on your desktop. Then it is a matter of dragging the file icon from the local to the remote directory. You can also copy and paste from one directory to the other.

Transferring files is a copy operation. The file is not physically moved; a copy of the file is placed in the remote directory. You can transfer files in either direction. Drag an icon from the remote to the local directory to copy a file from the Web server to your desktop. You can use the Shift-Click or Ctrl-Click method to select and copy multiple files at the same time. All directory access methods are available in the remote directory. You can create folders and delete or rename files and folders through the browser menu.

Incidentally, you cannot double-click on Web page icons in the remote directory in order to open pages in the browser. You may be able to do this locally, but it does not work properly at the remote site. Instead, you get an error message. You must access remote pages through the http:// protocol in your browser.

FTP Software

In addition to using browser-based file transfer there are varieties of FTP software available for free download. The most popular of these programs is WS_FTP LE. (The "lite" LE version is free). It is available for download at http://www.ftpplanet.com/downloads/. During installation make sure to verify you are a student so that you can use the software free of charge.

When you run this program the first time you need to set up a "profile" containing the properties necessary to connnect to your home directory on the campus server. In the "Session Properites" dialog window that opens when you run the program, click the "New" button. Then fill in the boxes with connection information:

Profile Name:	Any name of your choosing
Host Name/Address:	ftp.maconstate.edu
HostType:	Automatic detect
UserID:	winnt/fllll###
Password:	*********
Save Pwd:	(Check to save your password)

Click the "Apply" button to save this profile so you will not have to enter this information each time you connect to the campus server.

The Profile setup connects you to your root folder on the campus Web server. At the same time, you need to identify the local directory from which you will copy pages to your remote directory. Click the "Startup" tab in the "Session Properties" window to set the default local folder. In the "Initial Local Folder" box enter the path to your local development folder. Click the "Apply" button to save local folder information in your profile.

Click the "OK" button to connect to the Web server. After connecting you will see the following screen:

The left window shows the contents of the folder on your local PC that you established as the Startup folder. The right window shows the contents of your home directory on the campus server. Double-click a folder name to open it; use the Up arrows to back up a directory level.

Files are coped from the local to the remote directory by (1) in the left window click to select the file (Shift-Click or Ctrl-Click to select multiple files) you want to copy to your home directory; (2) click the right-arrow button between the window panes. The selected files from the local folder on the left are copied to the home folder on the right.

You can, of course, transfer files from your remote folder to your local folder by clicking the left-arrow button. In most cases, however, you will be creating and editing files locally, and transferring those pages from the local to the remote computer.

Visitor Access

Browser access to ASP.NET Web pages must be made through the full, absolute URL of your site. When accessing pages in your campus directory, use the URL:

If you have installed IIS on you local PC, then access is through the URL:

The purpose of placing pages in Web-accessible directories is so people can get to them. However, unless your visitors know the exact paths to and names of your pages they will not have much success in viewing your Web site. Therefore, you need to make it easy for people to find the pages they're looking for.

As a student you will probably have several different Web sites, perhaps one for each of the classes you are taking as well as your own personal site. Each of these sites probably will be housed (should be housed) in separate directory structures. It makes sense, then, to provide a readily accessible Web page that serves as the "table of contents" to your separate sites.

Consider creating a single Web page with links to your separate sites. This page should be named default.htm, default.aspx, index.htm, or index.aspx. These are special names indicating "default" Web pages that are opened if no page is named in a URL. This means that the page is served when the URL only specifies your directory name. For instance, when visitors enter

into their browsers to access your Web directory, the default page is opened. There is no need to know the name of a particular page.

Therefore, use your default page as a links page. Create links to each of your opening site pages or to other pages for which you want to provide direct links. It could be that each of your Web sites has its own links page to other pages at that site. In other words, create a friendly menu system to permit visitors convenient access to your pages where they do not have to know your page names in order to access them.