New User's Guide to the Suns

Introduction

This is a brief guide to using the department's Sun computers. It is intended for new users who are unfamiliar with these computers. It assumes very basic knowledge of using computers, such as how to type things at the keyboard and how to use the mouse.

Logging In

The department's Sun computers all run the Unix operating system. Before you can do anything with Unix, you need to log in. Logging in is simply typing your username and password, as described on the sheet with your account details. Remember that your password is not shown as you type it.

If you type your username or password incorrectly, you'll have to start again.

When you've successfully logged in, lots of things will start happening. Just sit back and watch it may take a minute or two.

Logging Out

It is important that you log out when you have finished using the computer. Different Window Systems have different ways of doing this, if you have a "Start" button at the bottom-left corner of the screen then press this button and select Shut Down and then Log Out. Otherwise find the logout or exit option in one of the mouse menus (usually on a menu obtained by pressing and holding the right mouse button). Exiting from windows may just bring you back to a console login shell and you will then have to type logout. Make sure that the ``login'' prompt appears on the screen before you leave.

PLEASE DO NOT SWITCH OFF THE COMPUTER. It could play havoc with the network and could even damage the computer, as well as making the computing staff angry.

Basic Use

(the following may not apply in full to all window systems) An application window has a title bar at the top a blue or grey bar with the application's name in it. It is blue when the application is ``active''. You can bring an application window to the ``front'' by clicking on the title bar. You can move a window by picking it up by the title bar and dragging it around. Use the left mouse button for these operations. The right mouse button usually brings up a menu wherever you press it. On a title bar, the menu contains a list of things that you can do to application windows.

Using Mail (eedtmail)

when you login our mail will probably be open for you, if it is not then find the icon with the picture of a letter on it. If there are any messages for you, they will be listed in the main window. Simply click on a message to read it. When you're done, close the mail application by moving your mouse pointer over any of the mail wndoe and pressing the open button on the keypad on the left hand side of your keyboard (this button is a toggle button, if an application is open it will close it and vice versa).

To send an email, click on Compose on the top bar and then choose the most appropriate option from the menu e.g. "New Message." Click on the ``To:'' field and type the recipient's email address. Click on the ``Subject:'' field and type a few words for the message's subject. Click on the message panel (the big white area below) and type the message. When you've finished, click on the button marked Send. The message will be on its way.

Using Netscape

Netscape is an application for browsing the World Wide Web, or WWW for short. This is an Internet service allowing you to look up almost anything.

The first time it starts, it may have a few pop-up windows which you should get rid of. Informative pop-ups usually have an OK button at the bottom. Click on that. The license pop-up will tell you to read through the Netscape license and click on Accept. Don't bother reading the license (it's not very interesting), just click on Accept. If none of these pop-up windows appear, consider yourself lucky and forget about them.

Netscape should start by showing you the department's home page (headed ``Electronics and Electrical Engineering'' and ``Welcome to the Department''). Some of the text on the page is coloured blue and underlined. These are links to other pages. Simply click on a link (with the left mouse button) to go to that page. To go back, click on the button marked ``Back'' at the upper-left corner of Netscape.

Note the small white box near the top. It contains text which reads: ``http://www.ee.ed.ac.uk/'' or similar. This text is a URL (Uniform Resource Locator), an address of an Internet resource. If you know the URL of a Web page, you can go straight there by typing the URL into this box.

Try typing in this URL:

http://info.ox.ac.uk/help/

if you want to learn more about the Web. (This page is located in Oxford University.) Remember, you can always go back to where you were before by using the Back button.

Note for the cognoscenti: Please don't mess with the proxy configuration. It can cost you real money if it is changed.

Using the Command Window

(the following may not apply in full to all window systems) There should be an application button labelled with the name of the computer you're sitting at. (All the computers in TLC are named after Scottish railway stations.) This application is a command window. You might often need to run a program (or command or application same thing) and you do this in the command window. The window shows a prompt (something like ``spean>'') and a cursor. This prompt means that the command interpreter is ready for you to type a command. Type:

echo Hello

into the command window and press the Return key. You have just executed the Unix ``echo'' command, which writes back anything that you type after it. (Actually, there are certain characters that mean special things to the command interpreter and can change its behaviour quite drastically, but never mind all that for now.)

The On-Line Unix Manual

A useful command to know is ``man'', short for manual. It accesses the on-line Unix reference manual, which can be a little obscure to the uninitiated.

Try typing the command:

man echo

to bring up the manual page about the ``echo'' command. Press the space bar to move on to the next screenful and Q to quit the program. All Unix on-line manual pages follow a similar format. You're not expected to understand it all straight away; as you gain more experience the manual pages will make more sense to you.

Finding Out More and Getting Help

There is tons of information on the department's Web site, the Unix reference manual and elsewhere. The URL ``http://www.ee.ed.ac.uk/online'' points to the department's online documentation, covering a wide variety of topics connected to using the computers.

The best way to learn is to try things out for yourself. You are encouraged to explore and experiment.

The computing support staff are there to help if you have problems with the computers. Send an email to ``seesup@ed'' or, if you can't do that, come to the office at the end of the corridor from TLC.

Revision Date: 29th February 2000