The Federal Bulletin Board (FBB)  User's Guide

               The FBB is a Free Service
           of the U.S. Government Printing Office


MAILING ADDRESS
-------------------------------------------------
U.S. Government Printing Office
732 North Capitol Street, NW
Mail Stop: SDE
Washington, DC 20402

INTERNET ADDRESS
-------------------------------------------------
Telnet/FTP: fedbbs.access.gpo.gov
WWW access: http://fedbbs.access.gpo.gov

USER SUPPORT
------------------------------------------------
Phone - Toll-free: 1-888-293-6488 or Local: (202) 512-1530
FAX:   (202) 512-1262
Help address: gpoaccess@gpo.gov

***********************************************************


                 T A B L E    O F   C O N T E N T S

INTRODUCTION

PUBLIC ACCESS

EQUIPMENT REQUIREMENTS  

SERVICE AVAILABILITY AND USER ASSISTANCE 

ACCESS PRIVILEGES                                      
     Accessing The Federal Bulletin Board as a New User
     Downloading a Copy of This User's Guide
     Calling The Federal Bulletin Board

OVERVIEW              
     Standard Commands
     Concatenated Commands

GENERAL SERVICES

ELECTRONIC MAIL
     The Messaging System: E-Mail Services for Users
     Files Attached to Messages:      

ELECTRONIC MAIL 
     The Default or Next Message      
     F ... Read messages from you
     W ... Write a message    
     A ... Attach a file to this message      
     R ... Request return receipt     
     P ... Mark message as priority   
     M ... Modify the message text or topic   

ACCOUNT INFORMATION    
USING THE /GO COMMAND TO ACCESS BULLETIN BOARD SERVICES
     The Find Command         

FILE DOWNLOADING SERVICES     

SPECIAL SERVICES       
     What's New and Hot
     FBB Information Center   

USING THE INTERNET TO ACCESS THE 

     WORLD-WIDE WEB AND THE FBB - HYPERTEXT AND
          GRAPHICS FOR INTERNET USERS 
     TELNET CLIENT - CONNECTING TO A REMOTE COMPUTER
          ON THE INTERNET 

TELNET AND THE FBB - CONNECTING TO THE FBB FROM THE
INTERNET
     File Transfer via Unix Telnet:   
     File Transfer via COMt:  

FTP - GETTING FILES FROM, OR PUTTING FILES ON, THE FBB
     Anonymous FTP access:   
     Deleting or overwriting files:   
     File mode:       
     TCP/Connect II:  
     FTP Supported commands:  

************************************************************

 INTRODUCTION
----------------------

The Federal Bulletin Board (FBB) is a free service of
the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government
Printing Office (GPO).  This electronic bulletin board
service (BBS) enables Federal agencies to provide the
public immediate, self-service access to Federal
information in electronic form.

The BBS permits users to identify, select and transfer
electronic files to their own personal computers
quickly and easily through the File Library System.  It
supports direct ordering for a selection of GPO sales
items in the Ordering Service.  The E-Mail Service
allows users to direct their comments or inquiries to
GPO and some of the Federal agencies that participate
in the BBS.  To contact GPO, send your E-Mail message
to one of the following designated addresses:  Sysop
via the FBB or gpoaccess@gpo.gov via Internet E-mail.


PUBLIC ACCESS

Equipment Requirements

The Federal Bulletin Board may be accessed in four
ways: (1) via telephone in dial-up mode or  via the
Internet through (2) telnet, (3) FTP, and (4) the World
Wide Web.

* For dial-in mode, a user needs a personal computer, a
modem, a telecommunications software package and a
telephone line.  The BBS will accommodate baud rates
ranging from 300 to 14,400.  Modem settings are 8 bits,
no parity, 1 stop bit (8N1).  Modems should be set with
automatic baud rate adjustment off.  A hard disk is
recommended for file transfers.

* For Internet access a user needs Internet
connectivity.  Users can telnet or FTP to:
fedbbs.access.gpo.gov;  users can access the FBB via
the World Wide Web (WWW) at
http://fedbbs.access.gpo.gov.

Service Availability and User Assistance

The Federal Bulletin Board is available 22 hours each
day, seven days a week.  It is unavailable from 3:00
a.m. to 5:00 a.m., Eastern Time, when routine
maintenance is performed.

User assistance for The Federal Bulletin Board is
available from 7:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m., Eastern Time,
Monday through Friday (except Federal holidays) by
calling the GPO Office of Electronic Information
Dissemination Services (EIDS) at (202) 512-1530, toll-free
at 1-888-293-6498 or send Email to gpoaccess@gpo.gov, 
or by FAX at (202)512-1262.

Access Privileges

Access is free.  There is no membership or subscription
fees required to access The Federal Bulletin Board.
There are no charges for time spent browsing, reading
or downloading files, or using the E-Mail services.

All users can browse in the File Library System and
download files from file areas by selecting one of the
options from the MAIN MENU.  All users can order
publications from GPO.  All users can send and receive
E-Mail.

All Users are limited to 60 minutes of free time per
session, but there is no limit on the number of times
they can call the BBS.

Accessing The Federal Bulletin Board as a New User

If you have never used a BBS before, this document is
intended to help you learn your way around.  A few
basics to keep in mind: if you want to exit from
wherever you are in the system, type X ENTER.  Most
selections and commands must be followed by ENTER.  On
menus (and most prompts) you may also type ? ENTER for
help. Otherwise, type a letter or number from the list
of options provided by menus and prompts.  Sometimes
you'll type more than one character, such as when
entering a filename.ext or writing a message.

This document will help you get started using FBB, and
will be a reference for later, even after you've found
your way around.

Downloading a Copy of This User's Guide

At the conclusion of the new user registration, you
will receive a message that says:  You have new E-mail.
Do you wish to see it now? (Y/N)

All new users receive an E-Mail message with a copy of
this User's Guide attached.  To read the message now,
enter Y and press RETURN.  If you enter N, you will go
directly to the MAIN MENU.

You can read or download the User's Guide when you are
ready by selecting K from the MAIN MENU, and then typing 1
at
the ELECTRONIC MAIL MENU.  If you need another copy of this
manual, you may download the USER.DOC file attached to your
E-
Mail message.

Calling The Federal Bulletin Board
--------------------------------------------------
When you first call into FBB, you're asked to sign up,
creating an account for yourself.  If you're online
reading this document, you must have already signed up,
and should now have a User-ID and password that you can
use from now on.  When you call in, all you have to do
is enter in your User-ID and then your password. The
system remembers who you are, and starts by telling you
if you have any mail waiting (it may also ask you if
you want to read it right away).  You might also get
some other important notices, but you'll eventually be
taken to the MAIN menu.

The MAIN menu is the first menu on the system.  The
various selections on this menu go to different areas
of the system.  Here's what the MAIN menu looks like:

 +---------------------------------------------------+
                THE FEDERAL BULLETIN BOARD
        A service of the U.S. Government Printing Office
-------------------------------------------------------------
        A - What's New at GPO!
        B - GPO ACCESS - Online Databases;Information
        C - Commerce Business Daily (Information Only)
        ------------------------------------------------
        D - Congress and Legislative Agencies
        E - Federal Register and CFR (Selected)
        F - White House and Federal Agencies
        G - U.S. Supreme Court and other Federal Courts
        H - Miscellaneous File Areas
        ------------------------------------------------
        I - General Information on the GPO
        J - Federal Depository Library Information
----------------------------------------------------------
        K - General (List of Available Products, Email, etc.,)  
-------------------------------------------------------------
           S - Search for a File by Name, Date, orKeyword
           T - List Files Uploaded 19-JUN-96
           X - EXIT (Logoff the Board)
 +-----------------------------------------------------------+
    Please enter the selection of your choice:

NOTE: Whenever you respond to a BBS question or select
a menu option, you must press your RETURN or ENTER key
to send your response to the BBS.

****
 SERVICES OF THE FEDERAL BULLETIN BOARD

Overview
------------
This section contains information on the services
available from the MAIN MENU.  There are three types of
services:   General Services, File Downloading
Services,  and Special Services.    Special Services
include (A) What's New and Hot and (J1) the BBS
Information Center.   General Services include:
Ordering Products from GPO, Electronic Mail,
Account/Registry Information, and GO TO hot keys.
Since the FBB now also serves an oficial Internet site,
there is a section  in the manual about using the
Internet.

File Downloading Services are available through MAIN
MENU options (A) through (I).  Starting from the MAIN
MENU, you can browse the file lists, review file
descriptions, and transfer selected files to your own
personal computer, quickly and easily.  Although full-
text searching of the file contents is not available,
you can search by file name, date, and keywords.

Only ASCII text files can be displayed (listed) to the
screen.  Other files must be downloaded before they can
be read.

Standard Commands
-------------------------
On each BBS menu you will find letters and numbers that
can be used to activate the various features of the
BBS.  The commands below are constant throughout the
program:

X               Exits to a prior menu or logs off the
system from the MAIN MENU.
?               Brings up the On-Line Help screens or
the full version  of a Quick  (abbreviated) Menu.
CTRL S          Suspends temporarily scrolling of
information on the screen
CTRL R          Resumes scrolling of information on the
screen

WARNING!!  The system will automatically disconnect if
no commands are typed or carriage returns entered for
10 minutes.

Concatenated Commands
------------------------------
One of the useful features of the BBS is that you can
avoid viewing every menu in a series by using a string
of commands,  also called concatenated commands.  The
BBS permits concatenating or stacking up to 16
commands.  If you know the sequence of commands that is
required to complete an activity, you can type all of
the commands on a single line and avoid stopping at
each intermediate menu.

***
General Services

General Services of the FBB include:  Electronic Mail, 
Account Information, and GO TO  or "hot keys".

***
Electronic Mail

Choose K3 - Electronic Mail from the MAIN MENU to enter
the E-Mail Service.  Anyone can read Electronic Mail (E-
Mail) addressed to them or write E-Mail messages to the
GPO,participating Federal agencies and other known
USER_IDs.  You can enter /GO EMAIL_LIST at any place
that you can enter commands to obtain a list of useful
E-Mail addresses.

Each time you sign on, you are automatically notified
if E-Mail messages are waiting for you.  You should
read your messages frequently and erase your messages
after you read them.

The Messaging System: E-Mail Services for Users

Messages are the building blocks of one main area of
FBB:  E-mail:private messages from one user to another

For example, when you write an electronic mail message,
you can send it to one user, and send a carbon copy to
another user.  Or you can reply privately to the author
of that message, and other users won't see that reply.
And one way to erase a message you wrote is to use the
E-mail Read command to find it and then erase it.



Electronic messages consist of:

 o   Header
 o   Body
 o   File attached (optional)

The header contains information like who the message is
to, who it's from, what the topic is, and when it was
written.  Here's the header  of a typical e-mail
message:

 Date: Thursday, April 23, 1992  12:37pm   Electronic
Mail
 From: MichelleMsg#: 20483
   To: Jessica Rodier   *RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED*
   Re: for trade show in Phoenix
(Reply to #20461, Reply to #20409)

Message Topic, Re:

Each time you write a new message, you need to give it
a topic.  When you reply to a message, you inherit the
topic of the original message.


Message Body:

You can compose the body of a message you're writing
using the editor.  You'll get the full screen editor if
you have an ANSI-compatible terminal.  Otherwise you'll
use a line-oriented editor.

Reading a message displays the message body on your
terminal.  Whenever you read a message's body, the FBB
makes a note not to include that message again when you
scan for new messages.


Message Number:

The FBB issues a new sequential message number each
time anyone writes a new message.  A private electronic
mail  message to one user has a unique message number
on the FBB.  This message number is used to jump
directly to a message you want to read or reply to.

Files Attached to Messages:

When you write an e-mail or forum message, you usually
have the option of attaching a file to the message.
You upload the file after you write the message.  Then,
anyone who reads the message gets the option of
downloading the file.


Electronic Mail

Electronic mail is a powerful and efficient way to send
detailed  messages to individuals who need not be there
when the message arrives.   Messages can also deliver
attached document or program files, a major improvement
over transferring files by floppy disk or copying them
across a network in hopes that the intended recipient
will see them.

E-mail has become a common service on local area
networks (LANs) in  businesses.  It is also common on
wide area systems such as the  Internet and CompuServe.
The two areas evolved independently, however, and have
only recently started to share messages with each
other.  Some  producers of e-mail products have been
slow to acknowledge the value of  connecting with each
other.

The following E-mail services are available:

   R ... Read messages to you
   W ... Write a message
   M ... Modify a message
   E ... Erase a message
   F ... Read messages from you
   X ... Exit from E-mail

Select an option (R,W,M,E,F,X to exit, or ? for more
info):

The FBB keeps track of the messages that were written
to you and the messages that you have written to
others.

In Box   messages TO you  messages others wrote to you
Out Box  messages FROM youmessages you wrote to someone else



R ... Read messages to you

You have these options for where to start your reading:

ENTER or period (.)  Start with the next message you
haven't read yet  FStart with the earliest message in
your In Box  LStart with the very latest message in
your In Box
<message number> Start with a specific message number



The Default or Next Message

You'll probably call into the FBB regularly to get your
latest messages.  Some of your messages are not urgent,
or they require more work to reply to, or you just want
to keep them around for a while.

FBB tries to distinguish between new messages and
messages you've already read by remembering the highest
numbered message you've ever read from your In Box.
This isn't perfect, but if you're careful to read your
messages in order, you might find it very handy for
keeping your urgent mail and your not-so-important mail
separated.

When you Read messages to you and press ENTER when it
asks for a message number, you'll get the message
that's one higher than the highest numbered message
that you've already read.  You can do the same thing in
one step by typing R. (R period) from the E-mail menu.

Similarly, RF reads the first (oldest) message in your
In Box, and RL reads the last (most recent) message.

After each message you read, you'll be prompted:

(R)eply, (E)rase, (C)opy, (F)orward, (B)acktrack,
(P)revious, or (N)ext?

(R)eply         Write a new message To the person who
wrote this message
(E)rase         Delete this message from the FBB
(C)opy          Keep this message but send a copy to
another User-ID
(F)orward       Send a copy to another User-ID and
delete your copy
(B)acktrack     Read the message which inspired this
message, if available
(P)revious      Read the message in your In Box
immediately below this one
(N)ext          Read the message in your In Box
immediately above this one

Power User Tip: If you can't respond to a message
immediately, you can  make it new again by forwarding
it to yourself.

F ... Read messages from you

Messages from you include all the e-mail and forum
messages you've written which are still on the FBB.

After each e-mail message you read, you'll be prompted:

(M)odify, (E)rase, (C)opy, (P)revious, or (N)ext?

(M)odify        Edit a message you wrote, even after
it's been sent
(E)rase                 Delete a message even after
it's been sent
(C)opy          Leave a message as is but carbon copy
it to another User-ID
(P)revious      Read the message you wrote immediately
before this one
(N)ext                  Read the message you write
immediately after this one

If your Preferences include forum messages in your E-
mail In Box, after each forum message you read you'll
be prompted:

(R)eply, (E)mail reply, (C)lear, (T)hread, (P)rev, or
(N)ext?

The (C)lear command removes the copy of this message
from your E-mail In Box without erasing the original
from the forum.  See the Forums  section below for more
details on the other options.

Power User Tip: To reply to a message, then forward the
original message to a third user, type F <User-ID> R
ENTER all on one line.

W ... Write a message

You can write an electronic mail message To:

 <User-ID>      a specific user
 ENTER          the Sysop

When writing to an individual user, if you can't
remember his or her  exact User-ID, type in the first
few letters of your best guess and  fBB will try to
find a match.

Once you finish typing the message, you Save the
message.  In the Full-Screen Editor (FSE), you save by
pressing CTRL+G.  In the Line Editor, you save by
typing S ENTER from command mode or /S ENTER from entry
mode.  Either way, you'll next receive this list of
options:

Before sending this message, you may:

   A ... Attach a file to this message
   R ... Request return receipt
   P ... Mark message as priority
   M ... Modify the message text or topic

Select a write option or press ENTER to send message:

IMPORTANT: Typing X ENTER at this prompt ABANDONS your
message.  It is not sent and is erased from the FBB.
All of these choices are circular: once they perform
their function, you are returned to this prompt.  In
order to send your message, you must finally press
ENTER at this prompt.  Once you do, you'll receive a
confirmation such as:

<<< CONFIRMED: MESSAGE #1789332 WRITTEN TO DISK >>>


A ... Attach a file to this message

This will next prompt you for a file transfer protocol
(XMODEM, etc.) and will then upload a file from your
PC.  If the protocol you choose automatically conveys
the name of the file (ZMODEM, for example), the FBB
will accept that name.  If the protocol does not convey
a name,  the FBB will ask you for a filename.ext once
the upload finishes.

R ... Request return receipt

A return receipt is a brief message that FBB
automatically generates when the recipient gets this
message.  The recipient is told when a return receipt
is generated.

P ... Mark message as priority

You can label a message as priority.  This causes it to
be slightly more noticeable in a long In Box list on
the recipient's side.


M ... Modify the message text or topic

If you've saved the message only to realize that you
needed to make a change, this command will take you
back to re-edit the message.



Account Information

Enter J at the MAIN MENU to review or edit your Account
Information.  This is the information that you entered
when you established your USER-ID.

All users can review and edit their own account
information.  You can change any entry except your USER-
ID.  Changing your address in the Account information
does not automatically alter the information stored in
the Online Ordering Service.

You can use this feature to change your password.  It
is a good idea to change your password at least once
every 60 to 90 days.

Using the /GO Command to Access Bulletin Board Services

You can GO directly to certain menus or access certain
functions of The Federal Bulletin Board with the /GO
command.  Choose J5 - GO TO ... from the MAIN MENU to
obtain a list of Menu Page Names and a description of
their contents.  To use the GO command, type
/GO followed by a Page Name at any point where the
system accepts commands.  For example, typing /GO
WHITE_HOUSE <return> will take you directly to the menu
for the White House file libraries.   Typing /GO BYE
will take you directly to the system logoff.

Below is a sample of some of the Page Names you may use
to get directly to the areas that interest you.  This
list will be continually updated as additional
information and new File
Libraries are added to The Federal Bulletin Board.  To
display the most recent list, simply enter 4 at the
MAIN MENU or select G at the bottom of many of the File
Menus.

Page Name               Description of Page
---------               -------------------------------
--------
ABOUT_GPO               General Information about GPO
ACCESS                       GPO Access Legislation
Info
ACCOUNT_INFO         Edit Account Info (Password)
BESTSELLERS             Order GPO Bestsellers
DEPOSIT_ACCOUNT  Opening a GPO Deposit Account
BYE                               QUIT (Logoff the
Board)
MAIN_MENU               Return to the MAIN MENU
READ_EMAIL              Read E-Mail Messages To You
WHITE_HOUSE            White House (Menu)
WRITE_EMAIL             Write an E-Mail Message

The Find Command

Typing FIND followed by a string will search for all of
the PAGES that you can access using the GO command that
have the string you specified in the PAGE DESCRIPTION.
To use the FIND command, type FIND and your string at
any point where the system accepts
commands.  For example, the command FIND DEPOSIT would
retrieve the following:

Page Name                  Description of Page
--------------                    ---------------------
-------------------
DEPOSIT_ACCOUNT   Opening a GPO Deposit Account
DEPOSITORY_LIBS     Depository Libraries Program

NOTE:  On some menus the letter F is already assigned
to a menu option.  The FIND command cannot be entered
at the prompt, since the system will interpret the F in
FIND as the menu selection.   To use the FIND command,
you will need to use X to go to another
menu that will accept the FIND command.


File Downloading Services

Different areas of the FBB that are available through
MAIN MENU options (A) through (I), provides you with
the the opportunity to transfer files from the FBB to
your computer (downloading).  You can attach files to e-
mail messages, for example, and retrieve files in File
Libraries.

In order to assure that what arrives on one machine
matches what departed the other machine, both computers
must first agree on a common file transfer protocol.

Files are transferred in the same manner as are all
other exchanges of data: through Dynapaks.  When
dealing with a BBS in terminal mode there there are a
number of commonly encountered file transfer protocols:


ZMODEM          is the best choice for BBS's running on
DOS Pcs
ZMODEM (resume)         can pick up at the point where
a previous ZMODEM transfer was
interrupted
YMODEM Batch    is a good alternative if the FBB
doesn't have ZMODEM
Kermit                  is useful when contacting FBBs
which are not DOS PC-based
XMODEM-1K               is acceptable on connections
with low line noise
XMODEM-CRC      is tolerable on connections with high
line noise
XMODEM-Checksum         is the weakest of the accuracy-
checking methods
ASCII                   has no accuracy checking and
should be a last resort

The terminal software you're using to call the FBB may
not support all of these protocols.  Be sure to pick
one that your terminal supports.  In most terminal
programs, press PgUp to get a list of upload protocols,
and PgDn to get a list of download protocols.  The
ASCII and LIST protocols only work with ordinary ASCII
text files.  The other protocols work on all types of
files.

Another protocol option will appear automatically when
you're about to download a compressed file (.ZIP, .ARC,
etc.), files which each contain one or more other files
in a compressed form.  The V option appear in these
cases, allowing you to view what files are compressed
into the .ZIP, .ARC, .ZOO, or .LZH file.

Another download option that may be available is T to
tag a file.  This feature allows you to tag up to 10
files for download and then, when you're ready (or when
you log off), you can download all your tagged files at
once.

Another time-saver is the ! suffix.  You can put an !
character at the end of your protocol selection to have
the FBB automatically log you off when the file
transfer is over.  This way, if you're not around to
disconnect yourself when done transferring a large
file, the FBB will disconnect you automatically,
possibly saving you connect time charges.


Special Services

Areas that are considered Special Services of the FBB
include, from the MAIN MENU,
(A) What's New and Hot and (J1) the FBB Information
Center which provides general information about GPO.

What's New and Hot

GPO maintains two main electronic list of products, CD-
ROMs' and Diskettes, on the FBB.  Users can scan each
list online or download the list to the remote
computer.  The lists are available in both ASCII text
and  WordPerfect 5.1 format.

FBB Information Center

The GPO Information Center contains general information
on  such  subjects as FBB Service Hours and User
Assistance; How to Open a GPO Deposit Account;
Ordering Products Online via the FBB; and Downloading
the FBB User's Guide.  There is also information on how
to find and contact GPO Bookstores and obtain
information about the Federal Depository Library Progam
(FDLP).

Using the Internet to Access the FBB

World-Wide Web and the FBB - Hypertext and graphics for
Internet users

The FBB is also a WWW site that you can point to with
Mosaic, Lynx and other hypertext client programs.

 Telnet Client - connecting to a remote computer on the
Internet

Telnet allows you to make a connection to a remote
computer across the Internet.  The FBB acts as a relay
station, ferrying data in both directions between the
remote site and your computer.  The basic format of the
command is:    /telnet wais.access.gpo.gov .  Under the
MAIN MENU option B - GPO Access, users can select a
telnet session from the FBB to the GPO Access WAIS
server.

Exiting from Telnet (without the -a option):

To disconnect from the remote computer and return to
the FBB: wait 2 seconds,
type "---" (3 dashes); If this doesn't work, wait a
little extra longer, and then type 3 dashes again.   OR
type:    QUIT <ENTER>

This scheme is used, instead of the traditional "X"-to-
exit, in case you need to type X <ENTER> on the remote
system for some reason.

Telnet and the FBB - Connecting to the FBB from the
Internet

Telnet is the scheme for connecting terminals to host
computers across the Internet.  If your telnet client
supports ANSI or RIP, you'll be able to use the same
terminal-mode features of FBB as if you had  called in
by modem.  If you don't have ANSI, you may be able to
use  VT100 mode, but this doesn't always work.  Use
straight ASCII mode if  all else fails.


  File Transfer via Unix Telnet:

 If you have a "shell" account on a Unix computer
that's connected to the Internet (such as one run by
your service provider), and you want to call across the
Internet to the FBB and transfer  files, you may need
to disable certain options in Unix's Telnet client
program.  Here's how:

  telnet                        bring up telnet without
connecting
  set flushoutput off           don't intercept ^O
(0x0F)
  set escape off                        don't intercept
^] (0x1D)
  toggle binary                 allow client to
negotiate binary mode
  open fedbbs.access.gpo.gov  t o make the connection
to a remote host

Technical note:  The toggling of binary mode is the
critical step  that allows downloads to work through
some SunOS Unix computers.  Otherwise, the SunOS Telnet
client refuses FBB's attempt to negotiate binary mode.
Oddly enough, the "toggle binary" option for Telnet is
available in an older version of SunOS, release 4.1,
but is not available in the newer SunOS release 5.3.
So there doesn't appear to be any way to get a
transparent connection through the newer SunOS Telnet
client.

 It appears that there is also no "toggle binary"
command in the Telnet client on IBM's RISC/6000 with
AIX (version 3.2.5).  If you telnet through this
computer, tab characters appear to get expanded, making
most file transfer protocols infeasible.

File Transfer via COMt:

COMt allows you to dial across the Internet using a
standard terminal emulation package like Telix or
PROCOMM PLUS, with, for example the command "ATDT
gcomm.com".  To transfer files through COMt, you'll
want to make these settings:

  ATS1002=1always request binary connection
  ATS1005=0no carriage-return padding

 Leave the other settings default:  S1001=2 S1003=1
S1004=1

Even with these settings you may have problems
transferring files *through* a Unix computer
(telnetting to the Unix computer, then telnetting to
the FBB).  That problem does not seem to  occur when
COMt is connected directly to the FBB via the Internet.


FTP - Getting files from, or putting files on, the FBB

 The files in the File Libraries of this FBB are
accessible via FTP, with access restrictions that are
very similar to those of the  File Libraries that you
can access via modem or telnet.

 When you log into the FBB via FTP, all file libraries
appear as subdirectories of the "/gpo_bbs" directory:


  /                     root
  /gpo_bbs              master directory of all File
Libraries
  /gpo_bbs/main         the MAIN library
  /gpo_bbs/support      the SUPPORT library

 No files are stored at either the root (/) or the
library master  directories (/gpo_bbs).

 Anonymous FTP access:

 This FBB may support anonymous FTP access with
restrictions.  To log in without having an account on
this FBB, type the word "anonymous" in place of a User-
ID, then enter your
 Internet E-mail address in place of a password:
     User-ID:  anonymous    Password: <your Internet E-
mail address>

 Or use "ftp" in place of "anonymous" as a shorthand:

  User-ID:  ftp
  Password: <your Internet E-mail address>

 Deleting or overwriting files:

You can't use the FTP "delete" command on a library
file.  And you can only put a file if it doesn't exist
already.  To have a file deleted, leave a note to the
Sysop or to a library operator and he or she can do it.


 File mode:

Here are the meanings of the mode characters for files
and subdirectories:

drwxrwxrwx              subdirectory, may allow get,
put, etc.
dr-xr-xr-x              subdirectory, may allow get,
doesn't allow put
d-wx-wx-wx              subdirectory, may allow put,
doesn't allow get
d--x--x--x              subdirectory, doesn't allow
get, or put
-r--r--r--              file, can get
----------              file, can't get

 TCP/Connect II:

To work best with this FTP client from Intercon, turn
on the radio button labelled:
[X] Don't use extra flags under the Settings pull-down
menu, in the Preferences dialog box, under Directory
Flags.



FTP Supported commands:

This FTP site recognizes the following FTP client/FBB
commands:

USER            TYPE            DELE            HELP
PASSSTRU        RMD             NOOP
ACCT            MODE            MKD             MDTM
CWD             RETR            PWD             SIZE
CDUP            STOR            LIST            QUIT
APPEN           LST             PORT            RNFR
STAT            PASV            RNTO            SYST