Instructions for Using Manifold Download / Upload Sites

Jump to Experienced FTP Users Section  Teleport to FTP Site NOW

manifold.net provides several gigabytes of free map data reachable through our web site.  If you are an experienced FTP user, please feel free to jump directly through cyberspace into the FTP site, or you may wish to consult the notes for experienced FTP users at the end of this document.

The rest of this document is a brief guide to FTP written for novice users.  It's really quite easy, despite the archaic nature of FTP.

Detail: Digital Chart of the World, Asia populated places layer, zoomed out to show South East Asia.  Named populated places have been plotted as dots.  "Built up areas" have been selected with SQL toolbar and highlighted in bright red.

Transferring Data to manifold.net

To send data, first assemble all the files into a single file using WinZip.  Use a current version of WinZip to make sure that long file names are properly archived.  Then, using the instructions below, upload the files to the incoming directory at the manifold.net FTP site.   If you are unfamiliar with FTP, this page will attempt to explain it to you.  After uploading the zip file, please send us an email at webmaster@manifold.net telling what you sent and why. Please do not upload more than one hundred megabytes at a time without contacting us first for instructions.

This document assumes you are connected to Internet.  Before trying the examples below, make sure you are dialed up and connected to your ISP if using a modem.

You will need an FTP program of some sort as well.  Although browsers can be used, we recommend using an FTP program such as Leech FTP or similar.

All About FTP

When transferring large amounts of data across Internet one really needs to use "FTP."  This little text is an introduction to FTP for new users.  We apologize for using such a primitive mechanism for providing our files to users, but regrettably this is the best way given the current infrastructure and standards in the Internet.  Here we go!

When browsing the Internet with Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator, you are using a modern "browser" program that simplifies the process of viewing Internet information  as compared to earlier days.  In ancient times, we cruised the 'net using a collection of different programs, each of which was designed to fulfill a particular purpose.  It seemed that every time someone came up with a new way of using the network they'd invent a new, one-of-a-kind program with its own user interface, its own data formats, and even its own protocol for transferring data across the net.

Although these days it seems everything is all sewed up together in a nice package so that one click on the browser takes you cruising through everything and anything, the way all this stuff works technically is the way Frankenstein's monster was built: it's all a patchwork of bits and pieces of dead things still trying to stay alive while sewn together into a new whole.  All those ancient bits and pieces of various programs and protocols are still alive! ...and, your browser in addition to all the new stuff it is supposed to do, must also work correctly with those relics of an earlier age.

Every time you type in a prefix of the form "http:" or "ftp:" into the location or URL field of your browser, you are speaking to one of those Frankenstein pieces by the name of its protocol.   "http" means "Hyper Text Transfer Protocol" and "ftp" means "File Transfer Protocol."  There are many other protocols littering the landscape of Internet, but these two are the most commonly met.  HTTP is sort of vaguely modern in that it relates to the thuddingly primitive native language of web pages, but FTP is genuinely a living fossil: File Transfer Protocol is the still-living, fundamental language that "ftp" applications originally used to speak with each other across UNIX networks. 

"ftp" programs were simple, command line programs that allowed you to "connect" to a remote computer, browse directories, and send and receive files.   Most computer installations that shared data across the net set aside an area on their computers to which they would allow access by external users.   Since UNIX is a username and password protected multiuser system, "ftp" programs have the tradition of using a login name called "anonymous" for which any password that is constructed as an email address will work.   Anybody that logs in as "anonymous" and gives an email address for the password is admitted to the ftp-accessible directory structure on the machine.

It still works the same way, even in modern times.  Why has FTP stayed around?  At first glance it is as though one must speak to an automated teller machine in Latin, because they used to use Latin in Roman times.    Well, once FTP became supported by hundreds of thousands of machines on the network, it was easier to keep it going than to replace it with something new.  Another reason is that the FTP protocol is very simple and actually quite efficient at transferring files from one IP address to another.  It's unbelievably stupid, but it works quickly when it works.  In fact, for transferring large files it is much faster than HTTP or other commonly occurring Internet relic protocols.  Finally, FTP is an efficient way for us system administrators to create a very large data download site without much work.

Using FTP through a Browser

Modern browsers all will enter an "ftp mode" when fed a URL that begins with an ftp://, so users can get to the data stored in an FTP site without having to know much about FTP.   This capability of browsers allows inexpert users to fetch data from FTP sites without knowing anything more than IE4 or Navigator.  

There are two ways to get "into" FTP with a modern browser:

Before beginning: Make sure PASV mode is turned OFF.  In IE 5.5, go to Tools - Internet Options and click the Advanced  tab.  Scroll down and make sure the Use Passive FTP for ... check box is not checked.

1) Click on some hyperlink embedded in a web page, where the web page author cleverly embedded an ftp:// address as the target of that hyperlink.  This requires no thought on the part of the user, just a click.  You probably clicked on a picture or button linked to an FTP site if you find yourself teleported  into a spartan-looking "web page" that looks more like a directory listing in Windows Explorer than it does like a standard web page.  That's what happens, for example, when you click on the FTP Home button in the Downloads Manifold web page - you will be teleported to our FTP site. 

2) Enter a URL for an FTP site using the ftp:// prefix in the Location or Address box of your browser.  Example - ftp://edcftp.cr.usgs.gov  This requires some active thought and care on the part of the user, because FTP addresses are not usually the same as the "www" addresses for web pages.   Sure, many sites will have a "default" FTP site of sorts if you try ftp.sitename.com   instead of www.sitename.com, but that's not usually hooked up to the main directory where all the data is.

In both of the above cases, your browser automatically invokes FTP protocol and connects to the FTP site using the login name "anonymous" and whatever email return address is loaded into your browser defaults.  The browser shows the contents of directories in the FTP site in a style sort of like Windows Explorer.  If you click on a directory name, you change directory into that directory.  If you click on the .. (double dots) at the top of the directory listing, it will take you up a directory.

Clicking on a file name is a request to open the file if your local system "understands" what to do with this sort of file, and otherwise it is a request to download the file.  So, if you click on a .txt ("text") file, your browser will fetch it from the FTP site using FTP protocol and then display it for you in Notepad or whatever.   This is really slow and stupid if you wanted to download a 12 megabyte text file and ended up having to wait for it to be displayed in Notepad, or whatever.

If you don't want the system to open the file, but want to download it, then click on it with your right mouse button.  This pops up a menu which you can use to "Save target as.." a filename.

This is not as big a hassle as it sounds, since most FTP sites are full of compressed files which won't accidentally unfold into Notpad or Microsoft Word if you click on them.  So, you can just click on the readme.txt files to see what they have to say, and then click on the files you want to download.  

Common Problems:

1) Can't get into the FTP site.  Either the site is down, or (as often occurs) there are too many users on the site.  Keep in mind that every FTP site is a computer system and an array of disks somewhere, and that every computer system and Internet pipe can host only so many users before it bogs down.   System administrators will limit the number of users who can log in to an FTP site so that the site doesn't slow to a crawl. If the limit is 200, and you are the 201st person to try to log on, you'll get a "too many users" message.  No problem.  Try later.

2) FTP crashes.  Well, you know how your Internet connection dies suddenly every now and then? FTP is 100% sure-fire stupid about such things.  If you are 99% of the way through tranferring a 50 megabyte file and your connection crashes then all that time has been utterly wasted.    Connect again and start all over.

3) Getting more than a few files.  If you've not used FTP to fetch GIS files yet, you will know exactly what we mean just as soon as you start trying.  Fetching files from FTP sites using a browser is really tedious if you need some directories and subdirectories that are full of files.  To do this, use a dedicated FTP Program.

4) How do I upload? Netscape Navigator has an Upload menu choice under the File main menu command.   Microsoft Internet Explorer 4 has no upload command this writer could find in the menu structure or in the help system.  Well, there you go ... we must be morons not to be able to find it, because surely Microsoft would put it in an obvious place.   Actually, we all use dedicated FTP programs for uploading FTP files.  See the next section for more.

As the reader can tell, FTP can be used for many good purposes, but it really is a relic of an earlier age.  Perhaps that's why we were unable to resist using fossil images to illustrate this page.

Using a Dedicated FTP Program

Browsers are fine for getting the occasional file or browsing FTP sites.  For mass transfers either to or from FTP sites there is no replacement for acquiring and using a quality shareware FTP program.  There are at least a dozen different FTP programs in use at manifold.net and all have their advantages and disadvantages.  Speak to any three users and you will get four opinions as to which is best.  Check out a shareware site and find a good FTP program to use. Download a few, try them out, and then register the one you stick with.   Programs in use at manifold.net include WS-FTP, Cute-FTP and others.  Recently, just about everyone here has tried out or switched to  Leech FTP http://lem.stud.fh-heilbronn.de/~debis/leechftp .. it's a really cool FTP programs for professional use.

The better FTP programs are capable of transferring entire directory trees, if the connection stays alive.  Some, such as Leech, can re-start from where they were interrupted in the directory tree or within a file.

Using FTP from MS-DOS

You can still use FTP just the way the original UNIX gods intended you to:  Fire up your trusty Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 or Windows '95 clone and launch the MS-DOS window.  OK.  Here we go: type ftp and hit Enter.  You are now within the actual, true UNIX ftp program provided within Windows along with all the other cool networking stuff we use every day.  Enter help and you'll get a list of the commands you can use within FTP.  Now enter quit. You're back in DOS.  Easy, no?  It didn't break anything and it's really fun.

Most people use FTP to connect to a specific machine's ftp site.  You can either use the machine name, or even the IP address.  At the DOS command line, enter ftp followed on the same line by the name of the site or IP address.

Try ftp edcftp.cr.usgs.gov   Login using the name anonymous and then for the password use the password bill@whitehouse.gov (yeah, ok, very funny...) or, if you wish to observe proper FTP decorum, use your own email address, such as jsmith@aol.com  or frank@myisp.com or whatever your email address is. 

You are now connected to the cosmic repository of downloadable data at USGS.  To see this data, you need to know how to work UNIX commands, since the entire networking cosmos runs on UNIX, not DOS.  So, to cruise through the data you need to say things like ls to list a directory and cd to change to a directory (hey! they copied that right when they made DOS...).  Note that in Unix the forward slash character "/" is used between directories, and NOT the backslash "\" as in DOS.   So, we'd say cd downloads/manifold_cd/gnis to get to the gnis directory. 

In fact, UNIX is so dominant in the networking world that even though the great majority of networking machines are running Microsoft operating systems, they all use UNIX commands and UNIX directory nomenclature to operate their FTP and World Wide Web servers.  It's sort of like how educated people in Europe spoke Latin amongst each other for a thousand years after it became a dead language in actual practise.   Bill will get around to changing this, of course, but for now he is resting after creating the modern software industry as we know it during the previous six days.

To fetch a file, use the get command at the command interface.  To upload a file (if you have write permission in the directory), use the put command. Example: put mydata.zip

You can also connect directly to an FTP server by using its IP address instead of the domain name.  For example,

ftp 216.36.69.76 connects you to the wonderful FTP site maintained for your pleasure by manifold.net   Login as anonymous and then enter your email address for the password. 

Why would anyone use the IP address instead of a domain name?  Some servers get moved around within various domains but retain their IP address, so if you always use their IP address you can get to them from anywhere in the world.  Another reason is that local Domain Name Service (the directory which translates a name like edcftp.cr.usgs.gov into an IP address) may be trashed or not working right.  Or, perhaps you are worried some of your browser or system software isn't working quite right.  To see if it is the browser or you which is ill, you can always try the primitive connection using ftp in DOS connecting directly to an IP address.  If that works OK, you know it is your browser or other software.  The ping command is also handy for verifying connections.   At the DOS command line, say ping 216.36.69.76 to see a ping report of packets sent to our FTP site and then back to you.  If you can't ping an IP address or a domain name, you are not connected to it.

Notes:

It usually doesn't matter what you use as a password when logging in as "anonymous" but many FTP servers now are rejecting obviously impossible email addresses in an attempt to curb abuses.

FTP from a DOS command line is Pre-Cambrian sort of primitive.  If you are downloading a 10 megabyte file and the connection crashes after 9.99 megabytes have been transferred - tough luck.  Next time you restart the download from the beginning.

Experienced FTP Users Guide to the Manifold FTP Site

ftp://69.17.46.170     login: anonymous

Please have the courtesy to use your true email address as the password.  All transfers are logged.  Please do not abuse the system, as we will disable access to IP addresses associated with abusers. Logs are cleaned regularly - No information on any accesses will be shared with any third party or used for any email, spam or other marketing contacts. We only use the FTP logs to improve the FTP site.

Performance:  We limit the number of users to assure reasonable data transfer rates for all users.  If you are not getting 30 to 40 Kbit transfer rates, it is likely a bottleneck between the FTP site and you; if you are convinced otherwise, please email webmaster@manifold.net so we can try to dial up performance.

Webmasters: Please link to the home page or at least to the Downloads page.  Please do not link directly into the FTP sites. We maintain the FTP sites as a low-key marketing tool without banners and spam so that people will cruise through our main pages.

Site Organization:

incoming - upload files here and email webmaster@manifold.net with a note.  Please keep uploads to less than 100 MB.  If you need to send more, contact us and we will make arrangements for larger transfers.

downloads - free data for Manifold System users. Note: this is *copyrighted* information and is covered by your EULA with Manifold Net Ltd. The Manifold team has provided this data at no charge for use by LICENSED Manifold System users only.  No big deal, since the binaries are all in Manifold format. 

    100kDLG - USGS 1:100,000-scale maps originally published on 14 CDs in DLG optional format.  They're all here!

    Converters - Standalone programs used by Manifold System Release 3.00 customers to convert data from DLG, TIGER, SDTS, MIF, and CSV (comma-separated values) formats to Manifold.

    manifold_cd - An image of the data set provided on the Manifold System distribution CD for Release 3.00. Includes the complete Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) and Complete National Transportation Atlas Database (NTAD) from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Cool!   All free! Wow!

    DCW - The famous Digital Chart of the World published by the Defense Mapping Agency. Already converted to Manifold format.

   NTAD - Oops!  Various missing files and corrections to the National Transportation Data Atlas data published on the Manifold CD.  We omitted three data sets and made some mistakes in the others.

mirror - CIESIN data mirror, providing key cartographic and demographic data extracted from the US Census Bureau's TIGER database. Also contains miscellaneous files (shareware, freeware, user contributed, etc.) and is available for limited trading between manifold users.  Provided as a service to users for software exchange. Contact webmaster@manifold.net before relying on this service or uploading big files.  Files more than a week old are subject to deletion at random.  Please! No wild stuff, mp3 trades, etc.

scripts - example scripts, custom scripts, etc.

Back to Manifold Home Page