Macintosh and Windows Connectivity

Storing and Processing Off-line

We have set up a computer to share files between the NMR computers systems and your PC. This will allow you to archive your FIDs on your own computer systems. You may also process your data on your Mac or PC with free software.

Free software

Spinworks is also available for Windows PCs; it can be obtained from the University of Manitoba, NMR Facility.

Please note that NMR staff cannot provide support for processing off-line.

Getting your data

The server nmrweb serves files by ftp. You may use an graphical ftp client or a browser to connect to the server or connect by a command line.

Using a Web Browser

In your browser enter:

ftp://username:password@nmrweb.chem.utoronto.ca/

[put your username and password in the URL]

Mac OS X Finder

In Mac OS X (10.3 and higher) you can connect to the ftp server in the Finder:
In the Go menu, select "Connect to server…" . Enter your username and password in the dialog box. Your files will appear on the desktop.

Windows XP and Vista

You may use a web browser (see above). Internet explorer is easier to use to copy FIDs. Note: Neither Internet Explorer 7 nor Firefox work for transferring files.

You may use freeware such as FileZilla. I recommend Filezilla because it allows secure connection to the server. Connect to ftp://nmrweb.chem.utoronto.ca/

AN IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT FILEZILLA: Files must be transfered as "binary", not as "ASCII". See this link in the NMR Blog for more informatiom: NMR Blog.

Where's the data?

Your FIDs are in the data directory or vnmrsys/data directory. Select the option to save the .fid directory to disk to transfer your FID. The FIDs are stores in directories (folders) ending in .fid. You need to copy at least the fid and procpar files. For example, if you save a file called H1.fid, a directory H1.fid is created and the files fid, procpar, text and log are created inside that directory.

Use binary transfer to maintain the integrity of your data. (Usually the default for transfers.)

Missing data

Sometimes recent data cannot be found in FTP clients. In almost all cases the data is on the server but not shown in the client. This is usually due to client caching data directory listings (which may be huge) and thus not showing the most recent files. Turn off or flush the FTP client cache to see all your data.

OpenSSH and OpenSSL

The host iwazaru supports OpenSSH and OpenSSL which allows secure encrypted communication. The suite includes ssh for secure telnet and scp for secure file transfer. If you are worried about your password used in clear text, use these protocols.

To copy your files by secure sopy, on the command line type:

scp -r username@nmrweb.chem.utoronto.ca:data/* VNMR

[replace username with your username].

This copies all your NMR data to your local hard drive in the VNMR directory. Replacing the * with the fid name copies just that fid directory. (Thanks to Derek Tsang.)

Please email Tim Burrow with any comments