Working from Home

You will first need to download and install the Java 2 SDK v1.4.0.  Click here to go to Sun's site.  You can choose the appropriate download for your current OS.  Either way, you want the SDK for Windows, Linux, etc.  This will take an hour+ over traditional dial-up connections, but less time over a cable modem or DSL.
Read the instructions for installation for your the OS you are using and follow them!  Most of the trouble students have with this installation is because they have not read the installation instructions and followed them explicitly for their systems.
Install the Emacs-JDE self-extracting zip by clicking on this link to begin downloading. (Downloading this can take well over an hour as well over traditional modems.)

Follow the instructions for installation:

  • Double click file "Emacs-JDE.exe".
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  • When the window pops up to ask you where you want to install, you can simply press unzip and it will install in the correct place.  Please do not change where the files get unzipped to.
  • Once the install has completed, go to the directory "C:\emacs-20.7\bin" and double click the "addpm.exe"
  • This setup assumes you have installed Java 2 SDK 1.3 in C:\jdk1.3 and its documentation files in C:\jdk1.3\docs. Which is how it will set up by default. Since we are no longer using 1.3, you must open up the .emacs file that has been included in this zip and in all the places that it states jdk1.3, you must change it to jdk1.4<version>.  Basically, whatever directory you have your 1.4 version installed into.
Now you can write, compile, debug, and run Java programs from home. However, there are a few things that are still needed to run the programs for this class. Go to the course website and go to the resources page and download the CSE115.exe files to your C:\ drive. Then, double click on each of these files. They will unzip and place themselves properly on your computer. For the rest of the semester, there may be files you need to download to complete your labs from home.
Now you can do the work for this class, but it will be saved on your home machine. You need to move those files to yeager so they can be submitted. You need to download a file transfer program. Luckily, there is one available on the Tech Tools CD. Copy/Download this program to your computer and double click the file to install. When this program is started up, it will ask you to enter a host. It will be displaying something by default. You need to click "NEW" and create a new host entry. The entry should look like the one below.

Important: You need to connect to armstrong to ftp files. Armstrong is the main file server - yeager does not support ftp.

After connecting, you will see the contents of your home computer on the left side of the window and the contents of your yeager account on the right. Click on a file and use the arrows to move files back and forth.

Now the files are on your yeager account. You need to zip them up and submit them. You need to interact with yeager directly. Therefore, you need a program like SSH (available on the Tech Tools CD) installed on your computer. Install that program from the CD or download from the website. When you start up SSH, you go to File->Connect and input the information requested. Your host's name is yeager.cse.buffalo.edu and you input your username. When a connection is made for the first time, a message that reads like an error might appear. Click "Yes" to that message. After that, SSH will prompt you for your password. When the password is accepted, you are connected. Typing 'ls' will give you a list of your files. Now you can follow the instructions for zipping your files and submitting them per the lab instructions.