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How To Get Help When Using The Engineering Computer Network

Phil Moyer

There is a wide variety of resources available at ECN to help you answer questions you have about the system or third-party software:

Step 1. The first step in getting help with a problem is to try to answer the question yourself. Here are a few ways you can do that:

ON-LINE MANUAL PAGES

Type "man " where is the subject about which you have questions. For example, if you want to know more about changing file permissions, you could type "man chmod" , since chmod is the command to accomplish this task. If you didn't know what command changed file permissions, you could ask the system to look for and then present a listing of all commands dealing with the keyword "permission" by typing "man -k permission". You would see something like:

 chmod (1V) - change permissions mode of files

at which point you would know to type "man chmod".

ECN NO NAME NEWSLETTER

The NNN has published many articles on subjects that come up frequently. You can browse through an index of article titles by typing "help ecnnews/NEWSLETTERS" . When the newsletter menu comes up, select "MASTER.CONTENT" . Printed copies of the latest NNN are usually available in public terminal rooms and in the Siegesmund Engineering Library located in the Potter Center.

PUBLIC DOCUMENTATION

Many public terminal rooms have manuals for various software packages and system documentation. Check the indices for the subject in which you are interested.

RESERVE MATERIAL

Many software manuals are available for three day loan from the Siegesmund Library in the Potter Engineering Center. To see a list of the manuals currently available, type "help ecnnews/DOCUMENTATION". When the documentation menu appears, select "LibraryManuals".

MANUALS AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE

Some manuals are available for users to purchase at the Armory Bookstore. To see a list of these manuals and documents, type "help ecnnews/DOCUMENTATION". When the documentation menu appears, select "ArmoryManuals".

Step 2.

If you have tried to answer the question yourself and still do not know the answer, or if the answer was unclear, try asking a consultant. Most sites have consultants available in the public terminal rooms during day and evening hours.

Step 3.

If your question was not answered clearly by the consultant, or you couldn't find the consultant on duty, ask your site specialist:

     School  Site Specialist   Login        Office

     AAE     Beth Chaney       bac          GRIS 101E
     AgE     Stan Harlow       harlow       AGEN 112
     ChE     Dave Carmichael   carmicha     CHME 112D
     ChE     Stacey Clark      stacey       CHME 209
     CE      Stacey Clark      stacey       CHME 209
     EE      Sally Goldberg    sally        MSEE 178
     IE      Beth Chaney       bac          GRIS 101E
     IdE     Ralph McCallister ralph        POTR 304c
     MSE     Sally Goldberg    sally        MSEE 178
     ME      Tim Kechkaylo     tsk          ME 242A
             Scott Hicks       sh           ME 242
     NUCL    Beth Chaney       bac          GRIS 101E

Step 4.

If you still do not have an answer to your question, you can direct your question to one of the 4UNIX consultants who are available in MSEE 104, by telephoning 49-4UNIX, or sending e-mail to 4unix.

webmaster@ecn.purdue.edu

Last modified: Wednesday, 15-Oct-97 15:59:29 EST

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