Troubleshooting

1. When I click on a recipe or example file (ending in .c), it doesn't display correctly in my browser and/or it opens an inappropriate external application.

You need to teach your browser how to handle C files with .c and .h extensions.

  1. In Netscape (version 4.XX -- similar in other versions), you go to Edit/Preferences... and choose Navigator/Applications. Now go to step 3.
  2. For Microsoft Internet Explorer, you go to View/Folder Options... from the menu bar of any open folder (not from Microsoft Internet Explorer!). Choose File Types. Now go to step 3.
  3. Highlight, and then page through with down arrow, all the file types, looking for any that list extension "C" or "H" under "File type details". If you find one, then Edit it. If you don't find one, then create a New Type. In either case set the MIME type to text/plain, and be sure that the extensions are .c and .h .
  4. For Netscape, now choose whether to display the file within Netscape, or to use an external application. In the latter case, you might choose a simple text editor (notepad, emacs, etc.), or you might choose a C development environment (Microsoft Visual C++, etc.). If you want the option of saving the file to disk as the default, then check the "Ask me" box.
  5. For Microsoft Internet Explorer, now edit or create an action named "open", and choose an external application to use. You might choose a simple text editor (notepad, emacs, etc.), or you might choose a C development environment (Microsoft Visual C++, etc.).
If these instructions are not sufficient, you'll need to consult the help files for your browser. All our source code files are plain text files with conventional extensions.

2. OK, I can see the files, but how do I save selected files to (e.g.) a working directory for a programming project?

  1. If you are already displaying the contents of the file, go back to where you see a browser page with a link to the file.
  2. For Netscape, hold down the Shift key and then left-click on the link. You will get a Save As dialog box from which you can select a destination folder.
  3. For Microsoft Internet Explorer, right-click on the link, and then choose Save Target As in the context menu. You will get a dialog box from which you can select a destination folder.
If this doesn't work, you can always just get out of your browser and copy the files from their folders to your destination folder. They are not in any way encoded.

3. Your links are all messed up! The links are in lower-case, but the file names are in upper case. (Or: some of your links are longer than 8 letters, but the file names are truncated to 8 letters.)

This should never happen in Windows. If it happens in UNIX or Linux, it means that you are using a Windows (not UNIX/Linux) version of the CDROM, and that you have mounted it incorrectly, without mapping the file system to long file names and upper/lower case. Since the Windows disk is not licensed for use on UNIX/Linux systems at all, we can offer you no assistance.