COMP110 Practical 1
Using the Departmental Windows Systems
1 Introduction
This practical is intended to familiarise you with the Departmental Windows systems and relates
to the following two module learning outcomes:
To effectively use relevant software packages and appreciate different types of software;
To effectively use general IT facilities including organising your file store, taking advantage of
access control and security features of operating systems.
Your first task will be to access the COMP110 module resources via the Departmental web server.
Since a lot of the official communication between you and staff of the University will be via
e-mail, a short introduction to the University e-mail system follows. You will then go on to learn
how to use the file manager and how to create text files using Notepad++ or Atom. The tasks
in Section 10 require you to create, compile and execute your first Java program. You will then
submit that program using both the Departmental and the Universitys Submission Systems. In
the concluding part, printing will be explained in some detail.
In the past all the labs of our Department were maintained by our own technical staff, using
our own servers to provide student and staff filestore, and using Departmental accounts for authen-
tication. In 2016-17, Lab 3 will be managed by the Universitys Computing Services Department
(CSD). The setup of the PCs in Lab 3 will be different and your University account is used for
authentication. So, be aware which lab you are working in and adjust what you do accordingly.
It is important that you complete the tasks in Sections 8 and 10 during this practical. If you
run out of time, then skip forward to these sections and complete the skipped parts of this practical
in your own time.
This document is available in PDF format at
http://intranet.csc.liv.ac.uk/ullrich/COMP110/notes/practical01.pdf
While you work through the tasks below compare your results with those of your fellow students
and ask one of the demonstrators for help and comments if required.
2 Logging in
You first need to log in. In Lab 3 you will need to do so with your University (MWS) username
and password while in all other labs you will need your Computer Science username and password.
You were given your username and an initial password during registration and may have already
changed the password. Computer Science username and password are not the same as your
University username and password. If you do not have this information, or have forgotten your
password, please go to the Computer Science Helpdesk, on the second floor of the Holt building.
If you make a mistake while logging in, the system will tell you and you should try again.
Ask at the Helpdesk if you have any difficulty. (Should any warning windows appear, simply
acknowledge these and carry on.)
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http://intranet.csc.liv.ac.uk/~ullrich/COMP110/notes/practical01.pdf
Once you have successfully logged on you will be presented with your Windows 10 desktop. The
desktop comprises a series of graphical icons on the left hand side listing a number of directories,
files and common applications.
At the bottom of the screen (desktop) is a horizontal taskbar. The taskbar contains the Start
button, providing access to the Start menu, and the Task view :
The Start menu allows you to access applications and files on the PC. The Task view contains
frequently used applications and indicates which applications you are currently running. A web
browser may have been started automatically when you logged in and would then be shown in the
Task view.
It is likely you are familiar with some version of Microsoft Windows. However, you may not be
familiar with the Enterprise Edition of MS Windows used here. It affords more limited rights to
ordinary users (i.e., those without admin rights like yourself), but also uses roaming user profiles
(i.e., certain changes you make on one PC will be reflected on any other PC you may use).
3 Starting Applications and Manipulating Windows
Figure 1: Default App Settings
The tasks in Sections 4 to 11 will require you to access the web.
There are number of web browsers installed on the system
including Google Chrome, Firefox MS Edge and MS Internet Ex-
plorer. In all likelihood, the default application for accessing the
web has been set to be MS Internet Explorer, a most unfortunate
choice.
So, you first task is to make a better choice. To do so you
need to go to the Default App Settings of the System Settings.
You can either do so by left-clicking Start, then Settings
(a button that looks like a gear wheel), System, and finally
Default apps (such a sequence of selections is typically de-
noted by StartSettingsDefault apps). Alternatively, click on the Start button, type
default app settings and select the most search appropriate result. This opens the settings shown
in Figure 1.
Look for the Web browser setting and choose your default browser. Also, add the web browser
of your choice to the taskbar by dragging the corresponding icon from the desktop onto the taskbar.
Practise with the window of the web browser that has just opened, and make sure you are
comfortable with the following:
1. Move the window by left-clicking on the title bar and, while holding down the left mouse button,
dragging it round the screen.
2. Resize a window by left-clicking on the resize button (bottom right hand corner) and, while
holding the left mouse down, increase the size of the box by dragging to the left and downwards.
To decrease the size of the window drag in the opposite directions.
3. Maximise the window by clicking the maximize button and then return to the original size
(button in same position but different icon).
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Figure 2: The departmental home page.
4. Minimise (iconify) the window using the minimize title bar button.
If you have any problems, ask a demonstrator to help you.
4 Accessing COMP110 Module Resources
The module resources for COMP110 are hosted on the Departments web servers, through a web
page maintained by the module co-ordinator, Dr Hustadt.
In the web browser open the URL http://intranet.csc.liv.ac.uk/, the Departments In-
tranet (Figure 2). In the top right-hand corner you see a link Login that allows you to log into
the Intranet using your departmental user account. Do so now. Then follow the link Teaching
(in the navigation menu in the left column), then the link Modules (again in the navigation
menu in the left column) and finally COMP110 (in the middle column). You have now reached
the official Departmental web page for COMP110 (Figure 3). In the middle column you find the
aims, learning outcomes, syllabus, recommended textbooks and learning strategy of the module.
Analogous web pages exist for all modules and can be accessed in the same way.
More useful is the web page for COMP110 that is maintained by the module co-ordinator
(Figure 4), also called the modules e-learning resource page. This web page can be reached by
following the link for Support Material on the Departmental web page for COMP110 or directly
via the URL
http://intranet.csc.liv.ac.uk/ullrich/COMP284/
Figure 3: The departmental web page for COMP284.
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http://intranet.csc.liv.ac.uk/
http://intranet.csc.liv.ac.uk/~ullrich/COMP284/
Figure 4: The module co-ordinators web page / e-learning resource page for COMP110.
You should have a look at the information provided here in your own time and also visit the e-
learning resource pages for your other modules. Right now you should work through the remaining
tasks of this practical.
5 Accessing VITAL
Some lecturers may still use a web-based Virtual Learning Environment called VITAL based on a
basic, feature-poor version of Blackboard to host the e-learning resources for their module. Again,
you will then typically find a link to VITAL on the Departmental web page for that module. (It
would be possible to link directly to the module in VITAL, but the corresponding URL changes
every year and is only useful for the students taking the module in that year.) Alternatively, you
can access VITAL using the URL
http://vital.liv.ac.uk/
into the URL field of your web browser. This will take you directly to the VITAL login page
(Figure 5).
To access VITAL you need to log in to the system by using your University (or MWS)
username and password. Once you are in VITAL you should locate the link to the particular
module or course you are interested in by clicking on the Sessions/Resources link in the sidebar.
For COMP110, VITAL will only contain links back to the e-learning resource page of the
module.
Figure 5: The VITAL login web page.
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http://vital.liv.ac.uk/
6 Changing Your Password
When you first registered with the Computer Science Department, you should have been given
a sheet of introductory exercises to familiarise yourself with the various systems in use in the
Department. One of the first tasks was to change your password to something that you can
remember (but no-one else can guess), rather than the random string you were given at first.
If you have not already changed your password, then do so now (having first read to the end
of this section!) Press the
a password from the list that appears. Then follow the instructions provided.
There are restrictions on what sort of password is acceptable. A valid password must:
Contain at least 7 characters
At least two characters must be letters (upper or lower case)
At least one must be:
numeric (the digits 0 through 9), or
special (neither letter nor numeric, for example, -, _, or $).
Make sure you remember your password, you will need it next time you log in.
The web page
http://intranet.csc.liv.ac.uk/student/ug-FAQ.pdf
explains what to do in case you lose/forget your username or password.
7 Electronic Mail
An important means of communication is electronic mail (or e-mail). E-mail allows you to com-
municate with anybody around the world who has a computer with appropriate software and the
required network connections. Many e-mail software packages exist and it is again up to you which
one you want to use. The Universitys own web-based e-mail system can be accessed via the URL
http://webmail.liv.ac.uk/
Alternatively, click on the link Students at the top of most University or Departmental web
pages, then select Webmail from the list of Web applications. Again, this is covered as part
of the introductory exercises. If you have not experimented with using the University webmail
system, then spend a few minutes doing so now. Further information on how to use webmail is
available at
http://www.liverpool.ac.uk/csd/email/webmail/
While the Department requires you to regularly read your e-mail and to use the Universitys
SMTP server to send e-mails to staff, there is no requirement that you need to use the Universitys
webmail system to do so.
In particular, see how e-mails can be forwarded
http://www.liverpool.ac.uk/csd/email/forwarding/
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http://intranet.csc.liv.ac.uk/student/ug-FAQ.pdf
http://webmail.liv.ac.uk/
http://www.liverpool.ac.uk/csd/email/webmail/
http://www.liverpool.ac.uk/csd/email/forwarding/
(a) MyDrives
Shortcut
(b) Enter Account Details (c) Map to Drive Letter
Figure 6: MyDrives: Enabling Access to the Departmental Filestore
and how a variety of e-mail clients can be configured to use the Universitys e-mail servers:
http://www.liverpool.ac.uk/csd/email/unsupported/
Note: thoroughly test any alternative setups. Nothing is more annoying (and damaging) than
e-mails getting lost because forwarding was not been set up correctly.
The Department and the University will assume that e-mails sent to your University e-mail ad-
dress reach you and that you check you e-mails frequently. Incorrectly configured e-mail forwarding
will not be accepted as an excuse for not receiving e-mails sent to you.
8 Organising Your Filestore
One of the ways that the systems at the University may differ from your home computer, is that
your personal files are not stored on the PC you are using but instead are stored on a central
server, and shared across all departmental PCs. This means that whichever machine you log into,
you should see the same files. This holds true for both the Departmental PCs, and University PCs
(such as those in the PC centres, see https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/csd/pc-centres/, and in
Lab 3).
8.1 Accessing Your Departmental Filestore
If you are working on a University PC, then you first need to enable access to your departmental file-
store. Click on the MyDrives shortcut on the desktop (Figure 6a) to open the MyDrives program.
Click on Add, then on Custom (Expert) in the configurator that opens. In the configurator, click
on the box to the left of Different username and enter your departmental username
intra
password; in the textfield to the right of UNC enter \cs-svr1.csc.liv.ac.uk\
(Figure 6b); then click on the button to the right of that textfield. If all the details entere were
correct you now see a listing of the contents of your departmental filestore (Figure 6c). Ignore the
option to connect to a particular folder within that filestore, but pick the drive letter H: as the
one you want to use for your departmental filestore. Finally, click Save.
Now, to see what files you currently have access to right click on the Start button, then select
the entry File Explorer in the menu that opens.
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http://www.liverpool.ac.uk/csd/email/unsupported/
https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/csd/pc-centres/
Figure 7: File Explorer
8.2 Working With Directories
The file explorer is an example of a type of application called a file manager. It displays the
following drives (Figure 7), among others:
1. System (C:) the primary partition of the first physical harddisk,
contains the operating system
2. cs6xyz (H:) your Departmental filestore (where cs9xyz is your Departmental account name)
3. SG6XYZ (M:) your University/MWS filestore (where sg6xyz is your University account name)
It is a good idea to organise your filestore in a logical manner. To help you do so the file
manager allows you to:
Create new folders (or directories the terms are effectively interchangeable).
Move part or all of the contents of one folder to another (regardless of whether the contents is
made up of folders, files or a mixture of the two).
Copy part or all of the contents of one folder to another.
Delete folders and files.
Note that Microsoft Windows distinguishes between deleting files, which simply moves them
to the Recycle Bin from where they can be recovered, and permanently deleting files, which
completely removes the files.
Rename folders and files.
Figure 8: File menu
Students typically create a directory for each year of study, e.g.
year1, year2, etc and within each of these directories a directory for
each module taken within the year, e.g. in the directory year1 there
would be directories comp101, comp103, etc. Note that while operating
systems nowadays typically allow the use of whitespaces in directory or
file names, these are cumbersome when using command line tools; the
use of underscores _ instead of whitespaces or the use of CamelCase
is preferable. Use the file manager now to create a directory structure
on the H: drive that you feel comfortable with, but note that the next
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two practicals assume that you create exactly the directory structure
suggested here.
Now open the top directory of the H: drive in the the file manager.
That is your departmental home directory. You might already have a file called myTimetable.txt
in it. If not do the following to create it: Right click in the file manager, use NewText Document
to create a document, rename it from New Text Document.txt to myTimetable.txt. Move the
file myTimetable.txt to your year1 folder and rename the file to semester1Timetable.txt.
You can delete a folder by clicking the right mouse button on it, and selecting the Delete
entry from the menu that appears (Figure 8).
Alternatively, you can select the folder by clicking the left mouse button on it and then pressing
the
Recycle Bin, then permanently delete it (by pressing the keys
same time).
Most of the functions provided by the file manager are fairly self explanatory and can be
discovered through a process of experimentation by right-clicking on folders and files and selecting
items from the resulting menus.
9 Editing Text Files
You will regularly have to develop computer programs in a variety of programming languages.
While there are Integrated Development Environments that make program development easier, on
most modules you will just use a text editor to write your code. Note that word processors like
Microsoft Word or Wordpad are not suitable for writing computer programs.
Regarding text editors, we recommend that you use either Notepad++, Atom, or Emacs. The
latter two have the advantage that they are also available under Linux. Try experimenting with
these editors to see which one you prefer to use.
To invoke Notepad++ or Atom click on the Start button, then search for the editor you want
to use (Figure 9a) and select the correct entry among the search results. Alternatively you can
type the name of the program into the search box and again select the correct entry among the
search results (Figures 9b and 9c). For now, start Notepad++. Once Notepad++ is running you see
a corresponding icon in the taskbar. As you may need the editor more often it might make sense
to make it a pinned app: Right-click on the editor icon in the taskbar and select the option Pin
to taskbar in the context menu that opens.
9.1 Notepad++
Before we use Notepad++ we need to make a change to its settings. The department uses a range
of operating systems including Linux, MacOS and MS Windows. One of the differences between
these operating systems is how the end of a line is indicated in files. Linux uses the single LF
Line Feed character, MacOS the CR Carriage Return character, while MS Windows uses the
sequence CR LF. For better interoperability of your files you should use LF. In Notepad++, use
SettingsPreferences to open the preferences editor of Notepad++. Click on New Document
in the menu on the left. You then see two lists of radio buttons. In the list entitled Format (Line
ending), select Unix (LF) instead of Windows (CR LF). Close the preferences editor.
To create a new file, click on the File option on the menu bar and then select New from
the resulting drop down menu (Figure 10).
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(a) Via Start Menu (b) Atom via Search (c) Notepad++ via Search
Figure 9: Invoking Notepad or Atom++
Figure 10: Creating a new text file using Notepad++
To type into an edit window the window must have what is called input focus. If the edit
windows title bar is blue then you have input focus, if not (i.e. it is greyed out) then simply click
in the window to gain input focus.
Using Notepad++ put together a list of all the recommended textbooks of your first semester
modules.
You can either type those in from the notes that you have taken during lectures or copy the
information from the departmental website. For example, to get the recommended textbooks for
COMP110, go to
http://intranet.csc.liv.ac.uk/ullrich/COMP110/lit.html
On that web page, select the description of the four recommended text books by moving the mouse
across the text while holding down the left mouse button (Figure 11). You can let go of the mouse
button now and press
Copy from the context menu.
Then move the input focus back to the Notepad++ window and paste the text into Notepad++.
You do so either by selecting EditPaste from the top menu of Notepad++ or by right-clicking
9
http://intranet.csc.liv.ac.uk/~ullrich/COMP110/lit.html
Figure 11: Copying text from a web browser
in the editor pane and selecting the option Paste from the context menu (Figure 12).
Figure 12: Text copied into Notepad++
Note the red floppy icon to the left of the file name for the text that you are currently editing.
This indicates that you have not saved the file since you have last modified it. Save the file into a
directory of your choice, e.g. year1, giving the file the name myBooks.txt. You do so by clicking
on the floppy disk symbol in the toolbar, navigating to the correct directory and giving the file
the name suggested.
Continue by adding information about the recommended textbooks for the other modules.
While doing so experiment with the menu options of Notepad++. Make sure that at the end of
this exercise you know how to do the following:
Insert new text into the file.
Overwrite existing text.
Move text within the file (cutting and pasting).
Delete text from the file.
Save the edit (i.e. store the changes you have made).
Save the edit using a different file name (save-as).
To print out your list of recommended textbooks, use FilePrint . Alternatively, click
on the printer symbol in the toolbar. See Section 11 for more details on printing.
Once you feel comfortable with Notepad++, close it using FileExit.
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9.2 Atom
Next open the Atom text editor. When you open Atom for the first time it is likely there are
several tabs open, possibly including Welcome, Telemetry Consent, and untitled. You
might want to start with Telemetry Consent and decide whether you want to send usage stats
to the developers of Atom.
Next explore the configuration options of Atom.
Use EditPreferences. A new tab Settings will appear in the main window pane of
Atom. In the left pane click on Editor, then in the right pane scroll down to Show Line
Numbers. Make sure that this option is enabled.
Next click on Themes in the left pane and choose the colour scheme that you prefer. For
the UI Theme choose One Light among the options and for the Syntax Theme again
choose One Light among the options.
Finally, explore Install. Atom is an extensible editor for which a lot of packages are
available that make program development easier. In the search field enter Java and press
autocomplete-java.
Once you feel that you understand how Atom works, close it by clicking on the cross in the top
right corner, via FileQuit, or via the key combination
10 A Small Cup of Java
Obviously, you can not only copy text from a web browser, but also from a PDF previewer.
1. If you have not already done so, open the following URL in your web browser:
http://intranet.csc.liv.ac.uk/ullrich/COMP110/notes/practical01.pdf
The web browser should automatically open a PDF previewer for the file, if not it should offer
you to save the file and you can then open the saved file in a PDF previewer. Scroll to Table 1
on page 12. This table shows a small Java program.
2. Create a new file in the Notepad++ editor.
3. Copy the text from the PDF previewer into Notepad++ just as you did with the list of recom-
mended text books from the COMP110 web page.
Notice the way Notepad++ helps you editing your Java program (you may first have to tell
Notepad++ that you are editing a Java program by selecting the Java option in the Language
menu of Notepad++):
1. Different parts of the program get automatically shown in different colours. This is useful,
for instance, to spot typos while typing Java keywords. If you typed ent instead of int the
word would be displayed in a different colour because Notepad++ would not recognise it as a
Java keyword but as a user-defined identifier. This behaviour of the editor is called syntax
highlighting.
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http://intranet.csc.liv.ac.uk/~ullrich/COMP110/notes/practical01.pdf
// HELLO WORLD PROGRAM
// Frans Coenen
// Monday 15 January 1999
// The University of Liverpool, UK
class HelloWorld {
// METHODS
/* Main method */
public static void main(String argv[]) {
System.out.println(Hello World);
}
}
Table 1: Your first Java program
2. Every time you close a bracket Notepad++ shows you which opening bracket it corresponds to
and vice versa. (Missing a bracket is a very common mistake while writing a program or a Java
class definition.)
3. Notepad++ automatically indents different lines of your program in different ways depending on
where they are within an application program or class definition.
Save the program to an appropriate directory in your filestore using the file name HelloWorld.java
(making sure that you type the file name in exactly the same way as presented here).
Now open a command prompt. One way of doing that is to right-click on the Start button and
to select the entry Command Prompt in the context menu that opens. Again, it might make sense
to pin this app to the taskbar.
By default you will be in the root directory of your filestore. If you have stored the Java
program somewhere else, then use the cd command to change to that directory. Then execute
the following two commands:
Ijavac HelloWorld.java
Ijava HelloWorld
as shown in Figure 13. Check that the output is as expected, in particular, check that the program
Figure 13: Compiling and executing a Java program
prints out Hello World. Congratulations, you have created your first Java program on our
computer systems.
11 Printing
If you want to print your Java program, you can do so using FilePrint in Notepad++.
This will open the print dialogue that lets you choose a printer and set your print preferences
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Figure 14: Printing in Notepad++
(Figure 14). The three main printers available to you are
1. Microsoft Print to PDF
2. PDFCreator
3. UOL-Queue on print
Microsoft Print to PDF and PDFCreator convert your file to PDF. PDF is often the required
format for reports that you need to write for your assignments or projects. You can easily convert
Microsoft Word documents to PDF using either of the two printing options. If the operating
system on your own PC / laptop does not come with built-in facilities to generated PDF files, then
you should install one.
UOL-Queue on print refers to the Follow-You print service of the University. Before you can
use this service you may first have to set it up. To do so, open
http://intranet.csc.liv.ac.uk/kjc/print.html
in a web browser and follow the instructions on Setting up Follow-You on Computer Science
student PCs. As the instructions explain, before you can print your print account must also be
in credit. So, do not forget to always top-up your print account.
Once the set-up is complete and you are in credit on your print account, test whether printing
is working by printing out either the Java program you wrote or the list of recommended textbooks
that you have compiled. To do so, follow the instruction on Using Follow-You printing on the
Student PCs at the URL given above.
You should be able to retrieve your printouts from any student accessible printer on the campus.
For example, there are two such printers located at both ends of the first floor corridor of the Holt
Building as well as the first, second and third floor of the Ashton Building.
For instructions on how you get one of these printers to release your print jobs, please read
http://intranet.csc.liv.ac.uk/kjc/ricoh_instructions.pdf
12 Logging Out
At the end of the session:
1. Close down any programs that you are running editor, web browser, etc (by, in each case,
selecting the appropriate menu option).
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http://intranet.csc.liv.ac.uk/~kjc/print.html
http://intranet.csc.liv.ac.uk/~kjc/ricoh_instructions.pdf
(a) Start menu (b) Shut down menu
Figure 15: Logging Out
2. Do not delete any of the files and directories that you have created. You will need them again.
3. Left-click on the Start button and select the Shutdown option (Figure 15a). In the window
that opens confirm that you want to Sign out (Figure 15b).
Finally, note that you can use the computer systems at any time in any lab which is free. Check
whether a scheduled lab practical is taking place before you enter a lab. You may also be asked
to leave a lab once such a session starts.
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Introduction
Logging in
Starting Applications and Manipulating Windows
Accessing COMP110 Module Resources
Accessing VITAL
Changing Your Password
Electronic Mail
Organising Your Filestore
Accessing Your Departmental Filestore
Working With Directories
Editing Text Files
Notepad++
Atom
A small cup of Java
Printing
Logging out
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