title.jpg (6847 bytes)

Saving Course Files
and Working Offline

Some people prefer to save information from the course lessons onto their home computer’s hard drive or onto a floppy disk. This allows them to work offline to review course materials, saving dialup charges.  They can also save the information for future reference after they have completed the course.

It is possible to save a Web page to your hard drive (or to a disk) and use your browser to view it offline. There is a caveat here: while you can view a Web page offline, you won't see the graphics for the page unless you specifically reconstruct directory structure (with all of the associated graphics). Please note that some equations and some symbols may also have been saved as graphic files.

There are two ways to save Web pages and view them offline:

  1. Save the individual files onto your hard drive or to a disk; or
  2. Use an offline Web agent to download the files.

1. Saving Individual Files

Saving HTML Files

Here are some of the steps you need to save a page and view it offline in Netscape 3.0 or higher or Microsoft Explorer 3.0 or higher.

  1. Click on the information (within the frame) that you would like to save
  2. Click on your browser’s File Menu
  3. Select the option "Save as..."
  4. Save the file, but remember the file name!

Note: If you wish to save files on a floppy disk, you will need to designate the destination as "A:\". Otherwise, files will be saved to the computer’s hard drive.

This will allow you to save the file to your local hard drive in a place other than the browser’s cache directory (the "Temporary Internet Files" folder in Microsoft Internet Explorer). The browser uses its cache directory to speed loading of the Web sites if you make a return visit. However, you are not assured that files will be safe there as the browser periodically cleans out its cache directory to prevent it from growing too large.

Normally the files are named using a four character extension (.html). Be aware, however, that a Windows 3.1 or MSDOS environment must have an extension that is shortened to ".htm." Both Netscape and Microsoft Internet Explorer will use the file name under which the document was stored on the remote system.

Saving Graphic Files

It's not hard to save the graphic files that load with a Web page. It does help to understand a little about the process of loading a Web page into a computer. Your browser takes the HTML file and loads it into its memory. The HTML file contains text and "mark-up" commands that dictate how the browser should  display the file. Basically, the browser reads the HTML file after loading it, locates all the commands to load graphics, retrieves the graphics from the server, and assembles the Web page by combining the graphics with the text contained in the HTML file. In essence, all the graphics you are seeing are loaded into your computer already!

To save a graphic on an IBM or  IBM-compatible computer:
  1. Position the cursor over the image and click on the right mouse button.
  2. Select the option "Save image as …"
  3. If not already there, enter an appropriate file name for the image.
  4. Click on the "OK" Button.

To save a graphic on a Macintosh:

  1. Position the cursor over the image, click once and hold.
  2. Select the option "Save image as..."
  3. If not already there, enter an appropriate file name for the image.
  4. Click on the "OK" button.
  • You will notice that the file extension is not HTM or HTML but rather a graphics extension such as  ".GIF",".JPG" or ".JPEG".

Viewing Your Course Files Offline

After you have disconnected from the Internet, activate your browser. Once your browser is active, follow these steps to view the files you have saved.

  1. Click on the "Open File..." menu option under the "File" menu and move to the directory where you saved the HTML or HTM file.
  2. Select the file that you wish to view from the list supplied. It will appear in the main display window.

Note: With the file loaded into the browser, you can do almost all of the same things as you do when you are online. Please note, however, that you will not be able to access other documents via hypertext links unless you have saved those HTML files as well.

2. Using an Offline Web Agent

There are several commercial programs available called "offline Web agents" that will download entire Web sites for you, including text, images, and links. These programs save you the trouble of remembering to save each individual image and link. When you download a Web site using an offline Web agent, the files will be saved in the program's own directory unless you specify another location.

You may download the following offline Web agents for an evaluation period, after which you will be required to pay a registration fee or destroy the software:

The above information was adapted with permission from information in Beginner's Central , created by Northern Web.