Drop-in Café Basic IT skills

• Are you struggling with using your computer?

• Are you in doubt of how to organize your files in your new role as a student?

DTU has initiated a new initiative that teaches students how to manage, use, and navigate their computer file systems. We also strive to make basic terminologies apparent and descriptive to enable you as a student.

When?

The Drop-in Cafe will be open

• in weeks 38 — 49 (except 42).

• in building 306, 1st floor

• Tuesday and Thursdays between 17-19.

Activities

• Analogue file system scavenger hunt

  A visual exploration of how files and folders are organized on a computer.

  After this activity the student will have experience in:

  • Understanding the file-explorer

  • Know that renaming files is equivalent to moving files (and vice versa)

• Digital file system scavenger hunt

  File used during exercise: ScavengerHunt.pdf

  A direct exploration of how files and folders are organized on a computer.

  After this activity the student will have experience in:

  • Understanding the file-explorer, navigating up/down in the file-tree

  • Understand what editing files means for a computer, i.e. that edits are not done implicitly on the file system

  • Know that renaming files is equivalent to moving files (and vice versa)

  • Understand where Downloaded files (from a browser) are placed in the file system.

• More are in the works…

Terminology

This is a non-exhaustive list of terminologies used when interacting with a computer. Some are language specific which means they may have different names on your computer if you have a different language setting (e.g. Windows File Explorer is named Stifinder in the Danish version).

Terminology

English	Dansk	Explanation
File/folder tree	Fil/mappe struktur	The hierarchical structure of directories and files on a computer.
Filesystem	Filsystem	The actual representation of the file/folder tree on the computers harddrives (disks).
File Explorer/Finder	Stifinder/Finder	The operating systems interactive view of the File/folder tree. This is the primary way for users of a computer to interact with their files and folders.
Extension	Filtypenavn	Files can have extensions that is formatted by a . and the extension. The extension informs the operating system how the file should be handled. For instance .docx files are Word documents, .py files are Python scripts.
Favorites	Favoritter	Easy access folders in your File Explorer/Finder. These are typically located to the top-left with Desktop, Downloads, Documents, etc. Add your most commonly used folders here by drag-and-dropping folders into the list.
Desktop	Skrivebord	A special folder that is shown when you turn on your machine. However, in the filesystem this is just a regular folder, like any other. This folder is user dependent, and thus exists in the file tree below the user.
Path	Sti	The full file-tree name of a file or folder in the file/folder tree. E.g. C:\Users\MyName\my_document.docx.
Compressed files	Komprimeret filer	Files can be reduced in size by re-arranging the internals of the file. This makes them unreadable until one decompresses the files. Some files are more susceptible to large compression (text files), while others will rarely be compressed further (JPEG images).
Command	Kommando	An instruction given to a computer program on the command line interface (terminal).
Command line interface	Kommando linje	Another name for a Terminal.
Directory separator	Mappe separator	On Windows the directory separator is \, while for MacOS, the separator is /.
Hard disk/drive	Hard disk/drev	The hardware that stores everything on the computer. The operating system, files required for the computer to work, as well as files that the user creates; images, text documents, etc.
Memory/RAM	Hukommelse	A dedicated place of space meant for the operating system to hold temporary disk space. This is very fast for the computer to work with. As opposed to the Hard disk which is rather slow.
Cloud/Remote storage	Skylager	A hard disk that is not physically on your computer. It is located somewhere else in the world, and requires internet access to interact with files on said storage.
Trash	Papirkurv	Deleting files will, generally, move the files to the trash-bin (typically located on your Desktop, or in your favourites). This allows one to recover files that were not intended to be deleted, but most importantly, they still occupy disk-space on your hard drive. Deleting files in the Trash will completely delete it.
Terminal	Terminal	A program that allows one to execute commands by writing what to do. See this table for commands.
Shell	Skal	Another name for a Terminal.
Console	Konsol	Another name for a Terminal.

Terminal commands

Command	What it does?
cd <dir>	Changes the current directory to <dir>. Equivalent to double-clicking the folder <dir> in your File Explorer/Finder.
ls	List the files and directories in the the current directory. Equivalent to viewing files and folders in the File Explorer/Finder.
mv <from> <to>	Will move file/folder <from> to <to>. Notice that mv file1 file2 will simply rename the file from file1 to file2.
rm <?>	Deletes files/folders named <?>.
pwd	Shows the currently opened directory in the terminal.
conda	Package manager for Python programs.
python/python3	Used to run Python programs from the terminal. Either scripts or interactively.

MacOS specific terms

English	Dansk	Explanation
Applications folder	Programmer folder	The directory on MacOS where installed applications are stored. Deleting applications here will uninstall them.
Dock	Dock	The Dock is a place to fast access certain applications and features. It can be re-arranged to any of the screen edges. By default it is located at the bottom of the screen.
Finder	Finder	The File Explorer for MacOS.
/	/	The directory separator for MacOS.
bash	bash	A commonly encountered terminal program in MacOS. bash and zsh can be considered equivalent.
zsh	zsh	A commonly encountered terminal program in MacOS. bash and zsh can be considered equivalent.

Windows specific terms

English	Dansk	Explanation
Add/Remove Programs	Tilføj/Fjern Programmer	Allows uninstalling Programs. Generally applications are installed through dedicated files, so this feature is typically only used for uninstalling software.
File Explorer	Stifinder	The File Explorer for Windows.
\		The directory separator for Windows.
PowerShell	PowerShell	The recommended terminal program in Windows.
Command prompt	Kommando prompt	A non-recommended terminal program in Windows. Many commands listed in Terminal commands does not work in the command prompt. We thus highly recommend users to stick with PowerShell.
CMD	CMD	Same as Command prompt.