Introduction to Computer Science – CSC101
Prelab for Lab #1 – HTML I: The Basics
Summer II 2011
I. Basic Windows Operations
In our labs you will be frequently working with files and folders. It is imperative
that you have the following skills:
1. Understand the difference between files and folders
2. Master the basic Windows operations on files and folders, such as:
ƒ creating new files and folders
ƒ copying a file or folder to another folder
ƒ renaming a file or folder
ƒ creating a shortcut to a program, file or folder
ƒ navigating to your Userdata folder to open or save a file
If you have not previously mastered these skills then you need to do one of the
following as soon as possible:
--Ask your RTA to go over these topics with you.
--Make an appointment to go over these topics with Mr. Pryor
--Work through one of the many online tutorials on basic Windows operations
such as the one at: http://www.courses.vcu.edu/tedu500/winxp
Here are some brief instructions on the Windows XP operations mentioned above.
(Note: There are multiple way to perform every Windows operation. It is
perfectly fine if your RTA or other students show you different ways to do things.)
ƒ To copy a file or folder to another folder:
Right-drag (click and drag with the right-mouse button) the file or folder to
where you want to make copy. Release the mouse button. From the menu,
select Copy Here.
ƒ To rename a file or folder:
Right-click the file or folder you want to rename. From the menu, select
Rename. You will see the name of file highlighted. Change it by typing in the
highlighted box.
ƒ To create a shortcut to a program or a file or a folder on your desktop:
Right-drag (click and drag with the right-mouse button) the file or folder for
which you want to create a shortcut for to the desktop. Release the mouse
button. From the menu, select Create Shortcut(s) Here.
II. Create the folders needed for CSC 101 Labs
Before coming to the first lab, you should create some folders for organizing
your CSC 101 labs during the semester.
Open your "Userdata" folder by double-clicking the Userdata icon on the
Desktop.
1. Right click on the background in this new window.
2. From the menu, highlight New. You will see lots of types of files you can
create. Create a new Folder. You will get a folder with its name
highlighted.
3. Change the name of "New folder" to "csc101" (exactly; no spaces,
lowercase!). Now open your new csc101 folder and within that folder
create another folder named lab1
4. EXTREMELY IMPORTANT: When creating the csc101 and
lab1 folders, DO NOT include any spaces!!! You’ll also
learn later that upper case and lower case letters are not
interchangeable when working with web sites.
III. Create a Shortcut to Notepad on your Desktop
Several CSC 101 labs will require you to use an editing program for typing
simple text files—HTML files, file example. We recommend using Notepad (don’t
use WordPad or MS-Word unless you have a thorough understanding of how to
deal with text files in those programs). To make it easier to use Notepad we
recommend placing a shortcut to Notepad on your desktop. To do so, follow
these steps: Start Button, Select Programs, Select Accessories, use RIGHT
mouse button to click on Notepad, select Create Shortcut. You should now see
an entry labeled Notepad (2) in your list of Accessory programs. Using the left
mouse button, drag that icon to your desktop. You can rename it by clicking with
the right mouse button.
IV. Basic HTML
If you have ever read or written HTML code then you can skip this section. If you
know little or nothing about HTML then there’s one more important thing you
need to do to prepare for this week’s lab. Our on-line HTML reference for lab will
be a series of web pages located at
http://www.w3schools.com/html/html_intro.asp
For the first lab you should go to this URL and read through the first five pages of
the tutorial there. These five pages have in their titles: Introduction, Elements,
Tags, Formatting and Character Entities. You need to be familiar with this
material prior to lab on Tuesday.
Print out the lab instructions for Lab 1. They can be found
by going to the course web page at:
http://www.wfu.edu/~pryoree/calendar.html
then selecting the link to Lab1 - HTMLI”.