Uploading files to Resources or Drop Box using WebDAV with Mac OS X

On this page:

• About WebDAV
• Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) and later
• Mac OS X 10.3 (Panther) and earlier

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About WebDAV

WebDAV (Web-based Distributed Authoring and Versioning) allows you to upload and download large files, multiple files, or folders of files to your course or project site more easily.

You can use WebDAV to upload and access files in your site's Resources or Drop Box, if you have the required permissions.

Consider the following:

• Before you set up WebDAV, at least one object (i.e., file or folder) must be in the destination Resources or Drop Box tool. For help, see Resources or Adding, editing, or deleting an item in Drop Box.
  
  
• Set up WebDAV separately for each site.
  
  
• Saving files to your site directly from within an application (e.g., Word or Excel) does not work reliably. For best results, save the file to your computer first, and then upload it to your site.

Note: Filenames that include certain characters cannot be accepted. For a list of unsupported characters, see Unsupported characters.

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Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) and later

To use WebDAV to upload and access files in Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) and later:

1. In the Finder, press Command-k . (Alternatively, from the Go menu, choose Connect to Server.)
   
   
2. In the "Server Address:" field, enter a URL that points to the destination tool.

   Contact your site administrator for the URL's format; it will likely include the siteID for your site. For instructions on finding your siteID, see Determining your site's siteID.

3. Enter your username and password if prompted.

You may now drag and drop folders between your computer and the sites to which you just connected.

Optionally, you may click the + (plus sign) to the right of the server address after you enter it, and the server will be added to your list of favorite servers.

When you log in, you can choose to have the passphrase remembered in your Keychain. If you do this, you will not be prompted for a passphrase when you log into your personal Resources or Drop Box or the Resources for any site to which you have access. Do not do this unless your computer is secured from use by others.

Note: When you use WebDAV to access resources using this method, you may notice that .DS_store files are being created. Apple's knowledge base provides instructions for eliminating this behavior.

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Mac OS X 10.3 (Panther) and earlier

Using WebDAV to upload and access files in Mac OS X 10.3 (Panther) and earlier requires a third-party client called Goliath.

Note: Goliath has some known performance issues, and may not work all of the time. Because of this, only limited support is available if you experience problems.

You can download a free copy of Goliath. Once you have downloaded the file:

1. Double-click the file to decompress it. Then double-click the resulting .dmg file. (Depending on your version and configuration of StuffIt, the disk image may automatically mount.)
   
   
2. A disk image named Goliath 1.0.1 should now be available. Drag and drop the Goliath folder contained within the disk image to your hard disk.
   
   
3. Open the Goliath application.
   
   
4. In the "Server Address:" field, enter a URL that points to the destination tool.

   Contact your site administrator for the URL's format; it will likely include the siteID for your site.

   Note: For instructions on finding your siteID, see Determining your site's siteID.

5. Enter your username and password if prompted.
   
   
6. Click the Advanced settings tab, and check Disable Encoding of Macintosh Recourse. Then click OK.

The first time you attempt to connect, you may be prompted to accept a certificate for the site. Click OK if prompted.

You may now drag and drop folders between your computer and the sites to which you just connected.

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