Uploads Page

Overview

The Uploads Page shows you all of the completed, failed, or in progress files that other people have requested from you. After you have selected one or more directories with files to share, and other users have received your search results, they may decided to start downloading your shared files. You can control the settings of your uploads, as well as manage the list of uploaded files, from here.

Appearance

Upload List

This list shows all of your uploads. These are the columns:

File Name The name of the file as requested by the client.
Size This is the size of the requested file. Two values are displayed if the remote host has a portion of the file already. This happens after your server has sent file information, and also if the remote host resumed the transfer. The first value is the amount of data the remote host has. The second is the size of the requested file.
Status

This is the status of the transfer. Sorting on the status column will group the transfers logically. When at least one byte of the requested file is sent, the status changes to a percentage indicator. For resumed uploads, this will start off at the percentage of the file the remote computer already has.

Before the transfer completes or fails, you will see these states:
Request A connection has been made and BearShare is waiting for a file request.
Push A file was requested for push.
Waiting A push request came in, but the upload limit was reached. BearShare will contact the remote host periodically to inform them of the busy status until there is an open slot.

When an upload finishes, these are the possible states:
Info The request was for information about the file. The FreePeers Agent sends the information about the file and closes the connection.
Done The transfer was completed. The total transfer time and average throughput is displayed in the Time and Bandwidth columns. These items get removed from the list after a brief interval unless Keep completed is checked.
Incomplete The remote host closed the connection gracefully before all of the file data was sent.

When the request is terminated, these states are possible:
Aborted You aborted the transfer.
Bad The remote server issued a bad request. The reason is reported in the error list if Show all download errors is checked in the Network Setup.
Blocked The requestor's IP address was blocked due to repeated abuse. Blocked addresses are unblocked after 5 minutes.
Error A program failure occurred. The reason is reported in the error list.
Full Your server is at the limit on concurrent upload requests. The remote host receives a busy response.
Limit The remote host reached the per-person upload limit.
Not Found The requested file was not found.
Stopping The server is in the process of gracefully shutting down, and the upload request was denied.
Timeout The FreePeers Agent terminated the connection for one of many possible reasons. To see the reasons, turn on Show all upload errors in the Network Setup.
Not Shared You moved, renamed, or deleted the file from the shared directory, or you turned sharing off.
Browser The FreePeers agent rejected an upload request from a web browser.
Dup The remote host requested a file they are already transferring. This happens frequently when people use "download accelerators". These programs open up to 10 or more connections to the same computer in an attempt to get the file more quickly. Usually, this results in a slower overall transfer, and more strain on the server sharing the file. If too many duplicate requests are received in a certain time period, the IP address is blocked for 5 minutes.

Due to the nature of TCP/IP over the Internet, connections can frequently fail. When they fail, the status will show one of the following:
Abort The connection was aborted by the remote host. This can be the result of user actions, or a problem with their software.
Refused A manual or automatic connection attempt was refused by the remote host. The remote host may not be running the program any more, or they may be behind a firewall. This can also happen if the remote host has more incoming connections than it can handle.
Reset The connection was reset by the remote host. This can happen when the disconnect sequence is abruptly terminated, or through a software problem.
Down The remote host is not responding to a connection attempt.
Unreach The remote host IP address is unreachable from your network.
Net Down The network subsystem failed.
Failure Another problem was indicated with the connection. The reason is reported in the error list.

Time For transfers in progress, this is the estimated time until the transfer is done. If your server is busy, this shows the number of seconds until BearShare will contact the host and try again. For other active items, this shows the number of seconds for the current status to change until BearShare gives up on the transfer. If this is a completed item, the total elapsed time for the transfer is displayed.
Bandwidth The amount of bandwidth used by the transfer is shown if the transfer is in progress. If the transfer is complete, this shows the average throughput for the entire transfer.
Host The IP address of the computer you are uploading to is displayed here. The computer name is displayed when it can be determined if reverse lookup is enabled in the Setup and your DNS server allows reverse lookups.
Origin The country of origin, internet service provider, or business entity corresponding to the remote address is displayed when it can be determined if reverse lookup is enabled in the Setup and your DNS server allows reverse lookups.
Version The type of software the remote server is using is displayed here when it can be determined.

Note that you may see connections come and go frequently in the upload list. These are temporary connections that BearShare holds open so it may report the status of a file or your server as a courtesy to other users.

You can select an upload by left clicking in the list. You may select more than one upload by holding down the control key when you click.

Uploads Menu

Right clicking in the uploads list produces the uploads menu. This menu provides the following options:

Open Opens the shared file using the program appropriate for the file type. You can open files even while they are being transferred. You may also double click an item in the list to open it.
Explore Opens the directory containing the shared file using the Windows Explorer. This is a useful shortcut for managing your shared files.
Clear

This will remove selected red and green items from the list. It does not affect your files.

Abort

This aborts an upload in progress. Aborted uploads are counted as failed uploads for purposes of reporting the percentage of successful uploads. It is considered bad form to abort uploads for no good reason. This will abort any upload, whether the file transfer has begun or not, including push uploads that are busy. Aborting an upload does not affect file data already sent to the remote host.

Clear All

This will remove all red and green items from the list. It does not affect your files.

Abort All

This aborts all transfers in progress.

Block IP Disconnects and removes selected uploads from the list, and prevents those IP addresses from connecting until the program is re-launched.

Upload Errors

Any problems with your uploads will appear in this list. Sometimes problems do happen; For example, the computer you are send a file to may become disconnected from the network, or the user may decide they no longer want the shared file.

Critical problems, such as not being able to open the file, the file being corrupted, or the file being in use by another application are also displayed here.

You can clear the list by right clicking with the mouse and choosing Clear List. You may also resize the errors list by clicking and dragging in the space between the errors list and the host list.

Upload Display Controls

Turning these boxes on instructs BearShare to keep the appropriate item in the display. Normally, completed or failed items are removed from the list after being displayed for a brief interval.

Note: These checkboxes do not affect your files

Tip: Items in the list do consume some memory, so if you leave the programming running unattended, consider turning both items off when sharing. The Monitor page keeps track of how many times each of your shared files was successfully uploaded or requested, regardless of these settings.

Share Files

When you check this box, you make the files in your shared directory available to other hosts for uploading. In technical terms, BearShare will listen on the TCP/IP port number you specified in the Setup Network Page, and will also respect push requests coming in through your host connections.

If you do not want your computer to listen for some particular reason, you can turn off the Accept Uploads checkbox. Note that you must also turn off Accept Incoming Connections checkbox in the hosts page to really not listen for connections. You can tell that your computer is accepting connections because the server indicator will be turned on.

Note that just because your computer is listening for connections does not mean that other users can receive your files. If you are behind a firewall, or your network administrator has set certain configurations, you may be unable to accept incoming connections even when the options are set.

When this checkbox is off, BearShare will not respond to other users search requests.

The total number of concurrent uploads can be changed in the at once edit box. This is the largest number of uploads that will be allowed simultaneously. When the limit is reached, new upload requests will receive a busy response.

The max per person edit box controls the maximum number of concurrent uploads that a single individual will be allowed to have. Any more over this limit, and the remote host will receive a busy response. The busy response is sent even if the total number of concurrent uploads is less than the number indicated in the at once edit box.

The purpose of this control is to limit the ability of greedy downloaders to tie up your server and prevent other people from accessing your shared files. It is recommended that you keep the number at one or two, so that you may share to more people.

Web Controls

Checking the Web Search option allows your files to be searched, browsed, and downloaded on Gnutella Web Search. This valuable service allows firewalled users, non Windows users, and low bandwidth users to get a better experience when trying to get files. Gnutella Web Search also reduces the traffic on the Gnutella network, since it does not broadcast as many queries as a typical client. Clicking the Search link will take you directly to Gnutella Web Search.

Activating the Web Site option turns on the web server that is built into the FreePeers Agent. When you web site is activated, users may browse your files and web pages by choosing Browse Web Site from the Search List, or by using a link provided by Gnutella Web Search. You can view the appearance of your web site by clicking the Site link.

Bandwidth Limit

When checked, this limits the total bandwidth consumed by all active uploads to the value indicated. The bandwidth limit is not applied to pages served by the web server, however.

Upload Statistics

This area shows the number of uploads in progress, and the portion of your bandwidth consumed by uploads. The bandwidth does not include the bandwidth used for hosts or downloads, and does not include bandwidth used by other programs.