1≤ « r 5 9 9 : ; < = FTP file list text to HTML Conversion Utility
Disclaimer.
I make no claim to the usability of this program for any purpose other than the purpose for which it was written nor do I accept any responsibility for loss or damage resulting from it's use.
This program was written specifically for Netscape and may not work correctly on Mosaic or other web browsers.
This program is distributed as Freeware and any payments made to the author will be considered a donation to my favourite charity. No support is offered and no manuals or other help is given by myself to users of this program.
History.
After playing around with the newsgroup listing, cutting and pasting to Netscape location window, I thought there must be a better way of doing this offline. Converting this to a HTML document from a text file made it easier to ftp the files but was hard work when done manually. Creating a blank HTML document first made it easier still but still meant a lot of cutting and pasting to do the conversion. That's when I decided to get a program to do the cutting and pasting for me.
A bit of head scratching and a few hours later, FTPCONV.EXE was born.
The Format.
The format was taken from the newsgroup comp.archives.msdos.announce as this was where I got most of my FTP file information from. Being a Demon user at the time, I had to convert their format to suit, but as I did not get so many files from them, I wasn't so worried. The most often seen format is:-
ftp://blah.blah.blah/etc/etc1/etc2/filename.ext
which can be cut and pasted directly into the Netscape/Mosaic location window. Since this is often the format that most internet users employ to tell others of file locations, I thought this was the best one to use.
PLEASE NOTE: There are no spaces allowed anywhere in this format except after the filename extension as text following the space will be treated as notes to be viewed on the HTML document. ie (for those that know HTM language):-
ftp://blah.blah.blah/etc/etc1/etc2/filename.ext Some text to act as a description
will be converted to:-
<LI><A HREF="ftp://blah.blah.blah/etc/etc1/etc2/filename.ext">filename.ext Some text to act as a description</A>
Spaces following the filename.ext will mark the start of a text notes area and will be appended (with the space) to the filename but before the </A> so that it can be seen on the Netscape browser screen Thus:-
1. FILENAME.EXT Some text to act as a description
Note that the Filename has been converted to upper case to allow ease of reading in Netscape. My first attempt left the filename as lower case and it was hard to determine which was the filename and where the description started. In short, it was a mess, When I find out how to use Tabs in HTML documents, I'll tidy it up even more.
The list has a numeric format and the header has the date on which the conversion was done in order that it can be deleted if a later version is found to exist. This means that allowing overwrites enables changes to be reflected in the HTM document and later versions not overwritten can be identified when viewed. This was to allow me to see the creation date on loading one file instead of having to scroll down to see which had the most entries of two files, (you get the general idea - I hope).
So, the final output will look like:-
FTP List converter V1.2
_______________________________________
FTP Session for MM-DD-YYYY
_____________________________
1. FILE1.EXT Some text to describe file1
2. FILE2.EXT Some text to describe file2
etc
etc
15. FILE15.EXT Some text to describe file15
________________________________________
Some blurb from me.
My Email address
By clicking on any of the file names, you will be able to access the site to FTP the file. Netscape will inform you if the file cannot be found or if the site is too busy at the moment. It may also ask where you want to store the file before you download it.
Notes.
The bottom has a little note from me and an email address for you to contact me to inform me of any bugs, but please be patient, I'm new to Hypertext (only 2 weeks experience) and I don't have much time to play. This means that bug reports may require a little time to get seen to. I have checked this out quite thoroughly but There are always things which get missed.
You will notice that the Output file name changes when the input filename is selected - the Path and filename are kept and the extension changes. This is because I like to have the input and output files together so I can cross reference. Keeping the same filename also helps when looking for files that go together. Another thing I should point out is that the browser does not allow a double-click selection of the file, you must select the file by clicking the OK button. If you used my mouse, you would understand why. The Debounce circuit for the buttons is somewhat lacking and many a single-click has been seen by my computer as a double-click - I will get a new mouse one day.
Finally, I have not kept to the convention of underlined letters on the buttons or controls to allow ALT+letter activation of buttons. With so many Windows users around, the mouse has become an essential part of any PC and few users do without one, even laptops now have them built-in. To have a mouse and then only use the keyboard is pointless (excuse the pun).
Niggling points.
There are a couple of little niggles that will be sorted later when I get time. This program was written during a couple of hours that should have been rest time, (but what the hell), and the time limit meant that some things had to be left out. For Example, the HTML document cannot be viewed to allow manual changes after conversion.
This program is copyright 1995 by Dale Saunders.
Warning.
This program will overwrite any file which currently exists with a path/file name the same as that in the output box. It is suggested that you use this program in its own directory and the working directory is normally empty. The resulting HTML document should be moved to another directory after conversion.
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