home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
The Arsenal Files 6
/
The Arsenal Files 6 (Arsenal Computer).ISO
/
internet
/
ftpmon10.zip
/
FTPMON.TXT
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
1996-01-29
|
8KB
|
174 lines
FTPMon 1.0 for OS/2
DESCRIPTION
---------------------------------------------------------------------
I wrote FTPMon so that I could scan the incoming directory of an
anonymous FTP site and not have to look through a lot of old files
to see what was new. FTPMon maintains a list of all the files in the
incoming directory of a site, but displays only those that you have
not seen previously. Once you see a file in the list, you can download
it, view it, or tag it as boring. Downloaded and boring files are
removed from the list (but not, of course, the FTP site), and don't
appear there again. FTPMon will refresh the list once an hour, or at
the request of the user.
COPYRIGHT AND DISTRIBUTION
---------------------------------------------------------------------
See the file README.1ST for copyright and distribution information.
HOW TO USE FTPMon
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Install FTPMon according to the directions in README.1ST. Double-
click on the "FTP Monitor" program object to start FTPMon.
_First time startup_
The first time you run FTPMon, you will see a Quick info... screen
describing the next two dialogs you will see. Double click on the title
bar icon to continue. You will then be asked for your e-mail address.
The e-mail address is used to set your initial password for anonymous
logins. You will then asked to create a site file. A site file holds the
information needed to connect to a specific site as well as the list of
files you've already seen. You may create or switch to another site file
by selecting the 'Site File...' option from the 'Options' menu.
_Using FTPMon_
Once the first time startup information is entered, you will see the
FTPMon main window. It will look something like this (best viewed
with a monospaced font):
.__________________________________________________________________.
|\/| New Files - HOBBES |
|__________________________________________________________________|
|Options |
|__________________________________________________________________|
|.________________________________________________________________.|
|| |/\||
|| | ||
|| | ||
|| |\/||
|+________________________________________________________________+|
|.________________________________________________________________.|
|| hobbes.nmsu.edu/incoming ||
|+________________________________________________________________+|
| Download Directory |
|.________________________________________________________________.|
|| C:\TMP ||
|+________________________________________________________________+|
|.______________. .______________. .______________.|
|| Download | | View | | Boring! ||
|+______________+ +______________+ +______________+|
|.________________________________________________________________.|
|| Update Now ||
|+________________________________________________________________+|
+__________________________________________________________________+
The FTPMon window consists of the following parts:
(1) An Options menu, which is described later.
(2) A list box. The list box will eventually contain a list of files
at an FTP site.
(3) An entry field. In entry field, enter the name of the
FTP site you're interested in and the directory you want to
monitor in the format <site>/<directory>. For example, hobbes's
incoming directory would be 'hobbes.nmsu.edu/incoming' and CDROM's
incoming directory would be 'ftp.cdrom.com/pub/os2/incoming'.
(4) Another entry field, under the Text "Download Directory". Enter
the drive and directory on your computer where you want the files
you download to go.
(5) Four pushbuttons: Download, View, Boring!, and Update Now.
To download files in the list to the directory in the Download
Directory entry field, highlight all the files in the list you want to
download and push the Download button. Multiple files may be selected
via ctrl-click and (if the files are sequential) shift-click in the
list box. After downloading a file, it is removed from the list
automatically. You will not see those files in the list again.
To view files text files in the list, highlight the files you
want to view and push the View button.
To remove files from the list without downloading them, highlight the
files you want to remove and push the Boring! button. You will
not see those files in the list again.
To update the list by re-scanning the FTP site, push the Update Now
button. FTPMon will then connect to the FTP site, get a list of files
in the desired directory, disconnect from the FTP site, and update the
list. Note that updating the list involves adding files that you have
never seen to the list as well as removing files from the list that
are no longer there. **If a file was removed from the list because
you downloaded it or because you said it was Boring!, it will NOT
reappear.**
The list is updated automatically every hour.
_The Options menu_
The options menu has the following items:
(1) Login info... This selection brings up a window that lets you
enter the username and password you want to use. The defaults are
"anonymous" and your e-mail address. These fields are stored in the
site file so they will not interfere with your username/password for
any other site. THE PASSWORD IS NOT ENCRYPTED IN THE SITE FILE. IT
IS NOT PROTECTED IN ANY WAY. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK.
(2) Email (email address)... This option allows you to change your
e-mail address. The current e-mail address is displayed.
(3) Site file... This option allows you to create or to switch to
another site file. All information for the current file is saved
before opening the new file.
(4) Other... The only field currently on the Other Options window
allows you to set the program started to View files. The default
is 'E', the OS/2 system editor.
(5) Age file... Aging a site file means removing old 'downloaded' and
'boring!' entries from it. Aging a file currently takes a long time.
KNOWN BUGS/LIMITATIONS
---------------------------------------------------------------------
No true bugs are known. FTPMon does have these limitations:
(1) Viewed files are downloaded to the directory pointed to by the
TMP environment variable. The user is responsible for deleting
these files.
(2) Aging a site file takes much too long.
(3) Filenames are case sensitive. If a file appears on the site twice,
once uppercase and once lowercase, the file will appear in the list
twice.
(4) No checking is done to insure that a file Viewed is a text file.
(5) Only a file's name is used when deciding if a file has been in
the list before. If a file is uploaded to the FTP site, made Boring!,
removed from the FTP site, and another file with the same name is
uploaded to the FTP site, it will not appear in the list. Aging the
site file should help lessen this problem.
POSSIBLE ENHANCEMENTS FOR FUTURE VERSIONS
---------------------------------------------------------------------
The following is a list of enhancements that may appear in future
versions of FTPMon. If you have any other ideas for enhancements,
please e-mail them to abbott@hiwaay.net.
(1) Speed up aging of site files.
(2) Rather than deleting a file from the list after the user
downloads the file or selects "Boring!", leave the file in the
list but change the color. This would also eliminate all aging
problems, as aging would no longer make sense.
(3) Automatically delete Viewed files when the user exists the
program.