Copyright: Copyright (C) 1997,1998, Andrew Connell


Welcome
Welcome to Bullet Proof FTP!

Click below on the part of Bullet Proof FTP that you need help with.


Options Section

Here's where you configure BPFTP to your liking.  Click on one of the links below for information about that particular section.

General Options

Toggles Options

Firewall Options

Event Options

Viewing Options

Sound Options

Uploading Options

Font options

Other Options

Speed Options


General Options

Timeout

If Bullet Proof FTP waits this long and nothing happens then it will automatically reconnect to the server and continue any file transfers.  This is very useful for times when the server doesn't disconnect you, but the transfer just stalls.

Retry delay

This is the delay between reconnections to a site.

Maximum number of retries

This is the maximum number of times Bullet Proof FTP will attempt to reconnect to a site before giving up and going on to the next one.

Cache expires after x days

When Bullet Proof FTP connects to a site and lists a directory, that listing is stored locally in a cache file so that the next time you go to that directory, you won't have to wait for the listing to appear.  This sets the expiry on the cache - when it expires, it is removed and the listing will be transferred again.  This is so you can keep up to date with files on the remote server.

Log file

This sets the location of the log file. The log file is just a copy of what appears in the log window.

Email address

This setting will be used as the default password when you log into an anonymous site.  Theoretically you should enter your email address as a matter of courtesy to the FTP site administrator, but this doesn't happen much these days. You can set this to whatever you like, but make sure that it follows a basic email address format (ie user@host.extension) because a lot of ftp servers do a basic check.

 Related topics


Toggles Options
Toggles

Operation

Anti idle timeout

If enabled, BPFTP will send random commands to the FTP server at periodic intervals in order to prevent it from disconnecting you for inactivity.  The delay between commands is taken from the 'timeout' setting.

Auto refresh

Auto refresh will automatically refresh the remote listing if any modifications have been made to it.

Automatically start transferring

If this is enabled then as soon as a file is put in the queue it will be transferred. Basically it saves you 1 click of a button.

Delete files after download

Just like the name says, this will delete files from the server after they are downloaded.  Files are only deleted if they have been transferred successfully.

Don't auto-save sessions

BPFTP by default saves session files automatically every time they're modified, if for some reason you don't want to do this then enable this option.

Don't save passwords

This is useful for people who share a computer with others - if enabled, the password information not be saved so others can't find out your passwords (well, it makes it a little harder anyway, there are plenty of other ways they can get this information).

Fast directory changes

If this is enabled then Bullet Proof FTP will change directories very fast if the directory you're changing to is cached.  Unfortunately this doesn't work with all servers (though sites it doesn't work with are rare), so if you have any problems changing directories then disable this.

Leech mode

This is used for FTP sites that allow you to download a certain amount before having to upload or reconnect.  In this mode, Bullet Proof FTP will disconnect when your credit runs out, reconnect and continue downloading from where you left off.  This will not bypass FTP sites where you have to upload before being able to download anything.

If this is disabled and your credit runs out, BPFTP will look through your transfer queue for the first item queued for upload, and upload it.  This way you only have to upload just enough to enable you to download what you want.

Safe writes

With this option enabled, BPFTP will write data to disk and close the file with each block of data that is received, if disabled Windows will cache writes.  If enabled, in the event of a crash, its very unlikely that you'll lose any data, however it does make writes a little slower.  Disabling obviously makes the writes faster.  You'll only notice a slowdown though if you have a fast (non modem) connection, or you're downloading large (50MB+) files.

Transfer files before directories

If enabled, BPFTP will look through the transfer queue for files and download them, leaving any queued directories until no files are left in the queue.  This will keep the queue size to a minimum and help conserve resources, very useful for large download queues.

General toggles

Full line select

Allows you to click on anywhere in a line to select that line, instead of just the filename.

Hide passwords

This will show asterisks (*) in place of your password.

Minimize to tray

If this is selected then BPFTP will appear in the system tray and remove itself from the taskbar when minimized.

Pop up welcome message

If enabled, will show you the site's welcome message in a separate window, which may contain useful information.

Shaded caption

This is just for looks only.  Some people like the shaded caption - others don't.  Take your pick.

Show raw list info

If enabled BPFTP will show the raw list information that is received from the server.  There's no real need to look at this unless you're an advanced user, or BPFTP is having problems parsing the list information received from the server.

Show sitelist on startup

This option will pop up the sitelist automatically when you first run BPFTP.

Timestamp log entries

If enabled, all entries in the log window will be timestamped (everything logged to file will always be timestamped, regardless of this toggle).

URLs

Monitor clipboard for URLs

If this is enabled then BPFTP will keep an eye on the clipboard, and if it sees a URL (anything beginning with http:// or ftp://) in it then it'll automatically remove it from the clipboard and transfer the file that it refers to.  If it's already transferring when it detects a URL then it'll be queued for later retrieval.

Ignore HTML URLs

The most common URLs that you'd like to ignore would probably be HTML (web page) URLs.  While BPFTP can download a small text file with no problems, more than likely you'd want to paste the URL into your browser so you can look at the web page.

Just in case you're wondering exactly what BPFTP ignores - the 2 wildcards are *.*htm* and http://*/ .

Extract embedded URLs

This will extract URLs embedded within URLs - this is useful for download sites which use a redirection CGI to download files.  BPFTP will usually be able to handle the redirection anyway but with this enabled it'll be quicker.

Verify URLs in clipboard

The 'monitor clipboard' feature is very useful, but sometimes you might want to copy a few urls into the clipboard and you don't want BPFTP to touch them.  To save turning off clipboard monitoring altogether you can choose to verify every URL that BPFTP detects and either modify or ignore it.

Bring verifcation box to front

This will simply pop up the verification box in front of whatever you're doing at the time when BPFTP detects a URL in the clipboard.  It saves you having to manually bring BPFTP to the front to accept or ignore the URL.

 Related topics


Firewall Options

Bullet Proof FTP currently supports 5 types of FTP firewall/proxy - passive, user@host, user@host with login, user@host login and http style.

For each type you select, some of the other firewall configuration items may or may not be applicable.  If they're inaccessable that means that they're not applicable to the type - if they are then that means that you should fill them in.

There's no way I can tell you which type you have - you should ask your system administrator about this. If in doubt, try user@host first. Here's some basic information about each type:

Passive mode

This is just a different way of doing things - BPFTP will connect to the FTP server for each file transferred, rather than the server connecting to BPFTP.  This is used for router based firewalls - if you know you have to enter a proxy/firewall host then this wont work for you - use a different type.  It is also likely that you'll have to enable this if you want BPFTP to work with SocksCap (see below).

user@host port

This is a very common type of FTP proxy - BPFTP will connect to the proxy host, and send a command which would look something like this:

USER anonymous@ftp.microsoft.com

- the part before the @ sign is the username, the part after it is the site that you want to connect to.

After this, the FTP session will continue as normal.

The only difference between 'user@host port' and 'user@host:port' is the separator used when connecting to an FTP server on a nonstandard port.

user@host with login

This is exactly the same as user@host, however it will log into the firewall server using the login and password settings.

user@host login

This type sends the command like this:

USER anonymous@ftp.site.com username

(where username is your firewall username)

It'll then send the password.

HTTP style

This is for people who only have access to a browser style proxy.  If all else fails, then try this type.  If you copy the proxy information that you have in your browser then it should work fine.

Note: you will not be able to list files with this type - you have to know the exact URL of a file before you can download it.

SOCKS proxy

BPFTP doesn't support SOCKS proxy servers internally, but SocksCap will enable you to work with BPFTP through a SOCKS proxy.  You can get SocksCap for free from http://www.socks.nec.com/ .  If you have problems running BPFTP via SocksCap then try enabling passive FTP mode (described above).

 Related topics


Event Options

On transfer completion

This event will be triggered when the transfer queue completes.

Do nothing (default)

BPFTP will do nothing (apart from playing the appropriate sound if it is configured).

Disconnect from site

BPFTP will disconnect from the current site and won't attempt to reconnect if the connection is dropped.

Quit BPFTP

BPFTP will shut down.

Mirror site

BPFTP will download every file on the remote site. It will only transfer files that you don't have locally.  If this option is selected then BPFTP will keep mirroring until you stop it manually.

Hang up

BPFTP will hang up all active connections.

Quit and Hang up

BPFTP will quit and hang up all active connections

Run program

BPFTP will run the program specified in the Command line box.

If you want BPFTP to shut your computer down when the transfer has completed, then choose this option and enter rundll32.exe user.dll, ExitWindows in the commandline box.

On connect

This event will be triggered when BPFTP connects to an FTP site

Do nothing

BPFTP will do nothing (apart from playing the appropriate sound if it is configured).

Transfer queued files (default)

BPFTP will transfer all the files in the queue when it connects

Cache structure

BPFTP will navigate the entire FTP site and save all the directory/file information to disk, starting from the starting directory.  This might take a long time depending on how many files there are on the server, but once the whole site has been cached you'll be able to navigate the whole site a lot faster.

Mirror site

This works the same as cache structure, but it will transfer all the files on the server as well as caching directory information.

 Related topics


Viewing Options

Here you have the choice of 2 options:

Default viewer based on file extension

This will view the file based on your Windows settings.  To configure extensions, use Windows Explorer and go to view/options/file types.

If the file you are trying to view doesn't have a default viewer then the entry in 'specific program' will be used.

Specific program

This will always try to view files using the viewer you configure.

 Related topics


Sound Options

Connect sound

This sound will be played whenever you successfully connect to an FTP site.

Server disconnect sound

This sound will be played whenever the server you're connected to disconnects you.

Transfer completion sound

This sound will be played when all the files in your transfer queue have finished transferring.

 Related topics


Other Options

What to do when you double click on a file

Download/Upload

This will download or upload as appropriate.

View

Local viewing will be instant, and you can tag as many files as you like and view them all at once.  For remote viewing, the file will be placed in the queue and then downloaded as normal when you press go - the only difference is that the file will be viewed once the download has completed.

Delete

Local files will be deleted instantly (with a warning prompt) - they will not be moved to the recycle bin.  Remote files will be queued for deletion and then deleted when you press GO.

Advanced

List command

This is the command that will be used to list files.  You shouldn't touch this unless you know what you're doing.  Generally the default of LIST will do fine.  If you change this command and have problems listing files then set it back to the default.

 Related topics


Speed options

Maximum transfer speed

As it suggests, this limits the maximum speed at which BPFTP will transfer to however many bytes per second you enter.  This is useful to conserve bandwidth so that other programs or people who use the same bandwidth can achive decent transfer speeds.  Enter 0 to disable the limit, and BPFTP will transfer as fast as it can.

Minimum transfer speed

The minimum speed, in bytes per second that BPFTP will accept; if it drops below this speed then BPFTP will reconnect and hopefully achieve a better speed. Note: it doesn't take effect until the transfer has been going at least 10 seconds.  Enter 0 to disable.

 Related topics


Uploading Options

Check filesize on upload

This will make BPFTP check to see if the file already exists remotely for each file so that it can be resumed/skipped as appropriately.  If disabled, default upload action has no effect.

Retry failed uploads x times

If an upload fails, BPFTP will retry it once with the same filename, if this fails then it'll try x number of times.

If you enable Auto rename each time BPFTP will attempt the upload with a different filename each time (for those FTP servers that don't allow overwriting of files), otherwise it'll use the same name.

Default upload action

Resume

This will make BPFTP automatically resume files if they already exist on the server.

Overwrite

BPFTP will overwrite files on the server regardless of whether they exist or not.

Ask

BPFTP will ask you what you want to do for each file that is uploaded that already exists on the server.

Filename conversion

UPPERCASE

All filenames will be converted to uppercase when uploading.

lowercase

All filenames will be converted to lowercase when uploading.

As Is

Filename case will not be changed.

Strip version # (VMS)

As it suggests, this is for VMS servers - this option will strip out the ;<versionnum> so that a new version will be created.

 Related topics


Font options

Here you set the font for the local, remote and queue listings.  Click on one of them to change its setting.


Hostname

This can either be a domain name (such as ftp.netscape.com) or an IP address (eg

This will usually be something that begins with ftp. - as shown in the example ftp.microsoft.com.

If you enter a URL then this field will be filled in for you automatically.


Port Number

This will almost always be 21 for FTP sites, or 80 for web sites.  It is not recommended that you change this unless you know what you're doing.


Login Name

This is where you enter your login name.  Unless you have your own personal login this will most likely be 'anonymous'.  If this field is left blank then it'll automatically be filled in with 'anonymous'.


Password

This is where you enter your password for the FTP site.  If the login is anonymous, then you should put your email address here.  If this is left blank and the login is anonymous then the email address that you have configured in the options section will be entered automatically.  If it's blank and the login name isn't 'anonymous' then you will be prompted for your password.


Connect

This button will connect you to the host specified in the 'host' section.


Disconnect

This will immediately disconnect from any site that you're currently connected to.  If you are in the process of downloading a file, then the file will be requeued automatically for later retrieval.


Stop

This button will stop the current operation.  The only difference between the 'stop' and 'disconnect' buttons is that if you're downloading from an FTP site, the stop button will stop the transfer without disconnecting, whereas the disconnect button will immediately disconnect.  The stop and disconnect buttons act the same if you're downloading a file via HTTP.


Site Manager

This will open up the site manager.  Here you can enter your commonly accessed FTP sites so that you don't have to enter their details every time you want to connect to them.


Clear All

This will clear the log window, the site information, the remote listing and the queue list.


Add to sitelist

This will add the current site to the sitelist, after prompting you for a name to save it as.  This is useful if you've entered a site's information into the main window, and you decide that you want to add it to the sitelist without having to enter the information all over again.


Queue for download

This will queue any files that are selected in the remote listing for download.  You can also double click the files or drag and drop them to the queue.


Queue for upload

This will queue any files that are selected in the local listing for upload.  You can also double click the files or drag and drop them to the queue.


Schedule

Schedule a transfer for later.  Click here for more details.


Start transferring

This will start processing the queue, downloading or uploading files in the order in which they are listed.  You can still add or remove files from the queue while transferring, however if you're on an FTP site you can't list any directories on that site that haven't already been looked at.


Enter URL

This is for entering URLs - a URL looks like

ftp://ftp.site.com/directory/

or

http://www.website.com/directory/file.extension

Normally you'd just copy URLs into the clipboard and have Bullet Proof FTP detect and transfer them automatically.


Show/hide status window

This will toggle the status window.  For more information about the status window click here


Options

Here you can configure Bullet Proof FTP to your liking.


Custom command

Here you can enter custom commands.  This is intended for advanced users only.


Refresh

This will refresh the current listing (whichever listing you last clicked on)


Find files

This is one of Bullet Proof FTP's most advanced features.  It operates in a very similar way to the Windows 95 Find File dialog.  Here you enter the details of the file(s) you wish to find on the remote site, and Bullet Proof FTP will find and download all of them.


File list type

Here you choose the file list type that you prefer:

Large icons, Small icons, List or Details.


ASCII mode

This will force all files to be transferred in ASCII (text) mode.


Binary mode

This will force all files to be transferred in Binary mode.


ASCII/Binary Autodetect

This will transfer files in ASCII or binary mode, depending on your configuration.  This is the recommended setting.


Move file up queue

This will move the currently selected file(s) up the queue.  Files in the queue are transferred in the order which they appear.


Move file down queue

This will move the currently selected file(s) down the queue.  Files in the queue are transferred in the order which they appear.


Remove files from queue

This will remove the selected file(s) from the queue.


Clear queue

This will remove all files from the queue.


Log window

This window is a vital part of Bullet Proof FTP - it shows exactly what's going on.  It shows the commands that Bullet Proof FTP sends to the server, and also the replies that it gets back.  It'll also display important information here.


Local directory

This is where you set the local drive/directory.  If you know what directory you want to go to then you can type it in here, otherwise use the browse button.  The dropdown list will contain the most recently accessed directories.


Browse button

Press this button to bring up a list of available drives/directories.


Local directory listing

Listed on this side are all the files that are in the current directory of your computer.  You can change directories by double clicking on the directory that you wish to change to, or by entering the directory above. Right clicking on this listing will bring up a menu for such things as making directories, renaming files, etc.


Queue listing

The queue list is a list of all the files that will be downloaded or uploaded.  They will be processed one by one in the order in which they appear.  You can change the order, remove entries, or clear the queue by using the queue toolbar, or by clicking the right mouse button.


Remote directory

This is the directory which you are currently in on the FTP server.  You can change the directory manually by entering it here and pressing the change button.


Change button

This button will change the remote directory to whatever you've selected in the remote directory box.


Remote directory listing

This is where all the files on the remote computer are displayed.  To download a file, either

1) double click it

2) drag and drop it to the queue or local listing

3) select it and click the 'queue for download' button on the toolbar.

To change directories, double click on the directory.

Right clicking on this listing will bring up a menu for such things as making directories, renaming files, etc.


Status bar, main

Depending on what you're doing it could be use for any of the following:

1) Displaying tips when you move the mouse over parts of BPFTP

2) Displaying the file that's currently being transferred.

3) Displaying information about the local and remote listings

 Related topics


Status bar, transfer information

This part of the status bar is used for displaying the current transfer information -

for example:

     10%                 12345/123450

percentage     bytes transferred/bytes total

 Related topics


Status bar, time elapsed

This part of the status bar displays the time that the current transfer has taken in hours, minutes and seconds.

 Related topics


Status bar, time remaining

This part of the status bar displays an estimate of how long the current transfer will take before it completes.  This number may fluctuate considerably at the start of the download but should even out after a while.

Hold the mouse over this display to show the total time remaining

 Related topics


Status bar, transfer speed

This part of the status bar displays the average speed of the current transfer.

 Related topics


New session

This will open up another instance of BPFTP.  This is useful if you want to download multiple files simultaneously.


Import site list

This will import a sitelist from either:

Cute FTP, FTP Explorer

All site details will be imported.

WS_FTP

All site details will be imported except for passwords, which you will have to re-enter.

Text file

This will import FTP URLs from any text (non binary) file.

The URLs should follow this form:

ftp://username:password@host:port/starting directory/


Quit

This will quit Bullet Proof FTP instantly, it will NOT confirm that fact that you'd like to quit.


Download options

This will take you to the download options section where you can configure BPFTP's actions in every download situation.  Recommended for advanced users only - the default settings should be fine for most people.


ASCII files

This will configure BPFTP's list of ASCII files that are used to determine whether a file is ASCII (text) or binary (non-text). For more information click here.


Options

Here you can configure virtually every aspect of BPFTP.  Click here for a more details about setting options.


Cache entire structure

This will cache the entire structure, starting from the specified directory.  This makes navigating an FTP site a lot faster, and it also means that you can navigate the site while transferring.

Always use "fast" first, as this is a lot quicker than "slow", however it may not work on all servers.  If it doesn't work then you have to revert to "slow", which will work however it'll take a while.


Get index

This will retrieve the index file from the specified directory (if one exists) and display the appropriate information in the 'description' field for each file.


Load session file

This will load a session from a previously saved file.  A session contains the site address, the port number, the login, the password and a list of queued files.


Save session as

This will save the current session as a different session file so you can come back to it later.  This is useful if you've got a list of queued files which you'd like to retieve later, but you want to use BPFTP with a different site in the meantime.  The current session is automatically saved when you quit, so you don't need to use this unless you want to clear the queue and come back to the site later.


Contents

This will display the contents of the help file.


Troubleshooting

This will take you to part of Bullet Proof FTP's homepage where latest troubleshooting information can be found.


Check for latest version

To make it easy for you to find out about new versions of Bullet Proof FTP, you can do an online version check. This will contact the version server, and if there is a later version, BPFTP will tell you the version number as well as give you the option to download the file with your current version.

Note: If you are a registered user of Bullet Proof FTP then you will be notified of each new release.


About

This displays Bullet Proof FTP's logo, version number and copyright information.


Main Menu

 Other menus


Options menu

 Other menus


Commands menu

 Other menus


Session menu

 Other menus


Toolbar menu

On this menu you can enable/disable the toolbars.


Help menu

 Other menus


Features

Here are just some of Bullet Proof FTP's features:

•	Download files in any order, from any directory on an FTP site.

•	Automatically reconnect and resume from where it left off if the connection is lost, the transfer becomes too slow or no data is received for a specified period of time.

•	Browse the FTP site from the cache while off line or transferring.

•	List hidden files

•	Leech mode - on FTP servers that have a specified limit that you can download, Bullet Proof FTP can disconnect, reconnect and keep downloading automatically when your download credit runs out.

•	Monitor the clipboard, and when an ftp or http (web site) url is copied into it, it can instantly connect to the appropriate site in the background and start transferring.

•	Monitor a directory, and when files are created in that directory BPFTP will automatically upload them to the current site (great for webmasters).

•	Automatic handling of ratios.

•	Queue files on more than one site for download.

•	Proxy/firewall support

•	HTTP downloading with support for redirected URLs

•	Local file listing with rename/delete/make directory support

•	Import site listings from Cute FTP, WS_FTP, and FTP Explorer. With Cute FTP and FTP Explorer, the passwords are also imported.

•	Remote mirroring - BPFTP will automatically download new files, resume half-downloaded files, and skip files you already have. You can download entire sites.

•	Windows95-style file finding ability. ie, enter a wildcard and other details about a file, and BPFTP will search and entire FTP site and download every file that matches.

•	Plus virtually everything else you'd expect in an FTP client, and more.


Quick start

How to quickly and easily use Bullet Proof FTP:

If you're intending to use it to download:

This is the easiest way to use BPFTP to download (transfer files from the internet to your computer).

1) Run it (you've obviously completed this step).

2) Make sure that monitor clipboard for URLs in the toggles section of the options is enabled.

3) Select the directory that you'd like the files to be downloaded into. Do this in the directory listing on the left.

3) Using your favourite web browser, right click on a file that you'd like to download and select 'copy link location', 'copy shortcut', or something along those lines.

4) Keep browsing the web while Bullet Proof FTP downloads the files in the background.  You can continue to copy files to the clipboard, and they will automatically be queued for downloading.  If you want to have two simultaneous transfers, then run two copies of Bullet Proof FTP.

5) There is no step 5 - if Bullet Proof FTP is running, then two clicks of the mouse is all it takes to download a file.

If you're intending to use it to manage your website:

1) Run it (you've obviously completed this step).

2) Enter the details of your web provider's FTP site into BPFTP.  Here's a description of what to put in each entry:

Host: the hostname or IP address of the FTP server.  This is usually in the form ftp.site.com

Port: this should always be left at its default of 21.

Login: your login name

Pass: your password.

Note that your login name and password are probably case sensitive, ie PASSWORD isn't the same as password.

If you're not sure of these details then contact your web provider, don't contact BPFTP support for help as configuration is different for everyone, only your web provider can help.

If you know the URL of your webpage then you can probably get most of the information you need from that.

eg: if the URL was http://www.provider.com/~bobsmith/ then the information you'd enter into BPFTP would most likely be:

Host: ftp.provider.com (replace the www with ftp)

port: 21 (leave it at its default)

Login: bobsmith (remove the ~ from the directory name, that's your login name)

pass: well, this obviously isn't contained in the URL, but you should know this.  Ask your web provider if you're not sure.

Ok, now onto the next step...

3) Press the connect ( [image] ) button.

4) If all goes well then you should be connected to your website.  If not, check your settings and try again.  If you successfully log into your server then you'll see a listing appear on the right hand side of BPFTP.

5) Choose the local directory on the left by navigating through your system.  To quickly jump to a directory, use the browse button.

6) Choose the remote directory in the same way

7) Drag & drop the files from the left hand side to the queue or remote side.

8) When you're ready to start transferring the files, press the GO button and BPFTP will take care of the rest.


Command line options

There are only minimal command line options currently, if you'd like something to be implemented on the command line then let me know.

/D:<directory> will set the local directory to <directory>.  The colon is optional.  If the directory doesn't exist it will be created (but only if a file is actually transferred into it).

/G will start transferring any files that are the queue when BPFTP first loads up (can be combined with /S). Basically, it just clicks the 'go' button for you automatically on startup.

/Q will temporarily enable quit after download.  This would be useful if you're running bpftp as an event.  By temporarily I mean it won't save it in the 'on download completion' options.

/S:<filename> will load the session from file <filename>.  Any files in the queue won't be processed automatically - if you want it to be processed then use /G as well.

anything else prefixed with a slash is ignored.

Apart from those two options you can specify ftp/http urls on the command line.  You can specify as many as you want, and they'll all be transferred one after the other.

Examples

bpftp.exe ftp://ftp.site.com/directory/file.ext /q

will download /directory/file.ext from ftp.site.com, and quit when the transfer has been completed.

bpftp.exe ftp://ftp.site.com/directory/file.ext ftp://ftp.site2.com/directory2/file2.ext /dc:\download      http://www.microsoft.com/dir/file.exe

will download /directory/file.ext from ftp.site.com, /directory2/file2.ext from ftp.site2.com, and /dir/file.exe from www.microsoft.com into the directory c:\download

Hopefully that should explain the basics, if you have any problems or suggestions for other command line options then let me know.


Change attributes

Here you change file attributes - simply tick the attributes you wish the file to have and press OK.  The attribute change will be queued and will be processed when BPFTP gets to it.


Confirmation

Click on the part you'd like help with.  If you don't want this box to appear then you can disable it in Options|Download options|Confirm/override options with dialog box.


Filename information

This shows the source filename and the destination filename.


Local file information

This shows information about the local file for comparison against the remote file.


Remote file information

This shows information about the remote file for comparison against the local file.


Restore

This will restore the file, saving you from having to download the whole thing all over again.  This only works with servers that support resume - if the server doesn't support resume then BPFTP will grey out this button the next time the dialog box appears, and the only thing you can do in this situation is start all over again.


Rename

This will rename the local file to Incomplete-<filename>, for example if the file was

bigfile.zip then it'd be renamed to Incomplete-bigfile.zip .  If a file already exists with the same name then the smaller file of the two will be deleted.


Overwrite

This will remove the local file, making room for the file to be downloaded in its place.


Skip

This will skip the file and move on to the next file in the queue.


Self destruct

The self destruct is for when you're not by the computer and this box appears.  If you don't press a key or choose an option for 15 seconds then the dialog box will close itself, using the default option which you can set in download options.


Download Options

This section of options is useful if you're going to use BPFTP unattended.

Here's how it works:

You read the dialog box as a sentence, for example

would read

If the destination file size is smaller, and the destination file date/time is older, then restore it.

There are 9 different situations, each with their own configurable action.

Clicking on the upper two sections will choose the situation, and then you can choose the desired action in the bottom box.

The Confirm/override options with dialog box option will enable/disable the confirmation box.


ASCII files

Click on the part you need help with.


Wildcard entry

Here's where you enter wildcards that you'd like to add.  After entering a wildcard here, press the add button.


Wildcard list

This is the list of files that will be transferred in ASCII (text) mode when you're in auto ASCII/binary mode.  All other files will be transferred in binary mode.


Add button

This will add what you've entered in the wildcard entry to the list of wildcards.


Remove wildcard

Click on a file you'd like to remove from the list and then click this button to remove it.


OK button

This will accept any changes you've made and return to BPFTP.


Cancel Button

This will cancel any changes you've made and return to BPFTP.


Renaming files

There are three ways to rename files - they work the same way either locally or on the server:

1) Click on a file once to select it, then click again after a short pause.  You can then edit the filename.

2) Right click on the file, then select Rename

3) Select the file and press F2


Deleting files

There are two ways to delete files - they work the same way either locally or on the server:

First, select the files you wish to delete, then

either

1) Press delete on the keyboard

2) Right click and select 'delete'.


Error messages

Here are some error messages and what they mean.

They will most likely begin with Control connection error.

Connection timed out

You might get this when connecting to a very slow site - if you wait and let BPFTP try again you might be able to connect.

Connection refused

This means that there is no server listening at the hostname and port. Check that you have the correct port setting.  21 is default for FTP servers and 80 is default for web servers.

No route to host

This means that BPFTP can't establish a route to the hostname.  This would most likely occur when

a) You're not connected to the internet.

b) You're behind a firewall - check your firewall settings.

c) The site you're trying to connect to is down.

Error 11001 (Host not found) finding address for host

This means that the hostname you have entered is incorrect.  The most likely cause is that you've entered it incorrectly - check that it is correct.  Other than this, that host might not exist any more.


Status window

This window shows in a graphical form how much of the current file has been transferred.  If you click the right mouse button a menu will appear where you can change the font and status type.

There are 5 styles you can choose from:

 Horizontal

 Vertical

 Needle

 Pie

 Text

The font and size can be changed to anything you like.  You can toggle the display of this window with the status button -


License agreement

Bullet Proof FTP

Copyright (C) 1997,1998 Bullet Proof Software

All Rights Reserved

Bullet Proof FTP License Agreement

THIS IS A LEGAL AGREEMENT BETWEEN YOU, THE LICENSEE, AND Bullet Proof Software.

BY USING THIS PROGRAM, YOU ARE AGREEING TO BECOME BOUND BY THE TERMS OF THIS AGREEMENT. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THE TERMS OF THIS AGREEMENT, IMMEDIATELY REMOVE THIS FROM YOUR COMPUTER.

Limitations for Bullet Proof FTP.  NO WARRANTIES.

Bullet Proof Software expressly disclaims any warranty for Bullet Proof FTP.  Bullet Proof FTP and any related documentation is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind, either express or implied, including without limitation, the implied warranties or merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or infringement.  The entire risk arising out of use or performance of Bullet Proof FTP remains with you.

Grant of License.  You are hereby granted the right to use one copy of the enclosed software program, Bullet Proof FTP, (the "SOFTWARE") on a single computer for evaluation purposes for a period not to exceed thirty (30) days. If you want to continue using this software after the thirty (30) day evaluation period, you MUST make a registration payment to Bullet Proof Software. Using this software after the thirty (30) day evaluation period, without registering the software is a violation of the terms of this limited license. The SOFTWARE is in "use" on a computer when it is loaded into temporary memory (i.e. RAM) or installed into permanent memory (e.g. hard disk, CD-ROM disk, or other storage device) of that computer. However, installation on a network server for the sole purpose of distribution to one or more other computer(s) shall not constitute "use" for which a separate license is required, provided you have a separate license for each computer to which the SOFTWARE is distributed. Reinstalling Bullet Proof FTP does not extend your 30 day maximum evaluation period, nor does installing a newer version.

Copyright.  The SOFTWARE is owned by Bullet Proof Software and is protected by copyright laws.  Therefore, you must treat the SOFTWARE like and other copyrighted material (e.g. a book or musical recording) except that you may either (a) make one copy of the SOFTWARE solely for backup or archival purposes, or (b) transfer the SOFTWARE to a single hard disk provided you keep the original solely for backup or archival purposes.  You may not copy the written materials accompanying the SOFTWARE.  EXCEPTION: The Shareware Version of the SOFTWARE may be freely distributed, so long as it is its original form.

Other Restrictions.  You may not lease, rent or sub-license the SOFTWARE. You may transfer the SOFTWARE and accompanying written materials on a permanent basis provided you retain no copies and the recipient agrees to the terms of this Agreement.  You may not reverse engineer, decompile, or disassemble the SOFTWARE.

In no event shall Andrew Connell's liability exceed the purchase price of the SOFTWARE.

NO OTHER WARRANTIES.  To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Bullet Proof Software disclaims all other warranties, either expressed or implied, including, but not limited to, implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose, with regard to the SOFTWARE, the accompanying written materials, and any accompanying hardware.

NO LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES. In no event shall the author, Andrew Connell, be liable for any damages whatsoever (including, without limitation, damages for loss of business profits, business interruption, loss of business information, or any other pecuniary loss) arising out of the use of or inability to use the SOFTWARE, even if Bullet Proof Software has been advised of the possibility of such damages.


Registering

You may evaluate Bullet Proof FTP for free for a maximum period of 30 days. If you wish to keep on using it after 30 days, you have to register it with the author and pay a registration fee.  If you do not register after 30 days, then Bullet Proof FTP will function as normal, except you will not be able to transfer any files.

Once you have registered, you will receive a registration key that will enable unlimited use of Bullet Proof FTP.  You may use this key in exactly one copy of Bullet Proof FTP, installed on a single computer. More than one person is allowed to use it, as long as no two people use it at the same time. Just like a book can be read by many people, but only by one person at a time.

If more than one person needs to use Bullet Proof FTP at the same time, you have to register a copy for each of them.  Contact info@bpftp.com for site licensing information.

There are a number of benefits to registering, these include:

•	Free upgrades

•	Notification of all upgrades

•	Unlimited free support

Go to http://www.bpftp.com/register.html for information on how to register.


Resuming files downloaded with other software

To resume a file downloaded with another piece of software (eg your browser), simply set the download directory to the directory that the partial file is in.  Then, either copy the URL into the clipboard and BPFTP will detect it automatically, or enter the URL using the Enter URL button [image].  BPFTP will connect, and if the server supports resume it'll resume right from where it left off.  If the confirmation box is enabled then it'll ask what you'd like to do - select 'restore'.


Support

All registered users of Bullet Proof FTP receive unlimited support via email.  Unregistered users will receive support only if time permits.  The address to write to is support@bpftp.com .  If you're a registered user then you should hear back within a maximum of 24 hours, though usually the response time would be far less than that.


Tips

Browsing an FTP server offline

Sorting directory listings

HTTP Authentication

Resuming files downloaded with other software

Working with ratio FTP sites

Using "Monitor directory"


Browsing an FTP server offline

Once you have visited a site and either browsed part of it or cached the entire structure then you can browse the cached parts while offline.

There are two ways to do this:

•	From the site manager, choose the site and press 'browse offline'.

•	Enter the site's information as if you were going to connect to it, and then press the 'change' button.


Sorting directory listings

Sorting directory listings within Bullet Proof FTP is the same as with Windows Explorer - click on the column header to sort by that column.  To reverse the listing, click on the column header again.


HTTP Authentication

Bullet Proof FTP supports HTTP authentication (login&password).  To download a file that requires a login&password, enter the url like this:

http://username:password@www.site.com/directory/file.ext

For example, if you wanted to download the file secret.zip from the URL http://www.site.com/files/secret.zip , you'd enter

http://secret:mypass@www.site.com/files/secret.zip (that is, if your login/username is secret and your password is mypass)


Working with ratio FTP sites

Ratio FTP sites are FTP sites that force you to upload (send) files before you can download (receive) from them.

There are three ways you can work with ratio sites when you use BPFTP.

1) Simply queue all the files you want to download, then queue some files for upload.  If your credit runs out then BPFTP will automatically find the first file queued for upload and upload it.

2) Upload one file.  Then, select the files you wish to download, right click and select "partial download".  Set the number of bytes to a positive number to transfer a specific amount of data and then stop, or use a negative number to transfer the file and stop that number of bytes before the end.

Example 1: Entering 200000 bytes will download the first 200000 bytes of each selected file.  This is useful for previewing music files.

Example 2: Entering -50000 will stop each transfer 50000 bytes before the end of each file.  That way you have almost the whole file, but it isnt counted against your ratio.  Don't enter a negative number that is too small, as you have to allow for the time it takes for the abort command to be sent and acted upon.

Note: Using this could well annoy site administrators.  Use at your own risk (you may well be banned from the site for using this method) as this effectively bypasses ratios, with of course a small tradeoff of missing data.

3) For those FTP sites that allow a certain number of files to be transferred per session, simply enable "leech mode" under options|toggles. In this mode, BPFTP will simply reconnect when your credit runs out, and transfer another group of files.  This is mutually exclusive to method #1, disable "leech mode" if you want to use that method.


Working with "monitor directory".

If you right click on the local listing and enable "monitor directory", BPFTP will monitor the directory for changes, and automatically upload any changed file as soon as it is modified.  This is useful for those people who maintain websites, the remote site can be kept up to date with your local version automatically! Just leave BPFTP running in the background with "monitor directory" enabled.

Things to note:

1) Only one directory can be monitored at a time.

2) If you change directories or download to the monitored directory then it'll be switched off automatically.

3) Subdirectories are not monitored


Scheduler

Click on the part you need help with.


Current time

This continually displays the current time.


Start date and time

Here you enter the date and time you wish to start transferring the files you have in the queue.

If you click on the triangle next to the date entry  you'll get a drop-down calendar - here you can select the date rather than entering it manually.


Finish date and time

Here you enter the date and time you wish to stop the transfer.  At this time BPFTP will stop what it's doing and disconnect - then your current on transfer completion  option will be used.

If you click on the triangle next to the date entry you'll get a drop-down calendar - here you can select the date rather than entering it manually.


Enable finish time

If you enable this then the finish date & time will be used.

If not, BPFTP will start the transfer at the start time and won't stop until the entire queue has been processed.


Schedule button

Click here when you're happy with the start/finish date/time.  Once you click this you can't modify the start date&time, only the finish date&time (if enabled).  When the start time is reached, the dialog will disappear and the transfer will be started - unless you've enabled a finish date and time in which case BPFTP will wait until this time before closing the dialog.


Cancel

This will cancel the schedule and return to BPFTP.


Help, I've lost my registration key!

If you've registered Bullet Proof FTP but you've lost your registation key then go to http://www.bpftp.com/reguser.html to have your key resent.  You can also go here to have your email address updated in the database.