Just execute the self-extracting archive RFtpDPro.exe (or RFTrialP.exe for the trial version). This extracts and executes the RFtp PRO Installer, which will quickly and easily set up RFtp PRO on your system! The application files will be installed in the (suggested) directory "c:\Program Files\RFtpPRO". That's all it does to your system!
If you choose to place the files elsewhere, either keep them together (recommended) or at least have RFtpSX.dll in "..\system" (or "..\system32") or on the path.
Whenever you run RFtpPro.exe, it attempts to locate its Shell Extension component (RFtpSX.dll), and automatically updates any required (for operation) system Registry entries. This is not to say that moving application files after running the RFtp PRO Installer is advised; if you decide you want RFtp PRO installed in a different location on your system, then uninstall and reinstall it!
NT users: when installing PRO the first time, you may need to execute it once with Administrator privileges. After that, you can log in as whatever user you usually do. If you forget to do this, your Create shortcut button on the Host page toolbar will be "grayed out". You can fix this by, you guessed it, running it once as Administrator.
Should you want to Uninstall RFtp PRO, see Uninstall RFtp PRO below.
There are 3 ways to uninstall RFtp PRO:
All of these will run the RFtp PRO Uninstaller. After confirmation of your intentions, all (or part of) any files, Registry entries, menus and shortcuts added by RFtp PRO to your system will be removed. The RFtp PRO Uninstaller will make sure that you really want to remove the RFtp PRO Registry entries, since once they are gone, a reinstall would be the same as a fresh install (none of your sites and settings will be there!).
If the server hasn't been "visited" yet, you can create a new host entry easily! On the Host page, just click in the edit box at the top of the URL list, and type in your new FTP server's address (along with an optional directory). Of course, you can also just "paste" in a URL you copied from some other app!
If the site you are adding requires a username and password, enter them now. If you will just be doing anonymous logins (this is the "normal" case), leave the User name and Password fields BLANK!
Note that "new" entries do not become "official" until you visit a site the first time!
Once an FTP server exists in your Host page URL list, just select it and press Enter (or click the Connect button).
Alternatively, you can "double-click" any RFtp Shortcut to "login" to its associated server.
Make sure that the Start with "RFtp Classic" interface option on the Options>General page is Off.
There are three "GUI" ways to change the current directory on the remote server:
Alternately, you can use either of the [Remote pane] Previous (
) or Parent (
) buttons in the Files/Remote
page toolbar to change to the "last" or "parent" directory
respectively.
Or, you can select any of the directories already visited in this session from the Remote pane drop-down on the Files/Remote page.
Finally, you can type a relative path (valid with respect to the current directory) in the Remote pane directory-selection box, followed by Enter.
Since this is based entirely on familiar Windows navigation operations, you should know the drill - but if you missed that lesson, here you go:
There are four "GUI" ways to change the current local directory:
Alternately, you can use the [Local pane] Parent () button in the Files/Remote page
toolbar to change to the "parent" directory.
2.0 Smart transfers are here! This means that RFtp PRO can do the worrying for you, and automatically determine the appropriate download or upload transfer mode (based on each file's actual contents).
On the Files/Remote page, set both the ASCII
(
) and Image
(
) buttons in the toolbar up
or down to specify Smart
transfers.
This should allow RFtp PRO to handle the vast majority of file transfers without troubling you further - if you would like a more "hands-on" approach, read on!
To "force" a particular mode, use either the ASCII
() or Image
() button in the toolbar to
select a transfer mode for subsequent file downloads or uploads.
Most of the time, you should probably use the Image mode; it takes care of all the files that you want transferred "bit-for-bit". ASCII mode is useful when you know the data is plain text (not, say, a Word document), and want to have the end-of-line terminators handled the "right way".
Note that ASCII mode is really only important if you are transferring files between systems with differing end-of-line conventions (e.g., Windows and Unix).
When you want to transfer a file or group of files and are expecting duplicates, you may want to specify UpdateONLY mode for the transfer. This will have the dual effect of not giving "overwrite" prompts and only actually transferring files when the source is newer than the destination.
To enable UpdateONLY mode for subsequent transfers, click the UpdateONLY
(
) button on the Files/Remote
page toolbar.
Note that if the FTP server is not using the same time zone as your system, you can use the Options>Advanced page to indicate the correct setting (this can be significant when comparing the times of files that are within a day of each other).
2.0 Just select the desired files and/or folders from the Remote pane and drag them to the Local pane! You can drop anywhere in the pane; if you are over a folder, it will be hilited, and the file(s) will be downloaded there.
Once the desired source directory is displayed in the Files/Remote window, you can use the same three "GUI" techniques as Change remote directories above to download a file or directory tree (note that #2 and #3 will also work with multiple files/directories selected).
If you are using Smart transfers, you're all set! If you are "forcing" a particular transfer mode, be sure that you set it before you initiate a file transfer operation!
2.0 Just select the desired files and/or folders from the Local pane and drag them to the Remote pane! You can drop anywhere in the pane; if you are over a folder, it will be hilited, and the file(s) will be uploaded there.
Once the desired destination directory is displayed in the Remote pane, just drag a file (or directory or any combination of files and directories) from any app which can function as a drag source (usually the Windows Explorer or equivalent) and drop in the Remote pane!
Note that if you drop on a folder, the transfer will be into that folder (just as if you had opened that folder, done your drop, and switched back out yourself, but without the muss and fuss!).
If you are using Smart transfers, you're all set! If you are "forcing" a particular transfer mode, be sure that you set it before you initiate a file transfer operation!
On the Host page, click the Import/Export toolbar button (
).
To export a host or group of hosts, make your selection ("All" is the default) and click the Export... or Copy button. This will record the host(s) and any related settings (including login and/or "per-host" data like Locale and Time) to a file or the clipboard, respectively.
To import [previously exported] hosts and related settings, you may click either of the Import... or Paste buttons, or drop an exported file in the tool's host list window. Any of these options will cause the merging of host info from a file or the clipboard.
Note that if you use clipboard for importing/exporting (e.g., when sending or receiving RFtp host info in e-mail), be sure to keep all of the host/settings information together!
Finally, observe that since any exported usernames and passwords are encrypted, it is possible to distribute host lists to sites running RFtp PRO without divulging passwords!
Click the Host page Statistics toolbar button (
) to view graphical representations
of raw and derived transfer performance data.
Choose one of the data views:
| View | Description |
|---|---|
| CONNECTS | # of Connects to host |
| FILES | # of files transferred |
| BYTES | # of bytes transferred |
| FILE TIME | time spent in transfers |
| KB/S | average transfer rate |
| KB/FILE | average transfer size |
To "reset" (zero) the data for one or more hosts, make your selection(s) and press the Delete key on your keyboard.
An RFtp Shortcut is created by selecting an existing entry
from the URL list on the Host page and clicking the Create
Shortcut toolbar button (
).
This will deposit an RFtp Shortcut on your desktop, with a name constructed from just the host portion of the URL (if this name already exists, then a number in parentheses will be appended until a unique name is generated).
You may, of course, reposition this shortcut anywhere on your desktop or move it into a folder of your choosing.
These extremely useful extensions to RFtp PRO function as "intelligent assistants". Allowing you to associate an FTP server, a remote directory, a local directory, and a transfer mode, RFtp Shortcuts facilitate the following three types of FTP client use:
2.0 Click the Stop button (
) on the Files/Remote
page toolbar (note that this button is ONLY visible during a transfer!).
If you are in the middle of a file transfer (download or upload) or lengthy directory listing that you don't wish to complete, just click in the Local or Remote panes and then press the Escape key.
Warning: when operating through a proxy server, you may find that aborting a transfer causes the proxy server to break your control connection (i.e., you get to Connect again).
2.0 Click the Create new REMOTE
folder button (
) on the Files/Remote
page toolbar.
Just right-click in the Remote pane and select New Folder from the popup menu. This creates a new folder entry with the "generic" name of "NewFolder", and then enters the Rename function (you would not usually want to leave your new directory called "NewFolder", right?).
Click the Create new LOCAL folder button () on the Files/Remote
page toolbar.
Just right-click in the Local pane and select New Folder from the popup menu. This creates a new folder entry with the "generic" name of "New Folder", and then enters the Rename function (you would not usually want to leave your new directory called "New Folder", right?).
Select an entry or entries in the Remote pane, and then either press Del or right-click on a selected entry and select Delete from the popup menu.
Note that for the Delete to be successful, it must be legal on the remote system: your username (anonymous or otherwise) needs to have "delete" capabilities, and any other applicable restrictions must be satisfied (e.g., a directory being deleted must usually be empty).
Select an entry or entries in the Local pane, and then either press Del or right-click on a selected entry and select Delete from the popup menu.
Note that this facility works just like in Windows - deleted items "normally" go to the Recycle Bin, but if you hold down a Shift key, they're gone for good!
Renaming works just like it does in Windows - select an entry in the Remote pane, and then right-click it and pick Rename from the popup, or left-click it (the name, not the icon) once more.
Either way, the entry's name will change into an edit box, allowing you to change the name. When you are done, press Enter or click somewhere else in the Remote pane. This will instruct the remote system to make the requested change. If you don't want to do the Rename after all, just press Esc instead of Enter.
Renaming works just like it does in Windows - select an entry in the Local pane, and then right-click it and pick Rename from the popup, or left-click it (the name, not the icon) once more.
Either way, the entry's name will change into an edit box, allowing you to change the name. When you are done, press Enter or click somewhere else in the Local pane. This will instruct the remote system to make the requested change. If you don't want to do the Rename after all, just press Esc instead of Enter.
A host entry may be cloned (copied) by clicking the Clone toolbar
button (
) on the Host
page. Note that for this to work properly, you should edit the resulting URL
entry immediately after clicking the Clone button (presumably adjusting
the directory portion of the URL).
Why would one want to clone a host entry? Usually when you want to have several entries for the same remote site, differing only in their [starting] directories. The Clone button is quite useful for this since it will copy everything from an existing host entry to the new one, including username, password, and any Per-Host entries that may be present.
Alternately, you may have entered a "lengthy" host entry (e.g., long URL, name and password) and then discovered that you had gotten something wrong... just Clone it, "fix" the new one, and Remove the bogus one.
An unwanted host (FTP server) entry can be removed by making it the current
selection in the URL list on the Host page, and then clicking on
the Remove toolbar button (
).
If you have a question or a problem that isn't addressed by the online documentation (or believe that you have found a [shudder] bug), send e-mail to support.