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1993-06-27
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Archie - A NeXT specific Archie client
Archie 2.09a is a 3.0 NeXTSTEP analog of George Ferguson's
Xwindow based archie client. It provides all of its functionality with
the niceties of the NeXTSTEP interface, as well as documents and
interactive ftp sessions. The program is based on the query.[ch],
ftplib.[ch], and Prospero library subset provided with George's 2.0
beta version of Xarchie.
I am now using RTF source for most of the new classes in the
Archie application. The use of RTF in the class implementation files
allows for nicely formatted and very readable code. The class
header files are still plain text since InterfaceBuilder does not yet
parse RTF headers. Compiling the RTF code is accomplished with
Rtf_Compiler utilities written by Charles Lloyd. The Rtf_Compiler
should be available in the pub/next/submission directory of
sonata.cc.purdue.edu.
This version is markedly improved over the previous versions, 1.37
and below. If you have NeXTSTEP version 3.0, I highly
recommend obtaining the new version. This preliminary release is
being made to allow for input on additional features or changes to
the current features. A description of the current features follows.
Archie Documents
Archie now makes use of documents called ArchieSessions.
An ArchieSession is simply a collection of queries accessible from
a single document using a browser interface similar to previous
versions of Archie. Any new query initiated from the interface is
added to the ArchieSession document. The documents can be
saved for later access. Any expansion of directories in the initial
archie server response are saved in the document.
Any number of ArchieSession documents can be open. Double
clicking on an Archie doc opens it in Archie as you would expect.
Automatic Expansion of Directories
Previous versions of Archie would allow one to obtain a listing
of directories returned by the archie server by initiating an FTP
session with the host on which the directory resided. This version
does "automatic" expansion of directories by sending another
request to the archie server who provided the info on the directory.
This is generally much faster and cleaner.
File Transfers Use Remote FTPD Directly
I no longer fork a child process which in turns uses the ftp
program to retrieve files. I have created a category called
Object(FTPDaemon) which provides the methods necessary to
interact directly with a remote ftpd server. The category is based on
the ftplib.[ch] files provided with George's Xarchie.
Interactive FTP Sessions
Once you have received a query result from the archie server,
you can initiate an interactive FTP session by selecting a hostname
in column 0 and choosing "Connect..." from the FTP menu. This
causes a browser containing the top level files of the host's
anonymous ftp directory to be displayed. At this point you are
speaking directly with the remote ftpd. You can traverse the remote
file system much as you can in the Workspace browser. Selected
directories or files can be retrieved using the "Retrieve..." command
from the FTP menu. Any number of FTP sessions can be active.
You can also initiate an interactive FTP session to an arbritrary host
at any time via the "General FTP..." item under the FTP menu. The
general FTP session does not have to be to an anonymous host.
Support for Opening Files in the Workspace
One can open files from both the ArchieSession and interactive
FTP file browsers by double clicking on a file. Most any type of file
that could be opened in the Workspace can be opened from the
browsers. A current limitation is that only regular files can be
opened. This means that, for example, a remote .rtfd package
cannot be opened with Edit.
Current Limitations & Problems
Not extensively tested - I have gotten all of the features I
wanted (with the exception of multiple active queries) incorporated,
and my day to day usage is no longer flushing out problems.
However, I have not tried to break program.
One active archie query - Although I have written the
NeXTSTEP portion of the program with support for multiple active
archie server queries, I have not yet made the archie / Prospero
code from the Xarchie program thread safe.
Help not complete - There actually is a good deal of help
information. The parts not complete include help clicking on
interface objects, cross-referencing of the help topics, and setting
up the index.
Sketchy display of links with FTP sessions - Links are
displayed in the FTP session browser simply as "link_name ->
link_target". Although links are actually resolved, I just have not
tested the display mechanism.
Drag & drop transfers - I have implemented a file well type of
class which allows one to drag a selection from the ArchieSession
interface to an application which implements the NXDestination
protocol for file names. Although it does work, it does not work very
well. The problem is that if you drag a file from the Archie interface
to a folder in the Workspace, the Workspace asks for the file name
prior to getting the file icon actually over the folder. It most likely
does this to verify that the file exists. Since the file does not exist on
the local host, I have to initiate an FTP session to obtain a local
copy. The name of the local copy is then placed on the Pasteboard
for the Workspace. During the transfer, the file icon cannot be
moved and if you let go without having gotten the icon over the
intended folder, the copy operation fails.
Directories and file packages can not be opened in Workspace
- I have not yet added the ability to open directories or file packages
(e.g., .rtfd files) in the Workspace.
Send in your comments
This initial release is to get a number of people using the
program so that any remaining errors and problems can be flushed
out. I appreciate the input you have provided for previous versions,
and I encourage all to continue to send me suggestions, bugs, no
matter how small.
And finally, obtaining Archie
The binary may now be obtained via anonymous ftp from cs.orst.edu.
Scott Stark Sat Jun 26 08:15:19 CDT 1993
stark@superc.che.udel.edu (NeXT mail accepted)