The Preferences menu item brings up a dialog that allows you to configure the way Fetch operates. The settings made in this dialog are saved in a file called ╥Fetch Preferences╙ in the system folder╒s Preferences folder.
The following can be adjusted in the Preferences dialog:
General Preferences:
Use Internet Config -- When this box is checked Fetch will use the Internet Config system for storing preferences that are commonly shared between different Internet applications (these are indicated below by the statement ╥Can be set with Internet Config╙). For more information see the Internet Config help topic.
Default password -- The text entered here will be used as your password whenever you connect as ╥anonymous.╙ It is customary to supply your e-mail address in this case, so we recommend that you enter your e-mail address here. Can be set with Internet Config.
Default shortcut -- If you╒ve selected a default shortcut the ╥New Connection...╙ dialog box will be automatically filled in with information from that shortcut.
Display server messages -- Some FTP servers display special information in the client-server dialog, such as hours of operation, use restrictions, and information about the files on the server. If this box is checked Fetch will display these messages in a separate window; otherwise they can be viewed by examining the Fetch Transcript window.
Keep connection active -- If this box is checked Fetch will regularly send commands to the remote computer. Otherwise Fetch will drop a connection if it has not been used for five minutes (the connection will be automatically restored when needed). Note that it is very impolite to keep a connection open to a public-access FTP server for a long period; many computers limit the total number of connections and your connection may prevent others from using the service.
Transfer buffer size -- This menu lets you choose the appropriate transfer buffer size for your network connection, from 8KB (for modem links) to 128KB (for very fast networks). Bigger buffers offer better transfer rates, especially on fast networks, but use more memory and can make Fetch less responsive. In particular, when Fetch uses MacTCP (rather than Open Transport) it may require enough application memory for three transfer buffers at a time, so (for example) a buffer size of 64KB would require about 200KB of buffer memory for each open connection. To accomodate these demands you may need to increase Fetch╒s memory partition (use the ╥Get Info╙ command in the Finder).
Downloading Preferences:
╥Automatic╙ defaults to ╥Text╙ -- This checkbox controls how Fetch will download a file when the ╥Automatic╙ button is highlighted, but the file name does not indicate whether it is a text or binary file. If the box is checked Fetch will assume it is a text file; otherwise Fetch will assume it is binary. For more information see the Automatic/Text/Binary help topic.
Overwrite files with conflicting names -- if this box is checked Fetch will overwrite an existing file if it is in the same folder and has the same name as the file being downloaded. Otherwise Fetch will add a number to the file name of the new file, to make it different.
Use download folder -- If this box is checked Fetch will save downloaded files in the download folder without any further prompting. To disable this feature uncheck the checkbox. The name of the download folder is displayed in the adjacent button. If you press that button you will be prompted to choose a new download folder (alternatively, if you are running System 7.5, you can drag the folder╒s icon to the button). The download folder can also be set with Internet Config.
Edit text files with -- This pop-up menu allows you to choose which editor╒s icon will be put on text files retrieved by Fetch. Thus you can have your favorite editor start up when you double-click on the icon of the retrieved file. If your favorite editor is not found in the menu you can drag its icon to the menu (assuming you are running System 7.5), or choose the Other╔ item in the menu and pick it out that way. Can be set with Internet Config (i.e. the mapping entry for the ".txt" suffix).
Default binary type/creator -- The type/creator codes entered here will be used for raw binary files that do not have a type/creator assigned by the suffix mapping process. This can be useful if you are downloading many binary files that do not have a common suffix. If you are running System 7.5 you can drag a file to these fields; they will be filled in with the type/creator of the dragged file. Can be set with Internet Config (i.e. the mapping entry for the ".binary" suffix).
Uploading Preferences:
Default text format -- This pop-up menu lets you choose the format to use for uploading text files. You will still be prompted for ╥manual╙ upload operations but this format will be used when you use drag and drop to put a file on a server.
Default non-text format -- This pop-up menu lets you choose the format to use for uploading files that are not text files. You will still be prompted for ╥manual╙ upload operations but this format will be used when you use drag and drop to put a file on a server.
Add .hqx suffix to BinHex files -- If this box is checked Fetch will add the ╥.hqx╙ suffix to the names of files being uploaded in BinHex format. Using this common suffix makes it more likely that the file will be retrieved in the right way. You will have the chance to override the suggested name if you are uploading a single file.
Add .bin suffix to MacBinary II files -- If this box is checked Fetch will add the ╥.bin╙ suffix to the names of files being uploaded in MacBinary II format. Using this common suffix makes it more likely that the file will be retrieved in the right way. You will have the chance to override the suggested name if you are uploading a single file.
Add .txt suffix to Text files -- If this box is checked Fetch will add the ╥.txt╙ suffix to the names of files being uploaded in Text or Wrapped Text format. Using this common suffix makes it more likely that the file will be retrieved in the right way. You will have the chance to override the suggested name if you are uploading a single file.
Word wrap margin -- This value will be used as the word-wrapping margin if you put a file in the ╥Wrapped Text╙ format. Lines longer than this value will be broken at word boundaries into shorter lines.
Encode and decode file and folder names -- This checkbox determines how Fetch converts the names of local files and folders into remote names, and vice versa. If the box is checked Fetch will encode and decode the names according to the AppleSingle 7-Bit ASCII standard: slash (/), percent (%), null, and all 8-bit extended ASCII characters will be encoded as a three-character sequence of the form %xx, where xx is the character╒s hexadecimal value. If the box is unchecked Fetch will leave names alone (except to ensure that they are not too long for the Macintosh, or contain illegal characters such as colon).
Format Preferences:
Recognize and Interpret -- These checkboxes determine whether Fetch will automatically recognize and convert downloaded files in the given formats (StuffIt!, BinHex4, MacHost, MacBinary I & II, and AppleSingle). If you have trouble downloading a file in one of these formats you may want to turn off the conversion and convert the file with another tool.
Firewall Preferences:
Note: these preferences let Fetch work around network restrictions that some sites impose for security reasons. You should consult with your network administrator or help desk before changing these preferences.
Use passive mode transfers (PASV) -- If this box is checked Fetch will initiate data connections, rather than asking servers to connect back to your Macintosh. Some company firewalls prevent incoming connections, and this option makes it possible to use Fetch behind those firewalls.
Use proxy FTP server -- Some networks only allow FTP sessions from a special machine running something called a proxy server. In that case Fetch needs to connect to the proxy server, which in turn connects to the real server you want to talk to. Fetch supports a simple kind of proxy server that expects to see your userid and the name of the real server in the userid field, in the form realuserid@realhostname. If your network has such a proxy server, you can check the box and enter its name in this field and Fetch will use it automatically. Note: Fetch does not support proxy servers that require separate authentication, or CERN HTTP proxy servers. Can be set with Internet Config.
Use SOCKS gateway -- Some networks require that connections go through a special gateway, called a SOCKS gateway. If your network has this requirement you should check this checkbox and enter the name of the gateway. If the gateway uses a port number other than the standard one (1080) you should type the correct port number after the gateway name, separated from the name by a space (e.g. "socks.domain.com 9999" to use port 9999). Note: Fetch supports version 4 of the SOCKS protocol, but not version 5. Can be set with Internet Config.
Don╒t use proxy or SOCKS for -- Proxy servers and SOCKS gateways may not accept connections bound for local servers (i.e. servers that are inside a network firewall). If that is the case on your network you can enter the name of your local domain in this field, and Fetch will make direct connections to machines in that domain. So if you entered ╥acme.com╙ Fetch would not use the proxy server or SOCKS gateway for connections to ╥ftp.acme.com╙, ╥internal.acme.com╙, or ╥acme.com╙. But it would continue to use the server or gateway for machines that are not in ╥acme.com╙. You may enter multiple domain names, separated by commas, spaces, or carriage returns, if there are multiple domains inside your firewall (for example, your firewall might protect ╥research.acme.com╙ and ╥sales.acme.com╙ while ╥ftp.acme.com╙ is outside the firewall; in that case you would enter ╥research.acme.com, sales.acme.com╙). Can be set with Internet Config.
Use data ports from x to y -- Some network firewalls forbid incoming connections to certain port numbers. You can restrict the ports used by Fetch by entering new values here.
Mirror Preferences:
Info-Mac and UMich mirrors -- The most popular Macintosh-oriented FTP archives on the Internet are the Info-Mac archive at sumex-aim.stanford.edu and the University of Michigan (UMich) archive at mac.archive.umich.edu. Both of these archives are so busy that it is rarely possible to connect to them. Fortunately, there are dozens of ╥mirror╙ sites that host duplicates of these archives, updating them on a regular basis. So you should always connect to a mirror site rather than the original archive. These preferences let you choose your preferred mirror sites, by entering their URLs or choosing them from the pop-up menu (which requires Internet Config). Once you have chosen preferred mirror sites Fetch will automatically expand archive pathnames into full URLs that refer to your preferred sites. So, for example, pasting the string "/info-mac/comm" (the pathname of the Info-Mac communications directory) into a bookmark list will create a bookmark for the communications directory of your chosen mirror site. These preferences can be set with Internet Config.
Miscellaneous Preferences:
Maximum file list cache size -- Fetch stores file lists in a file named ╥Fetch Cache.╙ If you revisit a directory that does not change often Fetch will use the stored file list rather than downloading it again, for better performance. You can use this preference to control how much disk space Fetch will use for this feature. If, for privacy reasons, you do not want Fetch to store file lists you can enter zero.
Use ╥TYPE I╙ to retrieve binary files -- Check this box if you want Fetch to use the ╥TYPE I╙ format for binary transfers; this is necessary for proper operation with some IBM mainframe servers, but can cause problems with machines that do not use 8-bit bytes (such as TOPS-20 systems).
Omit file names beginning with a period -- Check this box if you do not want Fetch to display names that begin with a period in its file list. This can reduce the clutter when connecting to Unix accounts.
Translate ISO characters -- Check this box if you would like Fetch to translate 8-bit ISO characters in text files and file listings to the Mac equivalents, using the 'taBL' resources in Fetch.
Show signon dialog at startup -- Check this box if you would like Fetch to automatically open the signon dialog box when Fetch is started.
Use case-sensitive sorting -- Check this box if you would like Fetch to consider case when sorting file or bookmark names, so that all the names starting with upper case letters will be separate from the others.
Allow duplicate connections -- If you check this box Fetch will let you issue commands (e.g. to download a file, or change directory) while a transfer window is already busy. In that case Fetch will open a new, duplicate connection to perform the command. This can be convenient, but it is easy to accidentally create new connections when you did not realize that the original connection was busy.
Anarchie emulation mode -- If this box is checked Fetch automatically creates a bookmark list and fills it with bookmarks for the items in the file list whenever the file list is changed. This makes Fetch operate a bit like Anarchie, the FTP client by Peter Lewis. It can be convenient to view directories in bookmark list windows, since you can easily have multiple windows open to different directories. But some commands (such as View File List and Send FTP Command) only work with the transfer window in front, not with bookmark list windows.
Treat mystery items as files -- On some servers Fetch can not tell files from directories in the file list. On those servers Fetch will start a ╥Get╙ or ╥Delete╙ operation by trying to change directory to the name in question, in order to determine whether it is getting/deleting a file or a directory. But a small number of servers (including MVS and Tandem models) do not return an error when Fetch tries to change directory to a file name, so Fetch erroneously concludes that it is getting/deleting a directory and the operation fails. When this checkbox is checked, Fetch will instead assume that such mystery items are files, and Fetch will not try changing directory.
Don╒t make Open Transport calls -- Fetch includes special ╥native╙ code for calling the Open Transport networking system software directly. If you experience problems with Fetch on an Open Transport machine it may help to check this box and have Fetch fall back to its older MacTCP code.
