OS/2 Shareware BBS: 35 Internet/35-Internet.zip/dragen1.zip/dragen.hlp

OS/2 Help File | 2000-04-09 | 15KB | 372 lines

ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1. Dragen FTP ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Dragen FTP - Copyright 2000, Keith Cotroneo


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.1. Background ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Background

Dragen FTP is a Drag Enabled File Transfer Protocol client for the OS/2
operating system. Dragen FTP is actually two programs: the Dragen Drag-En drop
visual interface, and get2.exe the core FTP program. Dragen is different from
most FTP clients in that it is not a continuous logon client.
By design, Dragen is a multiple process client. Traditional clients logon to a
server, then maintain a continuous connection, performing a set of commands,
and then logging off when the user is done. Dragen logs on and logs off with
each command, using the powerful get2.exe core. The advantage of this approach
is that Dragen is a multiprocess application. One can log on to one server,
initiate a set of large file multiple downloads, then in a process independent
manner, logon to another server, initiate another set of large multiple process
uploads, and so on.

The downside, is that Dragen is a bit slower initiating transactions, since it
logs on each time. In my tests, however, if found these differences to be
small.

As you use the program, you will see when Dragen hands off to get2.exe. In most
cases, get2 does its work behind the scenes. In a few cases get2 will come to
the forefront in a vio window. When get2 is working in the background, you can
monitor transactions through the log window.

The Dragen visual interface is designed for Drag-En drop FTPing and is
integrated with the OS/2 workplace shell. You can interact with Dragen in the
traditional double click manner, or drag files to do the work. Dragen will
allow uploading to occur by dragging files from the Dragen localwindow or an
OS/2 folder to the Dragen remote window. Downloads may be initiated by dragging
to the Dragen local window, by double clicking on a file, or by using download
options in the remote menu.

Dragen also features some advanced functions such as site monitoring and mp3
streaming.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2. Getting Started ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Getting Started - a quick tutorial

The best way to learn about Dragen's features is to try it out, so let's set
Dragen up for use on
your system.

Unzip Dragen to a directory of your choice. Be sure that your unzip utiliy
preserves directories as
it unzips. The Dragen archive comes packed with a directory structure which is
required for
proper use of the program.

After unzipping Dragen to the directory of your choice, open an OS/2 window and
change to the
Dragen directory.

Type setup to run the Dragen setup utility. You must then specify some runtime
parameters:

1) The Dragen default download directory: this is where Dragen will download
files if you do not
explicitly tell it to put downloaded files elsewhere.

2) The path and filename of your external editor. If you want to use the E
editor, simply press Enter,
otherwise, be sure to include the path to the editor as well.

3) The path and filename of your mp3 player. If you do not have one, use one of
the included mp3
players: use mplay1 for high quality, mplay2 for medium quality, or mplay3 for
low quality. MP3
playback is cpu intensive. Choose a lower quality player if you need to
conserve your cpu or if
you have an older machine, ie 486. Pentium machines should be able to handle
mplay1 just fine.

4) The length of time you want Dragen to wait before terminating a logon
attempt.

5) Proxy name and port if needed to pass a firewall.

Once you finish answering the questions, setup will place two icons on you
desktop. One labeled
Dragen DropZone, the other labeled Dragen FTP. Dragen FTP is the icon for the
program itself.
Dragen DropZone is a start up object that allows you to drag a customized
object onto it and
quickly logon to a site directly.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2.1. Logon ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Logging on to a site

Double click on the Dragen FTP icon on the desktop.

Now, let's logon to the famous Hobbes incoming directory.

The Site Alias list presents current sites. Click on the Hobbes Incoming alias
to show logon information. Double click to logon.

To navigate: double click on directories, use the back button (<) to go back
(or ctrl <-, that's ctrl grey back key), or refresh to reload a directory by
hitting the R key when the directory list has focus.

Note that setting the sort checkbox on many unix like servers will produce a
reverse date/time sorted listing.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2.2. Downloading ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Downloading

To quickly download a file to the default download directory, double click on a
file. To download using Dragen drop, click on the local button. The local
window will open. Navigate to the desired directory. Then, from the Dragen
remote window, highlight the files you want to download. To selectively
highlight several non-contiguous files. Hold down the ctrl key as you click on
the files. Then use a right mouse button drag to the local window to download
the selected files. Once the download has completed, use cwd in the local
window to update the directory.

If you want to download with automatic reget, select that checkbox before
dragging the files.

Other ways to download include:
ctrl S - download to a specified directory. You specify the directory before
download. Highlight the files you want then click ctrl S. ctrl W - download
files to the local window.
ctrl G - download files directly to the default download path for the site.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2.3. Uploading ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Uploading

Uploading is simply the reverse process of Drag-En Drop downloading, except
that the source files may come from the local directory or any OS/2 folder.
Drag files from the local window or OS/2 folders to the Dragen remote directory
list.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2.4. View ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Viewing a File

To view a file in the remote directory window, select it, then press F3 or view
in the remote menu. F3 also works to view files in the local directory.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3. Dragen Desktop Objects ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Dragen Drop Desktop Object (HPFS)

Using hobbes as an example, let's create a Dragen drop desktop object for the
Hobbes incoming directory (you must be using the High Performance File System
to do this). First, select the sort checkbox. Next, place the mouse cursor over
the server window where you see hobbes.mnsu.edu. Click and hold the right mouse
button and drag to the desktop. Release the mouse over a blank portion of the
desktop. A new desktop object labeled {pub/incoming} will be placed on the
desktop. Now let's test it. Close down Dragen FTP.

After Dragen FTP has closed down, right click and hold on the {pub/incoming}
desktop object and drag it on top of the Dragen DropZone icon. Release the
mouse button. Dragen will now start up and automatically and produce a reverse
directory sorting of the directory list. If you logon to the same sites often.
I recommend creating Dragen drop objects for each of these sites. You can place
these objects on the desktop or in any OS/2 folder. Once Dragen is open, you
can Dragen drop any Dragen desktop object onto the host alias listbox to logon
to remote servers.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4. Basic Features ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4.1. Site Monitor ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Monitoring a Remote Site

Clicking the monitor -> start/stop menu item will fire up a second window in
which Dragen will continually retrieve directory listings at the interval
specified in the monitor edit box. This is particularly useful if you are
having trouble retrieving a directory listing from a site. Dragen will
continually retry for you and save the list from its last successful attempt.
Deselecting
the monitor -> start/stop menu item will discontinue the monitor. Selecting the
monitor -> pause menu item will freeze monitor activity.

Selecting transfer on the monitor will transfer the site listing to the Dragen
remote window.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4.2. Del, Rmd, Ren ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Del, Rmd, Ren

Dragen provides buttons that allow you to delete files from remote directories,
rename them, or remove empty directories.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4.3. ASCII/BINARY ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

ASCII/BINARY

If you wish to retrieve directory listings or files in ASCII mode, select the
ASCII checkbox before initiating the desired action.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4.4. Site List ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Adding/Editing the Site List

To edit a site, single click on it in the Site Alias window. Then right click
on the site window. The site edit box will pop up. You can directly enter or
edit site data. Click change or add when done.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4.5. History List ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

History List

Dragen maintains a site history list for HPFS users. This is found under the
Sites menu. You can drag a directory in the history list to the Host Alias
window to change to a directory.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 5. Additional Features ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 5.1. MP3 ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

MP3

Dragen will play mp3 files that reside on remote sites. Here is a
demonstration: While logged onto Hobbes, navigate to pub!multimedia!wave!mpeg.
There are three mp3 files in this directory. Single click to highlight the one
the one named warworld.mp3. Next, depending on your line speed, set the mp3
buffer (Buf=). If you have a cable modem or network connection, 10 seconds is
probably a sufficient buffer. For modems, use 30 seconds or more. Next click on
the MP3 - > play menu item to listen to "war of the worlds." You can select
multiple mp3s in the same manner as with downloads. Dragen will stream and play
the files sequentially.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 5.2. Manage Processes ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Managing Processes

Dragen uses an automatic process to kill logon or directory list retrieves that
stall during logon. The wait time for auto kill is adjustable (in seconds) at
SETUP or by using the Process -> Set Kill Delay menu item. Dragen allows you to
kill download/upload processes manually. ctrl P opens a process list that shows
current upload or download processes. Double clicking on a process id will kill
the process. Ctrl P will toggle the process list open or closed. Zombie kill in
the process menu will kill all running threads.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 5.3. Proxy ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Proxy

Dragen provides a mean for accessing sites through a proxy. The proxy url and
port must be established during setup by running setup.cmd. To access a site
through the proxy, simply click the proxy button on the remote window
interface. To make proxy access the default, right click on the site window,
click the proxy button, and click done.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 5.4. Transaction Log ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Transaction Log

Ctrl L will toggle the transaction log list open or closed. The open/close
button will do the same thing.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 5.5. Command Line Startup ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Command Line Startup

Dragen can be started from the command line using the following syntax:
From the Dragen directory - either dragen alias or dstart alias e.g. dragen
"hobbes incoming" or dstart "hobbes incoming" Note that double quotes are
required around the alias name if it has a space in it.
To start dragen from the command line from any directory other than the
directory in which dragen has its files, use: dstart alias instead of dragen
alias.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 5.6. Program Object ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Program Object

If you want to create a program object for a particular site, use the following
parameters:
Program Tab:
- path and filename - must point to dragen.exe, parameter
- the alias name with double quotes if there is a space, working directory -
must point to the dragen directory.
Icon:
- set title to the alias name.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 5.7. ESC Key ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

ESC

Pressing the esc key when the directory/file listing has focus will close the
program.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 6. Dealing with Non-Standard Servers ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Dealing with Non-standard Servers, Columns or Filenames

Currently, Dragen recognizes, UNIX (or UNIX look alike) servers, OS/2, MVS, and
VMS servers. Others may work as well. If you find a server that does not work
properly, please let me know.

For some servers, Dragen needs more information about the directory structure
to work. Dragen identifies files and directories using the directory window
listing. With a UNIX server, when you double click on a window entry, Dragen
checks the first character in the line to see if it is a "d." If it is, Dragen
knows that a double click on that line will be for a  directory operation.
Otherwise, it assumes it will be a file operation. Dragen gets the filename by
parsing the last column entry in the line. This approach works fine for most
servers. One exception is if a directory or filename has a space in it. If
there is a space in the directory or filename, Dragen will not find the proper
location in the line to parse.

For UNIX servers, to correct this situation, you must tell Dragen which column
represents the beginning of the file or directory. Do this by using column mode
setup:
1) Start by logging onto a site. Use a double click on a host in the site list.
2) Once you have retrieved a list, SINGLE click on a line in the remote window
that contains a non-standard directory or filename (i.e. spaces in the name).
You now have the line highlighted
3) Click on the Remote menu item, or right click on the remote window
4) Click on Column Mode Setup
5) Review the list of file or directory names and double click on the line that
contains the proper name set alone by itself.
6) Column mode is now set for the remote window. If you want to make this
setting the  default, right click on the host site list and make the changes to
the presets for that host.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7. Other Non-Standard Situations ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Other Non-Standard Situations

Some strange servers require that LIST commands send *.* (e.g. the windows
Bison FTP server), otherwise they do not return full directory listings. If
this is the case on a particular server, check the *.* checkbox. The *.*
checkbox is only valid for column mode, so you must have column mode set as
well.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 8. Questions or Feedback ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Questions or feedback to:

Keith Cotroneo
716 Monterey Drive
Endwell, NY 13760
email: [e-mail]