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1997-07-23
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FTP Browser readme
==================
This file contains the following sections:
What is FTP Browser?
System requirements
Feature list
Features that may not be obvious
Solutions to common problems
Changes for this release
Legal disclaimer
Availability and support
Installation procedure
Changes in previous releases
=====================================================================
What is FTP Browser?
=====================================================================
FTP Browser is a powerful and intuitive FTP solution for OS/2
Warp that features drag and drop, server to server and directory
tree transfers accross a variety of hosts.
Please, feel free to use this shareware version of FTP Browser to
evaluate its functionality as long as you agree to the legal
disclaimer. Should you continue to use this product beyond the
30-day trial period, please select "Registration information" from
the site manager's help menu.
Registration for FTP Browser is only $29.00 in US funds.
Thank you for your interest in FTP Browser.
=====================================================================
System requirements
=====================================================================
Your system must meet the following minimal requirements in order to
install and use FTP Browser:
OS/2 Warp version 3 or 4
Presentation Manager
TCP/IP
2 Mb free disk space
=====================================================================
Feature list
=====================================================================
The following features will surely enhance your FTP experience:
FTP site manager that stores sites in folders
References to site objects on the desktop
Drag and drop enabled for transfers, queueing, site
manipulation and more
Local file manager
Quick connect feature to test new sites
Ping feature to test site responsiveness before connecting
Unlimited number of simultaneous connections to the same site
Multiple and simultaneous transfers to the same site
Graphical file transfer display
Host redialing for busy sites
Seamless reconnects for lost connections
Automatically resume interrupted transfers
Resume partially transferred files
Transfer queue for storing items to transfer
Recursive directory tree transfers and deletes
Server to server tree and file transfers
Tree synchronize feature for maintaining identical trees on
local and remote systems
Recursive directory tree search feature for finding files
Archive content and text file viewer
Configurable file associations for viewing downloaded files
Classical and transparent proxy firewall support
Firewall support for travelling (laptop) users
Configurable directory lisiting cache
"Quick paths" allow access to frequently accessed directories
Parent directory button to quickly move up one directory
Communications log with save to file option
Hooks for command file execution after file transfers
Download information optionally written to file EAs
File list filter
Hover help for all toolbars
Warp 4's tabbed notebook style
Drag and drop color and font configurability
=====================================================================
Features that may not be obvious
=====================================================================
- To move a site to a new folder, drag and drop the site over
the target folder. To copy a site hold down the control key
while dropping the site over the target folder.
- To create a reference to a site on the desktop, drag and
drop the site in any desktop folder. Double clicking the
new site reference object will open the FTP window for that
site, bypassing the site manager.
- To connect to a site double click the site name. To connect
to every site within a folder, double click the folder name.
- To be prompted for a site address or password, simply
leave these fields empty in the properties notebook.
- To start FTP Browser from another application and
automatically connect to a FTP site refer to the "command line
arguments" section of the FTP Browser manual.
- To transfer files and directories, simply drag objects from
or into the FTP window.
- To view a file using the defined associations, double click
the file name in the FTP window. If the file's extension
matches that of a defined association it will be viewed using
the defined external application. For example, double clicking
on a ZIP file will display the contents of the archive. Any
file for which there is no association is assumed to be a text
file and will be displayed in the built-in text viewer window.
Associations can be defined in the configure options notebook.
- To resume an interrupted file transfer, simply start the
transfer again and select append from the file transfer
prompt.
- To transfer files and directories from one site to another,
simply drag objects from one FTP window to the other.
- To recursively delete directories on a site, make your
selection then select delete.
- To synchronize directory trees between your system and a
remote system, both the local and remote directory fields
must changed to the directories that are to be synchronized.
- To filter the file list add the filter string to the end of
the remote directory. For example, the following remote
directory would only list ZIP files: /os2/incoming/*.zip
To remove the filter refresh the directory.
- To change the font and color of a window, simply drag and
drop them to the window. All changes will be saved.
- if you would like to move FTP Browser to another location use
the move function in the install program. Refer to the install
help for more information.
=====================================================================
Solutions to common problems
=====================================================================
- if there is a problem getting a list of files from a Windows
for Workgroups/95/NT FTP server, try changing the site type
in the site's properties notebook to DOS.
- if there is a problem connecting to sites on the internet through
a firewall/proxy server, make sure that the "located behind
firewall" check box is not checked. It should only be checked
for sites within (local to) your LAN.
- if a site does not allow fully qualified path names when changing
or listing a directory, the file list will be empty even though
there are files. If this is the case then disable "fully qualify
directory changes and listings" on the preferences page of the
site's properties notebook.
- if you are having problems connecting through a firewall or
connecting to a specific site, view the communications window
and select save. Send this text file along with a description of
the problem in an e-mail message to the address listed under
support.
- if FTP Browser is slow accessing data files or creating a lot
of disk activity, try using the install program to clean your
data files. Refer to the install help for more information.
- when closing the FTP window, it is normal if it takes up to 5
seconds to shut down.
=====================================================================
Changes for this release
=====================================================================
1. The active data connection setting not functioning properly.
2. The notebook that should occupy the bottom half of the FTP
window is not visible on Warp3 systems.
2. When opening a site from a desktop reference object, the site's
directory list would never appear and cause an endless loop that would
constantly read from your hard drive.
3. The "No auxiliary connection" message would consistently appear on
any OS/2 system without multimedia installed when the user attempted to
download/upload. The process that is responsible for transfers requires
an OS/2 multimedia file called "mdm.dll". As a temporary work around I
have disabled the multimedia sound support that optionally plays after
transfers.
=====================================================================
Legal disclaimer
=====================================================================
FTP Browser is provided "as-is" without any warranties (or
conditions), expressed or implied with respect to the software,
including the implied warranties (or conditions) of merchantability
and fitness for a particular purpose. The entire risk arising out
of use or performance of the program remains with you. In no event,
will Jason Rushton be liable for any lost profits, lost savings,
incidental or indirect damages or other economic consequential
damages, even if Jason Rushton has been advised of the possibility
of such damages. In addition, Jason Rushton will not be liable for
any damages claimed on you based on any third party claim.
FTP Browser, Copyright (c) 1996 Jason Rushton
=====================================================================
Availability and support
=====================================================================
If you have questions, suggestions or bug reports, use any of the
following contact methods. Registered users will receive first
priority, although I will surely make an effort to respond to
unregistered users as well.
Internet mail
rushton@netcom.ca
Regular mail
Jason Rushton
81 Calais Street
Whitby, Ontario
Canada, L1N 5M3
The latest version of FTP Browser will always be available for
download from the following internet FTP archives, WWW pages and
internet BBSs:
ftp.cdrom.com /.4/os2/internet
hobbes.nmsu.edu /os2/internet
ftp.bmtmicro.com /bmtmicro
http://www.bmtmicro.com/catalog/0internet.html
ftp.leo.org /pub/comp/os/os2/tcpip/ftp
os2.musthave.com /OS2
http://www.os2ss.com/internet/ftp/
bbs.os2bbs.com Area #35
=====================================================================
Installation
=====================================================================
To install FTP Browser:
1. Unzip the compressed file into a temporary directory.
2. Make this directory the current directory.
3. Run INSTALL.EXE to install the application.
=====================================================================
Changes in previous releases
=====================================================================
v1.7
- added a clean button that will clean out FTP Browser's
data files. This is recommended for users who have upgraded
from a previous release. This feature removes all unused
data and reorganizes the data files for efficiency when
FTP Browser accesses them.
- added a move button that will relocate an FTP Browser
installation to another path.
- fixed some minor bugs.
- changed the FTP Browser logo (again).
- added the ability to have one level of child folders.
- added a quick connect feature to connect to sites not
frequently visited.
- to create a site entry in the site manager for a site
that you have connected to using the quick connect, select
"save site properties". You will be prompted for the name
of the new site.
- added a feature that writes the properties of all sites
to a text file.
- added an auxiliary connection setting to the site properties
notebook.
- added an auxiliary connection setting to the set default
window.
- added a setting to the site properties notebook that hides
the local file list and directory.
- added a setting to the site properties notebook that
will enables the conversion of all uploaded file names
to lowercase characters.
- moved the enable active data connections setting to the
site properties notebook so that it can be configured
independently of each site.
- added a setting to the options notebook that specifies
whether the queue, log or quick path pages should be the
first in the new FTP window notebook.
- added a network thread priority setting to the options
notebook so that very fast transfers will not dominate
your CPU. This setting resides on the network page.
- added a setting for enabling/disabling the system beep
at the end of transfers. In addition there is now a field
for specifying a sound file to play at the end of transfers.
- users are now prompted before connecting to all sites in
a folder in case it was not intended.
- added the ability to drag and drop sites to the desktop to
create site reference objects.
- added a status area to the bottom of the site manager window,
which displays the status of the site manager, the number
of open FTP windows and the number of transfers running.
- added spacers between unrelated toolbar buttons.
- the delete key can now be used to delete folders and sites
provided the respective container has the focus. You will be
prompted to confirm to the deletion.
- refreshed the menu layout and key accelerators.
- fixed a bug in the context menu interface.
- improved the layout of the data files holding many of FTP
Browser's settings. FTP Browser should now operate more quickly
when reading from these files, at the expense of resetting
some options to their default values.
- changed all threads to an idle priority.
- reduced fragmentation when dynamically allocating memory.
- updated help system.
- changed the FTP Browser logo (again).
- enhanced the command line arguments for FTPBROWS.EXE. Refer
to the new command line argument section of the help.
- added context menus all over the place.
- added a local file list which functions in the same way as
the site list. It is drag and drop enabled and multi-threaded.
- moved the previous dir and open folder toolbar buttons
back beside the their respective dir entry fields.
- added a notebook to the bottom of the window that conatins
pages for the queue, log and quick path windows.
- added to splitbars, one between the site and new local file
listings, and one between the status area and the new
notebook.
- added a toolbar button that incremently adjusts the vertical
splitbar betweem the site and local listings.
- added a feature that prompts for a file name of a zero
length file that will be created on the site. This is useful
for sending messages as files to the site administrator.
- added a feature that opens the properties notebook in the
manager for the connected site. This saves the user from
having to search for the site in the site manager, although
the folder that contains the site must be open in the site
manager.
- the last sort performed on the site list and local list
is now remembered the next time the FTP window is opened.
If no sort is performed or default is selected from the
sort menu, the default sort attribute is used.
- added an auxiliary connection status area that displays
information about transfers and deleted files only.
- replaced the local directory field with a drop down list
that contains all the local drives on the system.
- added new "download as" and "upload as" features that
prompt the user for the target file name of each file
to be transferred.
- added an "apply action to all existing files" setting
to the transfer prompt that appears when transferring
a file that already exists on the target system.
- during queue transfers the user is now prompted when the
file exists.
- added a local file name prompt when the file name contains
illegal characters.
- added an option to the synchronize feature which allows
files to be included if they are older than a specified date.
- added a file search feature which will recursively search
site directory trees for a file name. This file name can
include a "*" as a wild card and the search can be limited to
include only files that are newer than a specified date.
- added a file rename feature.
- added a site command feature which allows the user to manually
send commands to the site.
- added a connect/disconnect feature so that the FTP window can
remain open while the connection is closed.
- added the ability to save the queue to a file when closing the
site and load the queue when opening the site.
- the site list now contains a field that displays the site file
permissions if available.
- added the ability to save the all files to be transferred to a
file list when the transfer fails and load this list into the
queue when opening the site.
- added the ability to start multiple, simultaneous transfers
from one FTP window through auxiliary connections.
- it is now possible to change directories, change the transfer
mode, send site commands, rename files and create directories
while any number of file transfers are in progress.
- each auxiliary connection has its own transfer status window,
text viewer, synchronize list and search facility.
- auxiliary connections are also used to delete site files
and perform server to server transfers. This means that it is
now possible to perform multiple, server to server transfers
simultaneously using the same FTP window.
- it is now possible to close the FTP window without affecting
any number of file transfers, site file deletes or server to
server transfers.
- when aborting transfers the auxiliary connection will quickly
disconnect and then reconnect to fix many of the previous
problems with many sites not properly reacting to an abort.
- added a reconnect button to the transfer window, which will
quickly disconnect, reconnect and then resume the transfer.
This can be useful if you feel the site has forgotten about
your transfer or your ISP has hung up on you.
- enhanced command line argument support to accept a username,
password, port#, account name and site type.
- added a toolbar button that cycles through a splitbar
position of 50%, 75% and 25%.
- added spacers between unrelated toolbar buttons.
- the delete key can now be used to delete site and local
files, queue items, quick paths, synchronize list items and
search items provided the respective container has the focus.
- refreshed the menu layout, key accelerators and toolbar.
- fixed a bug in the context menu interface.
- fixed a bug in with the storing of quick paths that caused
them to be truncated to a certain length.
- fixed minor bugs in the synchronize feature.
- changed all threads to an run at the priority set in the
site manager's options notebook.
- updated help system.
- reduced fragmentation when dynamically allocating memory.
v1.6
- added a menu item to the site manager window for creating a
desktop icon that references a site. Click this icon to directly
connect to the site.
- added menu items to the site manager window for cascading, tiling
or closing all open FTP windows. Cascade and tile use the size of
the top-left-most window for determining the size of the others.
- changing certain options and site properties are now reflected
immediately if the there are open FTP windows.
- updated all toolbar buttons with a consistant graphic scheme.
- replaced some infrequently used toolbar buttons with more
frequently used ones.
- added a setting to the site properties notebook for turning off
fully qualified directory names, because some sites do not like the
LIST command fully qualified.
NOTE: turning off fully qualified pathnames prevents recursive
directory tree transfers etc.
- added a setting in the site properties notebook for converting
uploaded file names to FAT (8.3) format.
- fixed the deletion of sites from the site manager window which
was causing a memory leak.
- fixed the site manager splitbar, so that the sizing pointer
(left-right arrow) is displayed while moving the splitbar.
- enhanced transfer status window updates, which are now performed
in a seperate thread. It was found that updating the status
from within the transfer thread degraded transfer performance
by as much as 50% with extremely fast transfers (30kbs+).
- added a list of files to transfer to the transfer status window.
- added an elapsed transfer time field to the transfer status win.
- multiple FTP windows are now cascaded instead of opening on top
of each other.
- changed the following FTP window dialogues to windows for improved
functionality:
Connect status, Transfer status, Transfer queue, Quick path
Communications log, Synchronize
- added help to many of the remaining (modal) dialogues.
- added a select all function to the FTP window directory menu.
- enhanced file transfer code which now allows a user selectable
action when a file exist condition occurs during a recursive
tree transfer.
- enhanced the file transfer prompt with a manually rename file
option and changed the old rename option button to "unique".
- added column titles to the FTP window file list, transfer queue,
and synchronize list.
- enabled the remote directory field to accept filter strings.
- synchronize feature now compares file names without case
sensitivity and also compares file sizes in determining
which files to synchronize.
- fixed a bug during file transfers of > 40MB which caused the
percent and progress indicators to reset to 0.
- improved server to server transfer code, now more robust in
dealing with transfer failures.
- FTP window now displays on top after a successful connection.
v1.55
- added a directory tree synchronize feature, which lists and
recursively transfes missing files between your a system and a
remote site
- enhanced the informational messages displayed in the status area
and the connect window
- added a "how do I ..." section the help system
- added a similar "Features that may not be obvious" section to this
readme file.
- added an switch that can toggle between active and passive data
connections
- added the ability to start an FTP session from the command line
(or your another application) by specifying an ftp site address
eg. ftpbrows ftp.cdrom.com
- added an option to not display the local and remote dir fields in
the FTP window
- fixed a bug which confused FTP Browser when informational messages
posted by some sites contained an extra new line character.
A dash as the first character of the password is no longer needed
for Hobbes. (Directory -> Synchronize)
- fixed a bug in the passive data connection code
- fixed a small GUI flaw in the status area
- fixed the display of binary/ascii transfer mode
- many GUI and network code optimizations
- reduction in memory requirements and increased performance