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OS/2 Help File
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1996-06-23
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73KB
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2,178 lines
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1. Introduction ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
NcFTP is a user interface to the Internet standard File Transfer Protocol. This
program allows a user to transfer files to and from a remote network site, and
offers additional features that are not found in the standard interface, ftp.
The program runs in one of three modes: visual mode, line mode and colon mode.
If your system is somewhat modern, the default mode should be visual mode. This
is a full-screen interface that uses the curses library.
With visual mode, you edit the program's settings with a nice screen interface
instead of typing arcane commands.
If you are not in visual mode, you will be using line mode for the interactive
shell. This mode is a no-frills command-line interface that will look like the
default ftp program's command shell.
The third mode, colon mode, refers to the program's ability to do a quick
retrieve of a file directly from your shell command line, without going into
the program's own shell. This mode is useful for shell scripts.
NcFTP v2.3.0 provides several enhancements over the standard ftp available with
IBM's TCP/IP and Warp's IAK. NcFTP offers serveral benefits and enhancements,
such as:
A progress indicator bar
Re-get support - The abilitity to automatically restart an aborted ftp
transfer at the point where it left off.
Colon-mode, which allows you to quickly pick up a single file by typing a
single command on the command line.
Recursive gets; Now you can retrieve entire sub-directory trees using the
-r switch with the get command.
Get `newer than X-files'; This retrieves files that are newer than X
days.
Get new files only; NcFTP now has the ability to skip files that you
already have, making it easy to mirror other sites, or just pick up new
files since your last ftp session.
Integrated hosts editor.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2. What's Different With This Port ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
All features of the original UNIX version of NcFTP have been maintained, with
two exceptions:
SOCKS support has not been implemented.
NcFTP does not go into `silent mode' when in the background.
All other features have been maintained. Also, there are some new features or
enhancements with this port. Specifically they are:
FAT partition friendly, NcFTP will work equally as well on FAT
partititions as it will on HPFS partititions.
NcFTP will interpret / as \ for local system file names.
Background Paging. This feature was introduced by Steve Willer in the
v1.9.3 port of NcFTP. This features gives you the ability to have your
pager program start in a separate window. The window title bar will
refect exactly what is being viewed. The specific commands are:
- bpage
- bls
- bdir
- bredir
Complete control over the NcFTP's colors. There is now a Color
Configuration screen which allows you to set your favorite colors.
NcFTP for OS/2 no longer uses the `i.am.running' flag file to determine
if other copies of NcFTP are running. It now uses OS/2 semaphores. This
is a key feature incase NcFTP were to crash, it will not leave old files
laying around.
NcFTP now clears the screen before calling a command shell.
The `ESCAPE' key will clear the input line, just like OS/2.
When writing files to a FAT partition, NcFTP will set the extended
attribute .LONGNAME to the actual file name.
NcFTP will store a URL type reference in the .SUBJECT extended attribute
of each file retrieved that shows the host, directory and name of the
file retrieved. For example, it will store the following:
ftp://hobbes.nmsu.edu/incoming/ncftp230.zip
Three new Global Preference Options are now available:
Maximum Redials Sets the maximum number of retries to connect to a busy
system.
Redial Delay Sets the delay between redials.
Pager in new window All NcFTP pager related commands run in a separate
window.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3. Differences Between NcFTP v.1.9.3 ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Differences between NcFTP v1.9.3 and NcFTP v2.3.0
Using "colon-mode" never enters the shell. Whenever you use it, the
program will do it's thing, and exit.
You don't get the fancy prompts anymore when using "line" mode (i.e. you
turned off visual mode by running with "ncftp -L").
When in visual mode, you can't use GNU Readline or Getline. You can use
them if not in visual mode though. In visual mode, you get to use my
homegrown line editor/history. It lets you scroll through the history,
and use some simple editing commands.
"get"/"put" always behaves like "mget"/"mput."
There is no .netrc file. You do get a ~/.ncftp directory, and in it you
get files called "hosts" and "prefs." You can also put your "macros"
file there, and if you have logging turned on, a file called "log" is
stored there.
For "macdef init" macros, you need to put them in your "macros" file
named as ".open.<sitename>. So for an init macro for wuarchive, you
would use a macro named ".open.wuarchive" instead.
Other commands previously supported for backwards compatibility with
"ftp" are gone. So are some other less useful commands.
The gateway hack has been removed. You'll have to use SOCKS, which has
not been implemented in the OS/2 port.
Hostname abbreviation rules have changed a bit. NcFTP assigns a unique
nickname to site the first time you open it (this nickname can be changed
using the host editor if you don't like it). When you try opening a
site, you can either type it's full name again, or type it's nickname.
You can abbreviate the nickname, but not other parts of the site name.
For example, if you had an entry called "wuarchive.wustl.edu" in your
host file with a nickname of "wuarchive," You could do "open wuarchive"
or "open wuar" but "open wustl" would not. This avoids the confusion
between abbreviations and local network hosts.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4. Installation ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
1. Place NcFTP.exe in your path.
2. Place ncftp.inf in a directory referenced by the BOOKSHELF environment
variable in your CONFIG.SYS.
3. Be sure you have the latest version of emx's run-time libraries. NcFTP
requres emx09b fix01 or later to run properly. If you have an older
version of emx runtimes, you can get the latest from:
ftp://hobbes.nmsu.edu/os2/unix/emx09b/emxrt.zip
4. NcFTP also requires an external pager program that views text files from
the remote host. By default, NcFTP uses the OS/2 more command, which is
not very robust. I recommend you use less.exe. Less.exe has been ported
from Unix and provides several enhancements over the more command. If you
don't have less.exe or need a later version, you get the it from:
ftp://hobbes.nmsu.edu/os2/unix/less291.zip
5. The following environment variables are required for NcFTP to run
properly:
HOME this points to your home directory. NcFTP will create a
subdirectory under this directory called .ncftp (or _ncftp for FAT
partitions). This is where NcFTP will store its configuration files.
NCFTPDIR can be used inplace of the HOME environment variable if
necessary.
HOSTNAME If NcFTP is unable to resolve your hostname, set this
environment variable. i.e.;
SET HOSTNAME=myhostname
DOMAIN If NcFTP is unable to resolve your domain name, set this
environment variable to your domain name:
SET DOMAIN=inetport.com
6. The first time you run NcFTP, issue the prefs command and setup your
preferences. For more information on preference, see the PREFERENCES
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 5. Running NcFTP ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
ncftp [program options] [[open options] hostname[:pathname]]
OPTIONS:
Program options:
-D : Turn debug mode and trace mode on.
-L : Don't use visual mode (use line mode).
-V : Use visual mode.
-H : Dump the version information.
Command-line open options:
-a : Open anonymously.
-u : Open with username and password prompt.
-p X : Use port number X when opening.
-r : Redial until connected.
-d X : Redial, delaying X seconds between tries.
-g X : Give up after X redials without connection.
Command-line retrieve options:
-C : Force continuation (reget).
-f : Force overwrite.
-G : Don't use wildcard matching.
-R : Recursive. Useful for fetching whole directories.
-n X : Get selected files only if X days old or newer.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 6. Introduction to Visual Mode ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
When entering visual mode, the screen clears and is rewritten with the splash
screen. You should see the black status bar occupying the second to last row on
the screen. Beneath the status bar is the input line, where you type commands
to the program's shell.
The program then waits for you to do something. Usually this means you want to
open a remote filesystem to transfer files to and from your local machine's
filesystem. To do that, you need to know the symbolic name of the remote
system, or its Internet Protocol (IP) address. For example, a symbolic name
might be typhoon.unl.edu, and its IP address could be 129.93.33.24. To open a
connection to that system, you use the program's open command:
open typhoon.unl.edu
open 129.93.33.24
Both of these try to open the machine called typhoon at the University of
Nebraska. Using the symbolic name is the preferred way, because IP addresses
may change without notice, while the symbolic names usually stay the same.
When you open a remote filesystem, you need to have permission. The FTP
Protocol's authentication system is very similar to that of logging in to your
account. You have to give an account name, and its password for access to that
account's files. However, most remote systems that have anything you might be
interested in don't require an account name for use. You can often get
anonymous access to a remote filesystem and exchange files that have been made
publicly accessible. The program attempts to get anonymous permission to a
remote system by default. What actually happens is that the program tries to
use anonymous as the account name, and when prompted for a password, uses your
E-mail address as a courtesy to the remote system's maintainer. You can have
the program try to use a specific account also. That will be explained later.
If the connection succeeded, you should see the status bar change to hold the
remote system's name on one side, and the current remote directory on the other
side. To see what's in the current remote directory, you can use the program's
and ls dir commands. The former is terse, preferring more remote files in less
screen space, and the latter is more verbose, giving detailed information about
each item in the directory.
You can use the program's cd command to move to other directories on the remote
system. The cd command behaves very much like the command of the same name in
the Bourne and Korn shell.
The purpose of the program is to exchange data with other systems. You can use
the program's get command to copy a file from the remote system to your local
system:
get README.txt
The program will display the progress of the transfer on the screen, so you can
tell how much needs to be done before the transfer finishes. When the transfer
does finish, then you can enter more commands to the program's command shell.
You can use the program's put command to copy a file from your system to the
remote system:
put something.tar
When you are finished using the remote system, you can open another one or use
the quit command to terminate the program.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7. The Bookmarks File ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
One of the program's goals is to minimize typing and maximize convenience. The
program automatically saves information about the sites you call on in a
special file called the bookmarks file, which is stored in the subdirectory of
your home directory. .ncftp Each bookmark saves the host name along with other
settings, including the remote directory you were in, the account information,
and more. This makes it easy to call back a site later and have everything be
like it was when you left the last time.
A big advantage of saving this information is that you can refer to a site by a
shorter, more meaningful name, instead of using the full symbolic host name for
a site. For example, if you called a site named typhoon.unl.edu frequently, its
bookmark name might be just typhoon. Then, instead of:
open typhoon.unl.edu
you could use: open typhoon
You could also abbreviate the bookmark name further, as long as the program
will know which site you are referring to. If no other bookmark's name starts
with the letters ty, you could do just:
open ty
Use the bookmarking feature to assign mnemonic names to hosts whose real names
don't give much hint to what you call there for. A popular game called Nethack
is archived at linc.cis.upenn.edu, in the /pub/NH3.1 directory. You could
assign nethack as the bookmark name for this site. Then you could try:
open nethack
instead of:
open linc.cis.upenn.edu
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 8. Using The Bookmark Editor ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
To manipulate the bookmarks stored in your bookmarks file, you use the
program's bookmark editor. Run the bookmark editor by typing the bookmarks
command from within the program. This brings up a new screen of information. On
the right side is the list of remote systems the program has saved for you
already. Each time you open a connection to a remote system, the program saves
an entry in your bookmark file for you automatically. If you have not opened
any sites successfully yet, this list would be empty.
On the left side is some instructions saying what you can do with the list. The
bookmark editor is waiting for you to do something, like select a bookmark
whose settings you want to edit.
Some bookmark editor hot key commands are one key only. You do not need to hit
enter after the hot key commands. To exit the bookmark editor for example, you
would just type the x key only. The multikey commands require a slash first and
do require the enter key. To delete the selected site, for example, you would
type the / key, then del, and then the enter key.
You can use the d key to move down one line in the list, and the u key to move
up one line. If you have many entries in the bookmark list, you won't be able
to see them all at once. The bookmark list scrolls as appropriate to bring the
other sites into view. Use the p and n keys to move pages at a time.
Another way to select a site in the bookmark list is to use the capital
letters. If you had many entries in my bookmark list, but wanted to select a
site whose bookmark name was nethack, you could type N and the list would zoom
to the first site with bookmark starting with the letter n.
After you have hilited a bookmark you want to edit, use the /ed command. Doing
that brings up another screen with the settings for that bookmark.
In the Bookmark Options screen, you use hot keys to select a setting to edit.
To edit the bookmark name, for example, you would type a. When you are finished
editing this bookmark, hit the x key to return to the bookmark editor's screen.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9. Bookmark Options ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Each remote site stored in your bookmarks file can have individual options
specified.
Bookmark Name
Hostname
User
Password
Account
Directory
Save Dir on Exit
Transfer Type
Port
Has SIZE command
Has MDTM command
Can use passive FTP
Operating System
Comment
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9.1. Bookmark Name ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Edit the Bookmark name field to change the name you use to open this site with.
Remember, when you change the bookmark name , you must use this name to refer
to this particular bookmark, so if you change it to foobar, you need to use
open foobar. This is required because you can have multiple entries for a
remote host. For example, you could have two bookmarks for wuarchive.wustl.edu,
named wumac and wuwindows. If you were to say open wuarchive.wustl.edu, it
would not be clear to the program which host entry to use.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9.2. Hostname ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Full hostname of the remote site. You can also specify an IP address.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9.3. User ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Change the login information for the site by editing the User, Password, and
Account fields. Normally you would want to leave these as is for anonymous
logins. Depending on your situation, you might want to use a specific account
on the remote system. This is one way to get the program to use a non anonymous
login.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9.4. Password ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Password to use with this site. By default, NcFTP will use the password
specified in the preferences file.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9.5. Account ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Specifies the account to use on the remote system.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9.6. Directory ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The Directory field specifies the directory to move to upon successful
connection to the remote host for this bookmark. When you close the site, this
field is updated for you automatically to be the directory you were in when you
closed the site.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9.7. Save Dir on Exit ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
If this field is set to Yes NcFTP will save the current remote directory each
time you close the site. Otherwise, if this field is set to No, NcFTP will not
save the current directory when the site is closed.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9.8. Transfer type ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The Transfer Type field can be changed to use a different translation mode when
transferring files. This program is usually running on an OS/2 system, and most
remote systems are UNIX variants, so the default transfer type is, which does
no binary translation at all.
However, when you need to work with plain text files and transfer them between
non-UNIX systems, you can change this to ASCII. That will guarantee that the
text-only files will translate correctly. Most often, you will need to use the
binary transfer type.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9.9. Port ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The Port field can be changed so that the program tries to use a non-standard
port number. I have yet to ever need a different port number, but this
capability is here in case it's needed.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9.10. Has SIZE command ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The Has SIZE Command field will probably not need to be edited. This field is
mostly for your information only. The SIZE command is an FTP Protocol command
that the program would like the remote server to support. If it is supported,
the program can get an exact number of bytes of remote files before
transferring. That is nice to know so the progress reports work better.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9.11. Has MDTM command ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The Has MDTM Command field will probably not need to be edited either. If the
remote server supports it, the program can get the exact modification date of
the remote file, and set the local file to the same date.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9.12. Can use passive FTP ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The Can Use Passive FTP field specifies whether the remote server allows use of
the FTP Protocol's PASV command. There are two ways to set up FTP connections.
The default way is what is called Port FTP . Unfortunately, Port FTP cannot be
used when your local host is hiding behind a Firewall. Passive FTP can be used
with a firewall, and that's why I would like to use that method if possible.
You probably will not need to edit this field, since this can be detected
automatically most of the time.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9.13. Operating System ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The Operating System field is used by the program to tell if it can rely on
certain dependencies to specific operating systems. If the OS is a UNIX
variant, the program can make some assumptions about the remote server's
responses. For example, if the OS is UNIX, the ls command tries to use the
flags, like you could with -CF /bin/ls -CF on UNIX. If the OS wasn't UNIX, the
-CF might not make sense to the remote server and it might complain. You
probably will not need to edit this field, since this can be detected
automatically most of the time.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9.14. Comment ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The comment field can be used to store a brief description about the site. For
example, for my nethack entry, you could use this field to hold Archive site
for latest version of Nethack. When you are in the bookmark editor's window, if
you hilite a site that has a comment, it is printed at the bottom of the screen
so you do not have to edit the site to look at it.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 10. Preferences ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
In addition to remote-host specific options, the program has global options
that are user-configurable. To change the program's preferences, run the prefs
command from within the program.
Default Open Mode
Anonymous Password
Blank Lines Between Commands
Default FTP mode
User Log Size
Max Bookmarks to Save
Pager
Progress Meter
Remote Messages
Startup in Local Dir
Startup Messages
Network Timeout
Trace Logging
File Timestamps
Screen Graphics
Redial Attempts
Pause Between Redials
Pager In Separate Window
Background Pager in Full Screen Session
Turn on/off NcFTP's Bell
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 10.1. Default Open Mode ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The Default open mode field specifies how the program should try to open
connections. If you do a lot of anonymous FTPing, you should leave this set to
anonymous. You might want to set this field to user and password if the hosts
you FTP to most often don't allow anonymous logins. For example, if you are
using the program on your company network to copy things from different company
machines, you would not want to use anonymous FTP mode.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 10.2. Anonymous Password ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The Anonymous password field lets you change the value given to the remote host
when you use an anonymous login. It is customary (and sometimes required) to
use your e-mail address as the password for anonymous FTP, so the remote host's
administrator knows who is using the service. If the program didn't get your
e-mail address right, or you want to use something different, you can change it
here.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 10.3. Blank Lines Between Cmds ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The program now uses more whitespace than before to reduce eyestrain. If you
prefer, you can turn off that feature by changing the Blank lines between cmds
field.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 10.4. Default FTP Mode ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This option allows you to choose the default FTP mode. Normally you do not need
to change this value.
If you are running behind a firewall or through a gateway, you may need to set
this option to the following:
Passive, but fall back to port if needed
or
Passive FTP only (PASV)
Try the first option, if it does not work, try the second.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 10.5. User Log Size ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The program can log the transfers you do to a file so you can refer to the log
if you can't remember where you got something. To turn on the log, which is
saved as ~/.ncftp/log, you can set the User log size field to a number greater
than zero. You probably do not want to let this file grow forever, so you set
the maximum size of the log by setting that field.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 10.6. Max Bookmarks to Save ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Although the program is perfectly happy saving every site you ever open in the
bookmarks file, you may want to put an upper bound on the number of sites
saved. If you have a slow machine, which might cause the program to take awhile
to load and save the bookmarks, or if disk space is at a premium, you can set
the Max bookmarks to save field to limit the number of bookmarks saved. Once
that limit is reached, the program will discard sites whose time since the last
connection is the longest. In other words, a site you only called once a long
time ago and forgot about will be the first to go.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 10.7. Pager ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Several of NcFTP's functions use an external pager program to view large
amounts of text. For example, the page command retrieves a remote file and
uses the pager to view it.
You can specify the program to use (and its command line flags, if any) by
setting the pager field.
I recommend using LESS.EXE available from hobbes.nmsu.edu as:
ftp://hobbes.nmsu.edu/os2/unix/less291.zip
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 10.8. Progress Meter ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
When you transfer files between the remote host and your local host, the
program uses a progress meter to show you the status of the transfer. The
program has a few different progress meters to choose from, and you can try out
the other ones by changing the Progress meter field.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 10.9. Remote Messages ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
You can control how much of the remote server's chatter is printed by changing
the Remote messages field. The program always prints error messages, but most
of the time the remote server doesn't have anything useful to say. There are a
couple of messages that may be worth printing. The first is the startup
message. Typically, when you connect to a server it has some important
information about the server. Some servers have chdir messages, which are sent
when you enter a special directory. You specify whether to print these messages
by toggling the Remote messages field.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 10.10. Startup in Local Dir ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
By default, the program stays in the same directory you were in when you ran
the program, so that downloads will go in that directory. If you would like to
use a download directory so that all of your downloads go to a specific
directory, sepcify it here. This can prevent your from exceeding your quota,
and overwriting your other files. You can set the Startup in Local Dir field to
have the program change the local directory each time when the program starts
up. Then you know where to expect your downloads to end up.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 10.11. Startup Messages ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The program itself has some messages which you may get tired of and want to
turn off. You can change the Startup messages field to specify whether the
program prints its splash screen and whether it prints a tip on how to maximize
use of the program.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 10.12. Network Timeout ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Specifies the amount of time in seconds before NcFTP gives up trying to
communicate with the remote host.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 10.13. Trace Logging ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Turns on or off trace logging. When trace logging is on, NcFTP will create a
trace file in your ~/.ncftp directory that contains useful debugging
information about the last session.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 10.14. File Timestamps ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
When you retrieve a remote file, by default the program tries to also set the
exact modification time of the local file as the remote file. You can turn that
off by changing the File timestamps field.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 10.15. Screen Graphics ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
If you don't like the full-screen graphics, you can use the line- oriented mode
by changing the Screen graphics field. Once you turn visual mode off from the
Preferences screen, you won't be able to get back to the preferences screen
again when using line mode. To get back into visual mode, you can run the
program with the -V flag, like:
ncftp -V
By default, NcFTP will only try once to open a remote site. You can set Redial
Attempts to a number greater than one, and NcFTP will automatically redial the
remote site if the connection failed.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 10.16. Redial Attempts ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
When redialing a remote system, NcFTP will sleep X number of seconds. You can
specify the amount of time to sleep between redial attempts.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 10.17. Pause Between Redials ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Specifies the amount of time to sleep between redial attempts.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 10.18. Pager in Separate Window ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
NcFTP has the ability to start your pager program in a separate window by using
the bredir, bpage and bls commands. If you would like ALL pager related
commands to start in a separate window, set Pager In Separate Window to yes.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 10.19. Background Window in Full Screen Session ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This option is not available from the prefs screen, it must be set manually in
the $HOME/.ncftp/prefs file.
This option will toggle whether background operations (bpage, bredir, etc.)
will run in an OS/2 Window (default) or in a Full Screen Session. To have all
background programs run in a Full Screen Session, add the following line to
your prefs file:
background-fullscreen 1
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 10.20. Toggle NcFTP's Bell ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This option is not available from the prefs screen, it must be set manually in
the $HOME/.ncftp/prefs file.
This option will turn on (default) or turn off NcFTP's bell. Normally, NcFTP
will signal when a command is complete by emmitting a beep. If you find this
behaviour annoying, you can add the following line to your prefs file:
quiet-mode 1
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 11. Running Behind a Firewall or Gateway ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
NcFTP v2.3.0 will work with a firewall, gateway or a system that utilizes ip
masquerading. To insure NcFTP functions properly, do the following:
In 'prefs', set Default FTP mode to:
Passive, but fall back to port if needed
or
Passive FTP only (PASV)
If you experience timeouts, increase the network timeout field in prefs.
Network timeout: 60
Also, insure the remote host can handle PASV commands and that option is set to
yes in the bookmarks editor:
Can use passive FTP: Yes
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 12. Color Configuration ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
In addition to remote-host specific options and global options that are
user-configurable, NcFTP allows you to change the program's appearence by
editing the programs colors. Run the colors command from within the program.
The NcFTP Screen is broken down into 4 areas, List, Prompt, Input and Status.
Below is a screen snapshot showing each area:
ΓòöΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòù
ΓòæPort Version: NcFTP v2.3.0 - OS/2 Γòæ
Γòæ Γòæ
Γòæ Γòæ
ΓòæLocal Hostname: ecsnet.com Γòæ
Γòæ Γòæ
ΓòæTip: If you need to report a bug, send me a ~/.ncftp/trace file too. To Γòæ
Γòæ enable tracing, turn on trace logging from the Prefs window, or typeΓòæ
Γòæ "set trace 1" from the command line. Then re-create your bug, quit Γòæ
Γòæ the program, and send the trace file to mevans@ecsnet.com. Γòæ
Γòæ Γòæ
Γòæ Γòæ
Γòæ List Area Γòæ
Γòæ Γòæ
Γòæ Γòæ
Γòæ----------------------------------Status Bar----------------------------Γòæ
ΓòæPrompt Area> Input Area Γòæ
ΓòÜΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉΓò¥
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13. Command Reference ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Provides help on all NcFTP v2.3.0 commands.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13.1. ? -- Help ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Help from the command shell, the program prints the names of all of the
supported commands. From there, you can get specific help for a command by
typing the command after, for example:
? open
prints information about the open command.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13.2. ! -- OS/2 Shell ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Spawns a command shell. To spawn a shell, just do:
!
You can also pass commands to the shell by placing the command to execute
immediately following the !, for example:
!dir/w
will display a directory listing and then prompt the user to [Hit Return] to
continue.
If a command is passed to the OS shell, NcFTP will prompt the user to [Hit
Return] when the command completes. If the program is shelled to OS/2, by using
only a !, NcFTP will not prompt the user to [Hit Return] upon exiting the
shell.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13.3. ascii -- Sets transfer type to ASCII ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Sets the file transfer type to ASCII text. In this mode, UNIX linefeeds will be
translated to Carriage Return / Linefeed pairs. The ascii command requires no
parameters.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13.4. bdir -- Background Dir (Directory in New Window) ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The bdir command prints a detailed directory listing to your in a separte
window.
It tries to behave like UNIX's /bin/ls -l command. If the remote server seems
to be a UNIX host, you can also use the same flags you would with ls, for
instance
bdir -rt
would try to act like
/bin/ls -lrt
would on UNIX.
Special Note: On large directory listings, you may have to scroll to the end of
the directory listing before NcFTP regains control.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13.5. binary -- Sets Transfer Type to binary ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Sets the file transfer type to Binary. In this mode, no translations are
performed between the local host and the remote host.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13.6. bls -- Background File Listing ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The bls command is equivalent to ls, only it feeds it's output to your pager in
a separate window. This command is primarily for line mode because directory
listings can scroll offscreen. If you do a normal ls while in visual mode, if
it would go offscreen, the built-in pager kicks in automatically. NcFTP v2.3.0
OS/2 Port Beta 6 12
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13.7. bookmark -- Create / Update bookmark ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The bookmark command will create or update a bookmark using the current host
and directory. If you had logged into ftp.leo.org and were in the
/pub/os2/incoming directory, you can use the bookmark command to save this
information in the bookmarks file.
bookmark leo
This would save ftp.leo.org in the bookmarks file with an alias of leo.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13.8. bookmarks -- Bookmark Editor ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The bookmarks command will take you into the Bookmark Editor Screen. See the
Bookmarks Section for more information.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13.9. bpage -- Background Browse Remote Files ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The bpage command lets you browse a remote file one page at a time in a
separate window. This is useful for reading README's on the remote host without
downloading them first. This command uses whatever program you have set the
pager field in the Preference screen to view the file.
bpage can take multiple file names as parameters, meaning you can specify one
or several files to view, for example:
bpage 00index.txt newfiles
would display both files, 00index.txt and newfiles using your pager in a
separate window.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13.10. bredir -- Background Re-display Last Directory ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The bredir command give you a way to re-display the last directory listing. The
program saves the output from the last dir or ls command you did, so if you
want to see it again you can do this without wasting network bandwidth. The
bredir command feeds the output to your pager in a separate window.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13.11. bye -- Close connections and Exit ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The bye command closes all connections and exits NcFTP.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13.12. cat -- Browse Remote Files ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The cat command lets you browse a remote file one page at a time. This is
useful for reading README's on the remote host without downloading them first.
This command uses the internal NcFTP viewer.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13.13. cd -- Change Remote Directory ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The cd command changes the working directory on the remote host. Use this
command to move to different areas on the remote server. If you just opened a
new site, you might be in the root directory. Perhaps there was a directory
called /pub/news/comp.sources.d that someone told you about. From the root
directory, you could:
cd pub
cd news
cd comp.sources.d
or, more concisely,
cd /pub/news/comp.sources.d
Then, commands such as get, put, and ls could be used to refer to items in that
directory.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13.14. close -- Close Connection with Remote Host ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The close command will disconnect from the remote host. If this is the first
time you have connected to this host, a new entry for this host will be placed
in your bookmarks file.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13.15. colors -- Color Configuration Editor ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The colors command takes you into the color configuration screen. Here you can
select your favorite foreground and background colors for NcFTP.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13.16. create -- Create empty file on Remote Host ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Sometimes it may be necessary to use the create command. This makes an empty
file on the remote host. This can be useful when you are unable to contact the
remote server's administrator, but hope someone in the know will spot your
file. For example,
create readline2.0.tar_is_corrupt
might persuade someone to repost that file.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13.17. debug -- Turns on/off debugging ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The debug command is mostly for use by me and the testers. You could type
debug 1
to turn debugging mode on. Then you could see all messages between the program
and the remote server, and things that are printed only in debugging mode. If
you report a bug, I might ask you to send me a trace file. To do that, you
would run the program, and then type
debug trace 1
debug without any arguments displays the current debug level. Valid debug
levels are 1 thur 5.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13.18. delete -- Deletes remote files ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
If you need to delete a remote file you can try the delete command. Much of the
time this won't work because you won't have the proper access permissions.
This command is obsolete, you should use the rm command instead.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13.19. dir -- Remote Detailed Directory Listing ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The dir command prints a detailed directory listing. It tries to behave like
UNIX's /bin/ls -l command. If the remote server seems to be a UNIX host, you
can also use the same flags you would with ls, for instance
dir -rt
would try to act like
/bin/ls -lrt
would on UNIX.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13.20. echo -- Echo's string to console ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The echo command wouldn't seem very useful, but it can be nice for use with the
program's macros. It behaves like the equivalent command does under a UNIX
shell, but accepts some extra flags. All percent flags are fed through
strftime(4). So you could type
echo It is now %H:%M on %B %d.
and you should get something like this printed on your screen:
It is now 19:00 on January 22.
There are also at flags, which the program expands:
@H : Name of connected host
@D : Full pathname of remote current working directory
@J : Short name of remote current working directory
@N : Newline.
@n : Bookmark name of connected host
Example:
echo "Connected to @H at %H:%M." >> junk
If you later looked at the contents of junk, it might say:
Connected to sphygmomanometer.unl.edu at 20:37.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13.21. exit -- Exits NcFTP ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Closes all open connections and exits NcFTP.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13.22. get -- Retrieves files from remote host ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The get command copies files from the current working directory on the remote
host to your machine's current working directory. To place a copy of README in
your local directory, you could try:
get README
The get command has some powerful features which are described below, in
SPECIAL DOWNLOADING FEATURES.
Syntax:
get [-flags] file1 [file2...]
Flags:
-C : Force continuation (reget).
-f : Force overwrite.
-G : Don't use wildcard matching.
-R : Recursive. Useful for fetching whole directories.
-n X : Get selected files only if X days old or newer.
-z : Get the remote file X, and name it to Y.
Examples:
get README
get README.*
get -G **Name.with.stars.in.it**
get -R new-files-directory
get -z WIN.INI ~/junk/windows-init-file",
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13.23. hosts -- Edit settings for each remote host ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Edit the settings for each remote host
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13.24. lcd -- Local Change Directory ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The lcd command is the first of a few l commands that work with the local host.
This changes the current working directory on the local host. If you want to
download files into a different local directory, you could use lcd to change to
that directory and then do your downloads.
Issuing an lcd with no parameters will change the local directory to the
directory specified by the HOME environment variable.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13.25. less -- Views remote file one page at a time ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Views a file from the remote host one page at a time.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13.26. lls -- Local directory listing ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Another local command that comes in handy is the lls command, which runs OS/2's
dir command on the local host and displays the results in the program's window.
You can use the same flags with lls as you would in your command shell, so you
can do things like:
lcd ~/doc
lls /w p*.txt
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13.27. lookup -- Name server lookup ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The program also has a built-in interface to the name service via the lookup
command. This means you can lookup entries for remote hosts, like:
lookup cse.unl.edu ftp.cs.unl.edu sphygmomanometer.unl.edu
prints:
cse.unl.edu 129.93.33.1
typhoon.unl.edu 129.93.33.24
sphygmomanometer.unl.edu 129.93.33.126
There is also a more detailed option, enabled with -v, i.e.:
lookup -v cse.unl.edu ftp.cs.unl.edu
prints:
cse.unl.edu:
Name: cse.unl.edu
Address: 129.93.33.1
ftp.cs.unl.edu:
Name: typhoon.unl.edu
Alias: ftp.cs.unl.edu
Address: 129.93.33.24 You can also give IP addresses, so this would
work too:
lookup 129.93.33.24
prints:
typhoon.unl.edu 129.93.33.24
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13.28. lpage -- Views local file one page at a time ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The lpage command views a local file one page at a time. By default, the
program uses your pager program to view the files. You can choose to use the
built-in pager by using the -b flag. Example:
lpage -b ~/.ncftp/bookmarks
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13.29. lpwd -- Print local current directory ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The lpwd command is prints the current local directory. Use this command when
you forget where you are on your local machine.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13.30. ls -- Remote brief directory listing ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The ls command prints a brief directory listing. It tries to behave like UNIX's
/bin/ls -CF command. If the remote server seems to be a UNIX host, you can also
use the same flags you would with ls, for instance ls -rt would try to act
like /bin/ls -CFrt would on UNIX.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13.31. mget -- Multiple get ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This command is obsolete with NcFTP 2.3.0. Refer to the get command.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13.32. mkdir -- Make Remote Directory ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The mkdir command tries to create a new directory on the remote host. For many
public archives, you won't have the proper access permissions to do that.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13.33. more -- Views remote file one page at a time ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Views a file from the remote host one page at a time
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13.34. mput -- Multiple puts ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The mput command is there in case you need to upload multiple files to remote
hosts. For example, if you wanted to send some files to a remote host, you
could do: lcd ~/docs/files mput 02.txt 03.txt 05.txt 07.txt 11.txt The
mput command won't work if you don't have the proper access permissions on the
remote host. Also, this command doesn't have any of the special features that
the get command has, except for the -z option. This command is obsolete in
NcFTP 2.3.0, please refer to the put command.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13.35. open -- Opens a connections with remote host ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The open command connects you to a remote host. Many times, you will simply
open a host without using any flags, but nonetheless the open command has some
flags to enable certain features.
To force an anonymous open, use the -a flag. On the ftp.probe.net machine,
which is the official archive site for NcFTP, You may have a need to use both
anonymous logins and user logins. The Bookmark Editor remembers type of login
you used last, so if the last time was a user login, you could use the -a flag
to switch back to the anonymous login type without having to use the Bookmark
Editor to change that.
Likewise, you could use the -u flag to force a user open. Then you could give
your account name and password to access that account.
Many of the big archive sites like wuarchive.wustl.edu are busy, so you aren't
guaranteed a connection to them. The program lets you redial sites
periodically, until a connection succeeds. Use the -r
Redial itself has a few parameters. You can set the delay, in seconds, of the
time spent waiting between redials. You can also have the program give up after
a maximum number of redials is reached. Here's an example that fully utilizes
redial mode:
open -r -d 75 -g 10 bowser.nintendo.co.jp
The -r turns on redialing, the -d sets the redial delay to 75 seconds, and the
-g flag limits redialing to 10 tries. If you like, you can just trust the
default redial settings and only use -r.
The open command will run the Bookmark Editor if you don't supply a hostname to
open. You can use the Bookmark Editor to select a host and open it by hitting
the return key.
Syntax:
Flags:
-a : Open anonymously.
-u : Open with username and password prompt.
-p X : Use port number X when opening.
-r : Redial until connected.
-d X : Redial, delaying X seconds between tries.
-g X : Give up after X redials without connection.
Examples:
open sphygmomanometer.unl.edu
open -u bowser.nintendo.co.jp
open -r -d 75 -g 10 sphygmomanometer.unl.edu
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13.36. page -- Browse remote file one page at a time ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The page command lets you browse a remote file one page at a time. This is
useful for reading README's on the remote host without downloading them first.
This command uses whatever program you have set the pager field in the
Preferences screen to view the file.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13.37. pdir -- Remote detailed directory viewed thru pager ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The pdir and pls commands are equivalent to dir and ls respectively, only they
feed their output to your pager. These commands are primarily for line mode
because directory listings can scroll offscreen. If you do a normal ls while in
visual mode, if it would go offscreen, the built-in pager kicks in
automatically. Therefore it is not recommended to use pdir and pls while in
visual mode.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13.38. pls -- Remote brief directory viewed thru pager ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The pdir and pls commands are equivalent to dir and ls respectively, only they
feed their output to your pager. These commands are primarily for line mode
because directory listings can scroll offscreen. If you do a normal ls while in
visual mode, if it would go offscreen, the built-in pager kicks in
automatically. Therefore it is not recommended to use pdir and pls while in
visual mode.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13.39. predir -- Redisplay remote directory thru pager ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The redir and predir commands give you a way to re-display the last directory
listing. The program saves the output from the last dir or ls command you did,
so if you want to see it again you can do this without wasting network
bandwidth. The predir command is the same as redir, except that the output is
fed to your pager.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13.40. prefs -- Configure NcFTP's Options ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Lets you configure the program's settings (Visual mode only)
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13.41. put -- Upload file to remote host ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The put command allows you to upload files to a remote host. For example, if
you wanted to send some files to a remote host, you could do:
lcd ~/docs/files
put 02.txt 03.txt 05.txt 07.txt 11.txt
The put command won't work if you don't have the proper access permissions on
the remote host. Also, this command doesn't have any of the special features
that the get command has, except for the -z option.
Syntax
put [-flags] file1 [file2...] sends a file to the remote host
Flags:
-z : Send the local file X, and name the remote copy to Y.
Examples:
put README
put -z ~/junk/windows-init-file WIN.INI
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13.42. pwd -- Print current remote working directory ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The pwd command prints the current remote working directory. In visual mode,
this is in the status bar.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13.43. redir -- Redisplay remote directory ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The redir and predir commands give you a way to re-display the last directory
listing. The program saves the output from the last dir or ls command you did,
so if you want to see it again you can do this without wasting network
bandwidth. The predir command is the same as redir, except that the output is
fed to your pager.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13.44. rename -- Rename remote file ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
If you need to change the name of a remote file, you can use the rename
command, like:
rename SPHYGMTR.TAR sphygmomanometer-2.3.1.tar
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13.45. rglob -- Test remote for wildcard matching ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Tests remote filename wildcard matching
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13.46. q -- Quit NcFTP ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Quits NcFTP
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13.47. quit -- Quit NcFTP ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Of course, when you finish using the program, type quit to end the program (You
could also use bye, exit or ^D).
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13.48. quote -- Send commands to remote host ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The quote command can be used to send a direct FTP Protocol command to the
remote server. Generally this isn't too useful to the average user (or me
either).
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13.49. rhelp -- Display remote host help ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The rhelp command sends a help request to the remote server. The list of FTP
Protocol commands is often printed, and sometimes some other information that
is actually useful, like how to reach the site administrator.
Depending on the remote server, you may be able to give a parameter to the
server also, like:
rhelp NLST
One server responded:
Syntax: NLST [ <sp> path-name ]
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13.50. rm -- Remove a remote file ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
If you need to delete a remote file you can try the rm command. Much of the
time this won't work because you won't have the proper access permissions. This
command doesn't accept any flags, so you can't nuke a whole tree by using -rf
flags like you can on UNIX.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13.51. rmdir -- Remove a remote directory ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Similarly, the rmdir command removes a directory. Depending on the remote
server, you may be able to remove a non-empty directory, so be careful.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13.52. set -- Set NcFTP options ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The set command is provided for backward compatibility with older versions of
the program, and is superseded by the prefs command. The basic syntax is:
set option value
Where the option is the short name of the corresponding field in the
Preferences screen. The short names of the preferences fields can be found by
browsing your ~/.ncftp/prefs file. This command is mainly for use with line
mode , but since that mode is no longer officially supported, The use of these
commands should be discouraged.
The list of valid set options are:
anonopen Default open mode:
anonpass Anonymous password:
blank-lines Blank lines between cmds:
ftp-mode Default FTP mode:
logsize User log size:
maxbookmarks Max bookmarks to save:
pager Pager:
progress-meter Progress meter:
remote-msgs Remote messages:
startup-lcwd Startup in Local Dir:
startup-msgs Startup messages:
timeout Network timeout:
trace Trace logging:
utime File timestamps:
visual Screen graphics:
redialattempts Redial Attempts:
redialpause Pause Between Redials:
pagenewwin Pager in Separate Window:
quiet-mode Turns on/off the beep:
background-fullscreen Spawns viewer in Full Screen Session:
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13.53. site -- Send site specific command to remote host ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
One obscure command you may have to use someday is site. The FTP Protocol
allows for site specific commands. These site commands vary of course, but one
common sub-command that is useful that some sites support is chmod, i.e.:
site chmod 644 README
Try doing one of these to see what the remote server supports, if any:
rhelp SITE site help
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13.54. type -- Set transfer type (ascii, binary, image) ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
You may need to change transfer types during the course of a session with a
server. You can use the type command to do this. Try one of these:
type ascii
type binary
type image
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13.55. verbose -- Sets verbosity level of NcFTP ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Sets verbosity mode to 0, 1, 2, or 3
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13.56. version -- Display NcFTP's version ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
If you ever need to contact me about the program, please familiarize yourself
with the version command. This command dumps a lot of information that tells me
which edition of the program you are using, and how it was installed on your
system. Here's a way to save the output of this command to a file, so you can
send it to me:
version > version.txt
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 14. Special Downloading Features ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
You probably already know that you use the get command to copy files on the
remote host to the local host. But the get command has a few other tricks that
you might find useful. First of all, ncftp skips files you already have. If you
try to
get file24
and there is a file named file24 in the current local directory already, the
program uses some additional heuristics to determine if it should actually
waste network bandwidth to download it again.
The program tries to get the date and size of the remote file file24. If that
file has the exact same date and size as the local file file24, the program
will skip over that file. If the program could not get the date or size of the
remote file, or the size differs, the program will go ahead and fetch the file.
In addition, if the local file's date is newer than the remote file's date, the
program skips the download because it concludes you already have a more recent
version.
What all this means for you is that you can use the program to mirror another
archive. For example, you might have a task that requires you keep a mirror of
all the files of a remote directory called files. In that directory, there
might be dozens of files, some of which are updated occasionally. You could use
ncftp to help you out by setting the appropriate local and remote directories,
then simply doing:
get *
The program will skip over the old files, and only download the files that you
don't have or have been updated since the last time.
Nonetheless, you may want to ignore the program's advice and download a file
anyway, despite the program's thinking that you don't need to. You can use the
-f flag with get to force a download:
get -f README
You may also need to use the -C flag to force the program to continue
downloading where it left off. This feature is called forced reget for
historical reasons.
You can also turn off wildcard matching with get by using the - G flag. Other
FTP programs used the syntax
get remote-file [local-file]
which allowed you to specify a local pathname for the file you were trying to
download. NcFTP differs in that respect, and if you used the older programs,
you would find that the program's behaves get more like those other program's
mget command. This means that in NcFTP,that
get file01 file02
tries to download remote files named file01 and file02. If you like, you can
get that older behavior by using the -z flag, so:
get -z file01 ../junk/files/01.txt
would get file01 and use the local name ../junk/files/01.txt.
Another thing that get does is that you can use the -n flag to fetch files that
are a certain number of days old or newer. If you just want to get the newest
files at an archive, you don't have to use a full mirror. You can just say
download all files that are 3 days old or newer. Do that by going to a
directory, and trying:
get -n 3 *
The program also has reget mode built into the get command. Other FTP programs
provided a reget command, which was useful when you lost a connection during a
download. Instead of the remote host resending the entire file, you could use
the reget command to continue the transfer where it was cut off.
NcFTP has this capability built-in, and it examines the date and size of the
remote file and local file to determine if the program should continue where it
left off last time. If the dates are the same, but the local file is smaller,
the program attempts to reget.
The last, and most wasteful feature of get is recursive mode, which is turned
on with the -R flag. This feature lets you download an entire directory's
contents, i.e.:
get -R /pub/info/help
That creates a directory called ./help in the current local directory, and
copies all files and subdirectories into it.
Please use some discretion with this feature. If you get a large directory, you
could really bog down the remote host. Archive administrators are providing a
public service, so don't abuse the archive so much that they have to shut down
public access because the real users of that archive can't get their work done.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 15. Macros ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The program has a simple macro/alias facility. You can use macros to roll your
own commands, or do things when certain events happen.
To use macros, you will need to create and edit the macros file in your .ncftp
subdirectory of your home directory. Your ~/.ncftp directory is created for you
automatically the first time you run the program, but you have to make the
macros file yourself since most users won't have a need for them.
You can have any number of macros. The syntax is:
macro macro-name
macro-body...
end
Here's a simple macro that users of the old ftp program might appreciate:
macro binary
type i
end
You could run that macro simply by running the program and typing the macro
name as if it were a regular ncftp command.
Macros can also have parameters, much like the Korn Shell's shell functions and
the C-Shell's aliases. These parameters are sent to your macro, and if your
macro uses the appropriate dollar variables, they are expanded. To illustrate,
try this macro:
macro cdls
cd $1
ls
end
To run that macro, open a connection and try:
cdls /pub
That would try to cd to /pub, and then try to list its contents with ls.
Dollar variables are somewhat like those in the Bourne and Korn shells. Example
syntax:
$4 : Argument4
$* : All arguments.
$@ : All arguments, each of them surrounded by double quotes.
$(2-5) : Arguments 2, 3, 4, and 5.
$(2,5) : Arguments 2 and 5.
$(3+) : Arguments 3, 4, 5, ..., N.
A better way to code the cdls macro might be:
macro cdls
cd $1
ls $(2+)
end
There are some special macros, called event macros . The program looks for
macros by special names, and if they exist, runs the macro when that event
happens.
One event macro is the .start.ncftp macro. If you have a macro by that name
defined in your macros file, the program will run that macro each time you run
the program.
Similarly, there is also a .quit.ncftp macro that is run each time you quit the
program.
Another set of event macros are site-specific. For example, if you have a site
bookmarked as typhoon You could then define macros named .open.typhoon and
.close.typhoon which would run each time you opened and closed typhoon.
Another, more generic set of event macros are the .open.any and .close.any
macros which run when you open or close any site. One possible use for these
macros is to run separate shell scripts to do some processing after you finish
using a site. You could have a macro like this:
macro .quit.ncftp
echo "Started post-processing downloads at %H:%M:%S"
!sh ~/scripts/download-decoder
echo "Finished post-processing downloads at %H:%M:%S"
end
Another use is to duplicate the old macdef init hack that the traditional ftp
program used in its .netrc file. For example:
macro .open.infomac
echo "Getting recent files list"
get -z /pub/info-mac/help/recent-files ~/docs/recent
ls -lrt
end
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 16. Using Colon Mode ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The colon-mode feature is used from your shell's command line.
In ancient times, way back during the Disco Era, you could use a program called
tftp to fetch a file using the Internet standard Trivial File Transfer
Protocol. You could use that program to do something like this from within its
shell:
get wuarchive.wustl.edu:/graphics/gif/README
and that would call wuarchive and fetch the README file.
You can use this program to do the same thing from your shell's command line:
csh> ncftp wuarchive.wustl.edu:/graphics/gif/README
csh> head README
This tells your shell, in this case the C-shell to run NcFTP, which would open
wuarchive, fetch /graphics/gif/README and write the file /README in the current
working directory, and then exits.
The colon-mode feature is nice if you don't want to browse around the remote
site, and you know exactly want you want. It also comes in handy in shell
scripts, where you don't want to enter the command shell, and might not want
the program to spew output.
You can use the Uniform Resource Locator standard also. For example, this would
work:
csh> ncftp ftp://wuarchive.wustl.edu/graphics/gif/README
There are times where you might not want the program to write a colon-mode file
in the current working directory, or perhaps you want to pipe the output of a
remote file into something else. Colon-mode has options to do this. It was
inspired by the guy who wrote the ftpcat perl script. The -c option tells the
program to write on the standard output stream. The -m option pipes the file
into your pager (like ). Of course this won't work if the more thing you give
colon-mode is a directory! This example just dumps a remote file to stdout:
csh> ncftp -c wuarc:/graphics/gif/README
This example redirects a remote file into a different location:
csh> ncftp -c wu:/README > ~pdietz/thesis.tex
This one shows how to use a pipeline:
csh> ncftp -c wuarc:/README | tail | wc -l 10
csh>
This shows how to page a remote file:
csh> ncftp -m wuarc:/graphics/gif/README
CAUTION:
NcFTP will place files in the current directory when using colon mode.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 17. Using Line Mode ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The only reason line mode is provided is so that the primitive operating
systems whose curses library is missing or dysfunctional won't render the
program completely useless.
exceptions of the functions that require visual mode, such as the Preferences
screen and the Bookmark Editor . You will have to edit the ~/.ncftp/prefs and
~/.ncftp/bookmarks file manually, with a text editor.
As a small consolation, you get to use the full-powered line- editing
libraries, like GNU Readline if they were compiled with the program.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 18. Summary of Command Line Options ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
When you invoke the program from your shell, there are dash flags you can use
like you can with most other UNIX programs.
Here's a list of options you can use from the command line:
-D : Turns on debugging mode and tracing.
-V : Uses visual mode for this session.
-L : Uses line mode for this session.
-H : Prints the information from the version command and exits.
When you turn on tracing, the program writes a log with debugging information
to a file called trace in your subdirectory of .ncftp your home directory. If
you need to report a bug, it would be helpful to mail me the file so I can
track it down better. trace
In addition to the program flags, you can also use flags from the open and get
commands with a colon mode path. Here's a really complex example:
csh> ncftp -r -d 120 -n 3 sphygmomanometer.unl.edu:/pub/stuff/*
This tries redialing that host every two minutes, and fetching all files from
the /pub/stuff directory that are 3 days old or newer.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 19. Author ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
NcFTP was written by Mike Gleason, NCEMRSoft (mgleason@probe.net). NcFTP is
copyrighted 1995 by NCEMRSoft. All rights reserved.
As of this writing, the most recent version is archived in /pub/ncftp, on
ftp.probe.net.
The OS/2 Port of NcFTP v2.3.0 was done by Mark R. Evans (mevans@ecsnet.com).
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 20. Thanks ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Ideas and some code contributed by my partner, Phil Dietz, NCEMRSoft
(dietz@wtc.com).
Thanks to everyone who has helped test the program, and sent in feedback over
the years. Your support is what drives me to improve the program!
I'd like to thank my former system administrators, most notably Charles Daniel,
for making testing on a variety of platforms possible, letting me have some
extra disk space, and for maintaining the UNL FTP site.
I also thank Dale Botkin and Tim Russell at Probe Technology, for giving ncftp
a home on probe.net, the midwest's best connection to the internet.
For testing above and beyond the call of duty, I am especially grateful to:
Phil Dietz, Kok Hon Yin (hkok@cse.unl.edu), Andrey A. Chernov
(ache@astral.msk.su).
Thanks to Tim MacKenzie (t.mackenzie@trl.oz.au) for the filename completion
code.
Thanks to DaviD W. Sanderson (dws@ssec.wisc.edu), for helping me out with the
man page.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 21. Thanks From Mark Evans ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
I would like to thank Eberhard Mattes for his emx development environment.
Without his efforts, this port would not be possible.
Also, I would like to thank Steve Willer for his original port of NcFTP v1.9.3.
He did an excellent job and came up with some inovative ideas which I have
included with this port.
Last but not least, the group that helped me beta test this port and put up
with my programming errors and almost daily betas:
macwarp@ix.netcom.com John McNamara
bob@bridge.net Bob Lyons
oscar@primenet.com Oscar Fowler
gunter@htlsun1.fzk.de Gunter Spranz
acowan@uoguelph.ca Andrew Cowan
rob@iconz.co.nz Rob
beaufour@mailhost.net Allan Beaufour Larsen
phydoux@utw.com Michael Monsen
satori@ibm.com Patrick McKane
morpheaus@kuwait.net Ahmad Al-Nusif
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 22. Bugs ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Due to a limitation in the curses library, scrolling may be slow in visual
mode.
Shell escapes, suspending (^Z) and resuming, and interruping (^C) still have
quirks with visual mode.
There are no such sites named bowser.nintendo.co.jp or
sphygmomanometer.unl.edu.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 23. Bugs in the OS/2 Port ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
During a transfer, Ctrl-C will abort the transfer. Subsequent Ctrl-C's from a
transfer will close the connection with the host.
* * *
ALL BUG REPORTS FOR THE OS/2 PORT OF NcFTP V2.3.0 SHOULD
BE SENT TO Mark Evans (mevans@ecsnet.com)
* * *
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 24. Revision History ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
02-17-96 Release 2.3.0.OS2 Beta 9 Public Beta
Fix: The new 'auto-reget' feature added in Beta 8 broke the forced
overwrite function. This has been fixed and the auto-reget code has been
enhanced to be a little smarter.
Chg: Fixed NcFTP's ability to display DBCS. This should allow Chineese
character sets to be displayed properly. Please provide feedback if this
does not work.
Add: Added firewall.txt document. This better documents how to run NcFTP
behind a firewall or gateway.
Chg: NcFTP is now much smarter about determining your home directory
(where it places it's config files).
If you have a conflict with the HOME environment var, you can use
NCFTPDIR instead.
If you do not have a HOME or NCFTPDIR environment var set, NcFTP will
default to the ETC environment variable. If it is not set, NcFTP will
display a warning message that it cannot find a home and will not save
preferences.
Fix: In the last release, I thought I had fixed the problem with pag
*.txt not pausing between files. Under certain circumstances, this still
didn't work. It should now function properly.
Chg: If you change your download directory in the prefs screen, NcFTP
immediately changes to that new directory.
Chg: Changed the .SUBJECT extended attribute to be an ftp URL showing
where the file was ftp'ed from.
Chg: Before, NcFTP would query the file system, if it was not equal to
HPFS it would use FAT naming conventions. Now, NcFTP checks if FAT, if
not, uses long names.
Fix: Local directory commands such as LLS were broken when using CMD.EXE
as the shell.
02-03-96 Release 2.3.0.OS2 Beta 8 Public Beta
Fix: Although the original documentation from the Unix version of NcFTP
v2.3.0 claimed that reget was automatic, it was never implemented in the
code. Reget support is only there if you specify the -C switch on the
get command. I have added support for automatic reget and it should work
without adding the -C command line switch. If there are any problems
with this, please let me know.
Fix: Passive mode did not work properly for those running behind a
firewall. I believe this is fixed now, if not PLEASE let me know.
Fix: page *.txt when using more.com as the pager would not pause at end
of the file.
Fix: Bookmark editor allows you to jump to host names by using uppercase
letters. This did not work properly when bookmark names had uppercase
names.
Fix: bdir would not reset the output to stdout when host transmission was
interrupted. Output would go to the second window.
Fix: Prefs - Q -Redial Pause time would default to 60 seconds when you
specified 0 as the delay time.
Add: Added a new 'hidden' option: background-fullscreen If you add
background-fullscreen 1 to your prefs file, all b* commands (bdir, bpage,
etc), will spawn a full screen session instead of a window.
Add: F1 key will now call "view ncftp.inf" from within NcFTP.
Fix: Under certain conditions, editing the bookmarks file would cause the
program to trap.
Fix: All keypad keys now work.
Fix: When lines wrapped, NcFTP would not properly count them and you
would loose a line from the display.
Add: Included an icon for NcFTP in the release archive.
01-27-96 Release 2.3.0.OS2 Beta 7 Public Beta
Chg: Moved NcFTP Documentation to an OS/2 .inf file.
Chg: Improved NcFTP's process semaphore handling.
Fix: NcFTP would open files in ASCII mode on systems that do not support
the SIZE or MDTM commands.
Fix: NcFTP no longer requires GNU File Utilities to work. It now uses
OS/2's internal commands (or 4OS2's).
Fix: pls and pdir caused a [Hit Return] to be printed when it was not
necessary.
Fix: If you do a 'forced reget' on a site that does not support this
command, the Stat Progress Meter would not display the correct download
count.
Enh: Added 'quiet-mode' to preferences file. When set to 1 (TRUE), it
will supress all beeps that NcFTP uses to alert you of something.
To turn this option on, you must manually edit the $(HOME)\.ncftp\prefs
file and put the line:
quiet-mode 1
Sorry, but I'm out of room on the preferences screen!
Chg: When aborting a long directory listing, NcFTP actually has to
complete the transfer. I have added a msg that displays when you hit 'q'
stating that the transfer is aborting.
Enh: Added option to hosts editor to Save Directory on Exit. Each time
you log into an ftp site, the directory you were last in is saved. If
you do not want NcFTP to save the last directory, and always use the
directory specified in the 'Directory' field, set 'Save Dir on Exit' to
'NO'.
Add: Wrote a small utility to convert your old v1.9.3 ncrecent file into
a v2.3.0 ~/.ncftp/bookmarks file.
This utility will add to, not delete your existing bookmarks file.
Pgm Name: ncf-1to2.exe
01-22-96 Release 2.3.0.OS2 Beta 6 - Public Beta
Fix: Changed error message on domain name not found to tell user to set
domain name.
Fix: Ctrl-C would exit NcFTP.
Fix: When re-dialing, you would have to hit Ctrl-C multiple times to stop
re-dialing. Also, it would sometimes completely abort NcFTP.
01-21-96 Release 2.3.0.OS2 Beta 5
Enh: NcFTP is much smarter when dealing with command shells. If you
simply do a ! to shell to OS/2, it will not prompt you to [Hit Enter],
but if you run a command, it will pause so you can see the output.
Also, it automatically senses when you are using the the OS/2 more.com
command and will always prompt you to [Hit Return] when it finishes.
Fix: When using the OS/2 more command for your pager, files were being
transfered in binary mode, not translating the LF to a CRLF, causing the
screen to be unreadable.
Enh: Added transfer mode to all status meters.
Fix: If NcFTP cannot determine the HOSTNAME, it will search the
environment for HOSTNAME=???? and use that value as the hostname.
If NcFTP cannot determine the DOMAIN, it will search the environment for
DOMAIN=??? and use that value as the hostname.
Fix: lpage * would try to display directory names.
Fix: put * would try to send directory names.
Fix: get -R * had problems on certain systems. I think I have it working
properly all the time.
Fix: NcFTP was not always setting the local file time to that of the
server. It would set the local time 1 second less than the remote file,
causing re-gets.
Fix: mput or put with multiple files did not work. I have fixed this in
the code, but it requires that LS.EXE be on your system. NcFTP gets it's
file info from the output of LS.EXE.
Fix: lpage caused a [Hit Return] when it was opened in another window. A
few other stray [Hit Return]'s were removed.
Chg: The 'Escape' key now clears the input line like OS/2.
Fix: The keypad Enter key now works.
01-19-96 Release 2.3.0.OS2 Beta 4
Fix: I didn't completely fix the problem with local files being closed
when aborting a transfer. I believe they are all fixed now.
Fix: The Progress Stat Meter is now _REALLY_ fixed.
Fix: Domain name not found error message removed and a work around put
into place.
Fix: Timeouts after transfers. I have increased the timeout period and
this should solve the problem.
Fix: Ctrl-C only worked on the first open command. It now works every
time.
Fix: lpage command would not display in a separate window when Pager in
separate window was enabled.
Chg: Now do a clear screen before calling shell.
Chg: Added [Hit Return] after shell commands.
01-17-96 Release 2.3.0.OS2 Beta 3
Fix: Local files were not closed properly when aborting a transfer (only
occured on sites that do not support the ABOR command).
Fix: Progress Stat Meter did not display the proper number of bytes
recieved when doing a reget.
Fix: Could not perform a 'get' after an aborted get.
Fix: Recursive gets on a FAT partition would store the full path in the
extended attribute.
Chg: Talked with the original author, Mike Gleason and we have reached an
agreement on screen changes concerning his name and copyright.
Chg: No longer use the 'i.am.running' file to indicate NcFTP is running.
I'm using OS/2 semaphores, which works much better incase one session
crashes, there is no cleanup required with semaphores, OS/2 closes them
automatically.
Add: Now write: "Retrieved from [hostname]" as the .SUBJECT extended
attribute. Nice to help you remember where things came from.
Add: Added 3 new items to the preferences screen:
Maximum Redials
Redial Delay
Pager in new window
Max Redials let's you set the auto-redial as the default. If it is set to
anything greater than 1, if you get a 'Max Users logged on' msg from the
host, NcFTP will automatically try again until it is logged in or hits
the maximum number of redials. This option is also available on a per
'open' instance thru the open command.
Redial Delay is the amount of time to pause between redials.
Pager in new window will start your pager program in a separate window
for all pager related commands, pdir, pls, page, more, etc.
01-15-96 Release 2.3.0.OS2 Beta 2
Fix: There were several places where / was being used on the local
directory or file paths. I've changed all these to \, I hope. Also, the
mkdir command was not working, it was passing a -p command switch that is
not valid for OS/2 environments. Gunter found this problem when doing a
get -R * on a directory, Good Work!
Enh: This version is 'colorized'. You can now edit the colors using the
colors command. This creates a file called colors in the ~/.ncftp
directory.
Here's a description of the 4 types of windows you can configure.
+---------------------------------+
| |
| |
| |
| |
| List Window |
| |
| |
| |
| |
+---------------------------------+
| Status Window |
+---------------------------------+
|Prompt> Input Window |
+---------------------------------+
Add: Borrowed some ideas from the original port (v1.9.3 by Steve Willer)
and added the following commands:
bpage
bls
bdir
bredir
These commands display items through your pager, except they open a new
window for the pager. Very nice for displaying a large directory list in
one window and then grabbing files with NcFTP in it's window.
One anomoly I've noticed, on large directory listings or files, you may
need to page down to the end of the file before NcFTP allows you to enter
commands. It appears the whole transfer must complete before NcFTP
regains control.
01-13-96 Release 2.3.0.OS2 Beta 1
Completed initial port from Unix. The following features have been added:
Support for FAT partitions. NcFTP will create _ncftp directory under the
$HOME directory.
File transfers to FAT partitions that do not conform to the 8.3 naming
convention will have their names munged into something that works for
FAT. The original filename will be placed in the files extended
attribute.
Local file directories will use \ instead of /.
This version of NcFTP uses the ~ character as the escape character. The
unix version uses the \.
Transfers will timeout just like the unix version. But, I may have the
timeouts set too low.