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NcFTP(1) NcFTP(1) NNAAMMEE NcFTP - Internet file transfer program SSYYNNOOPPSSIISS nnccffttpp [_p_r_o_g_r_a_m _o_p_t_i_o_n_s] [[_o_p_e_n _o_p_t_i_o_n_s] _h_o_s_t_- _n_a_m_e[::_p_a_t_h_n_a_m_e]] OOPPTTIIOONNSS 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 directo- ries. -n X : Get selected files only if X days old or newer. DDEESSCCRRIIPPTTIIOONN _N_c_F_T_P is a user interface to the Internet standard _F_i_l_e _T_r_a_n_s_f_e_r _P_r_o_t_o_c_o_l. This program allows a user to transfer files to and from a remote network site, and offers addi- tional features that are not found in the standard inter- face, _f_t_p. The program runs in one of three modes: _v_i_s_u_a_l _m_o_d_e, _l_i_n_e _m_o_d_e, and _c_o_l_o_n _m_o_d_e. If your system is somewhat modern, the default mode should be _v_i_s_u_a_l _m_o_d_e. This is a full-screen interface that uses the _c_u_r_s_e_s library. With visual mode, you edit the pro- gram's settings with a nice screen interface instead of typing arcane commands. If you are not in visual mode, you will be using _l_i_n_e _m_o_d_e for the interactive shell. This mode is a no-frills com- mand-line interface that will look like the default _f_t_p program's command shell. The third mode, _c_o_l_o_n _m_o_d_e, refers to the program's abil- ity to do a quick retrieve of a file directly from your shell command line, without going into the program's own NCEMRSoft 2.3.0 1 NcFTP(1) NcFTP(1) shell. This mode is useful for shell scripts. IINNTTRROODDUUCCTTIIOONN TTOO VVIISSUUAALL MMOODDEE 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 trans- fer 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 _I_n_t_e_r_n_e_t _P_r_o_t_o_c_o_l (IP) address. For exam- ple, a symbolic name might be ``typhoon.unl.edu,'' and its IP address could be ``129.93.33.24.'' To open a connec- tion to that system, you use the program's _o_p_e_n command: open typhoon.unl.edu open 129.93.33.24 Both of these try to open the machine called typhoon at the _U_n_i_v_e_r_s_i_t_y _o_f _N_e_b_r_a_s_k_a. 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 per- mission. The _F_T_P _P_r_o_t_o_c_o_l'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 ``anony- mous'' as the account name, and when prompted for a pass- word, 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 _l_s and _d_i_r commands. The former is terse, pre- ferring 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 _c_d 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 _B_o_u_r_n_e NCEMRSoft 2.3.0 2 NcFTP(1) NcFTP(1) and _K_o_r_n shell. The purpose of the program is to exchange data with other systems. You can use the program's _g_e_t 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 fin- ish, then you can enter more commands to the program's command shell. You can use the program's _p_u_t 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 _q_u_i_t command to terminate the program. TTHHEE BBOOOOKKMMAARRKKSS FFIILLEE One of the program's goals is to minimize typing and maxi- mize convenience. The program automatically saves infor- mation about the sites you call on in a special file called the _b_o_o_k_m_a_r_k_s file, which is stored in the ._n_c_f_t_p subdirectory of your home directory. 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 NCEMRSoft 2.3.0 3 NcFTP(1) NcFTP(1) 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 _N_e_t_h_a_c_k 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 UUSSIINNGG TTHHEE BBOOOOKKMMAARRKK EEDDIITTOORR To manipulate the bookmarks stored in your bookmarks file, you use the program's bookmark editor. Run the bookmark editor by typing the _b_o_o_k_m_a_r_k_s command from within the program. This brings up a new screen of information. On the right side is the list of remote systems the pro- gram has saved for you already. Each time you open a con- nection 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 com- mands. To exit the bookmark editor for example, you would just type the ``x'' key only. The multi-key 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 appro- priate 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 I had many entries in my bookmark list, but wanted to select a site whose bookmark name was ``nethack,'' I 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 NCEMRSoft 2.3.0 4 NcFTP(1) NcFTP(1) the /_e_d command. Doing that brings up another screen with the settings for that bookmark. In the _B_o_o_k_m_a_r_k _O_p_t_i_o_n_s screen, you use hot keys to select a setting to edit. To edit the bookmark name, for exam- ple, you would type ``a.'' When you are finished editing this bookmark, hit the ``x'' key to return to the bookmark editor's screen. BBOOOOKKMMAARRKK OOPPTTIIOONNSS Edit the _B_o_o_k_m_a_r_k _n_a_m_e field to change the name you use to open this site with. Remember, when you change the book- mark name , you must use this name to refer to this par- ticular 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. Change the login information for the site by editing the _U_s_e_r, _P_a_s_s_w_o_r_d, and _A_c_c_o_u_n_t 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. The _D_i_r_e_c_t_o_r_y 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. The _T_r_a_n_s_f_e_r _T_y_p_e field can be changed to use a different translation mode when transferring files. This program is usually running on a _U_N_I_X system, and most remote systems are also _U_N_I_X variants, so the default transfer type is _b_i_n_a_r_y, which does no translation at all. However, when you need to work with plain text files and transfer them between non-_U_N_I_X systems, you can change this to _A_S_C_I_I. That will guarantee that the text-only files will translate correctly. Most often, you will need to use the _b_i_n_a_r_y transfer type. The _P_o_r_t 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. The _H_a_s _S_I_Z_E _C_o_m_m_a_n_d field will probably not need to be edited. This field is mostly for your information only. The _S_I_Z_E command is an _F_T_P _P_r_o_t_o_c_o_l command that the NCEMRSoft 2.3.0 5 NcFTP(1) NcFTP(1) 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. The _H_a_s _M_D_T_M _C_o_m_m_a_n_d field will probably not need to be edited either. If the remote server supports it, the pro- gram can get the exact modification date of the remote file, and set the local file to the same date. The _C_a_n _U_s_e _P_a_s_s_i_v_e _F_T_P field specifies whether the remote server allows use of the _F_T_P _P_r_o_t_o_c_o_l's _P_A_S_V command. There are two ways to set up FTP connections. The default way is what I call _P_o_r_t _F_T_P. Unfortunately, _P_o_r_t _F_T_P can- not be used when your local host is hiding behind a _F_i_r_e_- _w_a_l_l. _P_a_s_s_i_v_e _F_T_P 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. The _O_p_e_r_a_t_i_n_g _S_y_s_t_e_m field is used by the program to tell if it can rely on certain dependencies to specific operat- ing 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 _U_N_I_X, the _l_s command tries to use the _-_C_F flags, like you could with ``/bin/ls -CF'' on _U_N_I_X. If the OS wasn't _U_N_I_X, 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. The comment field can be used to store a brief description about the site. For example, for my ``nethack'' entry, I could use this field to hold ``Archive site for latest version of Nethack.'' When you are in the bookmark edi- tor'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. PPRREEFFEERREENNCCEESS In addition to remote-host specific options, the program has global options that are user-configurable. To change the program's preferences, run the _p_r_e_f_s command from within the program. The _D_e_f_a_u_l_t _o_p_e_n _m_o_d_e field specifies how the program should try to open connections. If you do a lot of anony- mous FTPing, you should leave this set to _a_n_o_n_y_m_o_u_s. You might want to set this field to _u_s_e_r _& _p_a_s_s_w_o_r_d 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 _a_n_o_n_y_m_o_u_s FTP mode. NCEMRSoft 2.3.0 6 NcFTP(1) NcFTP(1) The _A_n_o_n_y_m_o_u_s _p_a_s_s_w_o_r_d 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 ser- vice. If the program didn't get your e-mail address right, or you want to use something different, you can change it here. The program now uses more whitespace than before to reduce eyestrain. If you prefer, you can turn off that feature by changing the _B_l_a_n_k _l_i_n_e_s _b_e_t_w_e_e_n _c_m_d_s field. 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 _~_/_._n_c_f_t_p_/_l_o_g, you can set the _U_s_e_r _l_o_g _s_i_z_e 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. 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 _M_a_x _b_o_o_k_m_a_r_k_s _t_o _s_a_v_e 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. A few program functions need to use a _p_a_g_e_r program to view large amounts of text. For example, the _p_a_g_e 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 _p_a_g_e_r field. When you transfer files between the remote host and your local host, the program uses a _p_r_o_g_r_e_s_s _m_e_t_e_r to show you the status of the transfer. The program has a few differ- ent progress meters to choose from, and you can try out the other ones by changing the _P_r_o_g_r_e_s_s _m_e_t_e_r field. You can control how much of the remote server's chatter is printed by changing the _R_e_m_o_t_e _m_e_s_s_a_g_e_s field. The pro- gram 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 _s_t_a_r_t_u_p _m_e_s_s_a_g_e. Typically, when you connect to a server it has some important information about the server. Some servers have _c_h_d_i_r _m_e_s_s_a_g_e_s, which are sent when you enter a special directory. You specify NCEMRSoft 2.3.0 7 NcFTP(1) NcFTP(1) whether to print these messages by toggling the _R_e_m_o_t_e _m_e_s_s_a_g_e_s field. 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. I like to use a ``download direc- tory'' so that all of my downloads go to a specific direc- tory. This prevents me from exceeding my quota, and over- writing my other files. You can set the _S_t_a_r_t_u_p _i_n _L_o_c_a_l _D_i_r 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. The program itself has some messages which you may get tired of and want to turn off. You can change the _S_t_a_r_t_u_p _m_e_s_s_a_g_e_s field to specify whether the program prints its ``splash screen'' and whether it prints a _t_i_p on how to maximize use of the program. 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 chang- ing the _F_i_l_e _t_i_m_e_s_t_a_m_p_s field. If you don't like the full-screen graphics, you can use the line-oriented mode by changing the _S_c_r_e_e_n _g_r_a_p_h_i_c_s field. Once you turn _v_i_s_u_a_l mode off from the _P_r_e_f_e_r_e_n_c_e_s screen, you won't be able to get back to the preferences screen again when using _l_i_n_e mode. To get back into visual mode, you can run the program with the ``-V'' flag, like: ncftp -V CCOOMMMMAANNDD RREEFFEERREENNCCEE I will now describe the commands that the program's com- mand shell supports. The first command to know is _h_e_l_p. If you just type 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: help open prints information about the _o_p_e_n command. The shell escape command is simply the exclamation point, _! To spawn a shell, just do: ! NCEMRSoft 2.3.0 8 NcFTP(1) NcFTP(1) You can also use this to do one command only, like: !date +%H:%M:%S The _c_d 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 _g_e_t, _p_u_t, and _l_s could be used to refer to items in that directory. Some shells in the _U_N_I_X environment have a feature I like, which is switching to the previous directory. Like those shells, you can do: cd - to change to the last directory you were in. The _c_l_o_s_e command disconnects you from the remote server. The program does this for you automatically when needed, so you can simply open other sites or quit the program without worrying about closing the connection by hand. Sometimes it may be necessary to use the _c_r_e_a_t_e 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. The _d_e_b_u_g 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 mes- sages between the program and the remote server, and things I print only in debugging mode. If you report a NCEMRSoft 2.3.0 9 NcFTP(1) NcFTP(1) bug, I might ask you to send me a _t_r_a_c_e file. To do that, you would run the program, and then type debug trace 1 And so I could see how the program was compiled, you would type version After you quit the program, you could then send me an email with the contents of the _~_/_._n_c_f_t_p_/_t_r_a_c_e file, which would also have the version information in it. The _d_i_r command prints a detailed directory listing. It tries to behave like _U_N_I_X's ``/bin/ls -l'' command. If the remote server seems to be a _U_N_I_X host, you can also use the same flags you would with _l_s, for instance dir -rt would try to act like /bin/ls -lrt would on _U_N_I_X. The _e_c_h_o 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 _U_N_I_X shell, but accepts some extra flags. All ``percent'' flags are fed through _s_t_r_f_t_i_m_e(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: NCEMRSoft 2.3.0 10 NcFTP(1) NcFTP(1) Connected to sphygmomanometer.unl.edu at 20:37. The _g_e_t 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 _g_e_t command has some powerful features which are described below, in ``SPECIAL DOWNLOADING FEATURES.'' The _b_o_o_k_m_a_r_k_s command runs the _B_o_o_k_m_a_r_k _E_d_i_t_o_r. You already know how what that does, since you read the sec- tion above on it, right? The _l_c_d command is the first of a few ``l'' commands that work with the local host. This changes the current work- ing directory on the local host. If you want to download files into a different local directory, you could use _l_c_d to change to that directory and then do your downloads. Another local command that comes in handy is the _l_l_s com- mand, which runs ``/bin/ls'' on the local host and dis- plays the results in the program's window. You can use the same flags with _l_l_s as you would in your command shell, so you can do things like: lcd ~/doc lls -lrt p*.txt The program also has a built-in interface to the name ser- vice via the _l_o_o_k_u_p 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 NCEMRSoft 2.3.0 11 NcFTP(1) NcFTP(1) ftp.cs.unl.edu: Name: typhoon.unl.edu Alias: ftp.cs.unl.edu Address: 129.93.33.24 You can also give _I_P addresses, so this would work too: lookup 129.93.33.24 prints: typhoon.unl.edu 129.93.33.24 The _l_p_a_g_e 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 The _l_p_w_d command is prints the current local directory. Use this command when you forget where you are on your local machine. The _l_s command prints a brief directory listing. It tries to behave like _U_N_I_X's ``/bin/ls -CF'' command. If the remote server seems to be a _U_N_I_X host, you can also use the same flags you would with _l_s, for instance ls -rt would try to act like /bin/ls -CFrt would on _U_N_I_X. The _m_k_d_i_r 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. The _o_p_e_n command connects you to a remote host. Many times, you will simply open a host without using any flags, but nonetheless the _o_p_e_n command has some flags to enable certain features. To force an anonymous open, use the ``-a'' flag. On the _f_t_p_._p_r_o_b_e_._n_e_t machine, which is the official archive site for _N_c_F_T_P, I have a need to use both anonymous logins and user logins. The _B_o_o_k_m_a_r_k _E_d_i_t_o_r remembers type of login I used last, so if the last time was a user login, I could use the ``-a'' flag to switch back to the anonymous login type without having to use the _B_o_o_k_m_a_r_k _E_d_i_t_o_r to change that. NCEMRSoft 2.3.0 12 NcFTP(1) NcFTP(1) Likewise, I could use the ``-u'' flag to force a user open. Then I could give my account name and password to access that account. Many of the big archive sites like _w_u_a_r_c_h_i_v_e_._w_u_s_t_l_._e_d_u 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' flag to turn on auto- matic redial. Redial itself has a few parameters. You can set the delay, in seconds, of the time spent waiting between redi- als. You can also have the program give up after a maxi- mum 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 _o_p_e_n command will run the _B_o_o_k_m_a_r_k _E_d_i_t_o_r if you don't supply a hostname to open. You can use the _B_o_o_k_m_a_r_k _E_d_i_- _t_o_r to select a host and open it by hitting the _r_e_t_u_r_n key. The _p_a_g_e 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 _p_a_g_e_r field in the _P_r_e_f_- _e_r_e_n_c_e_s screen to view the file. The _p_d_i_r and _p_l_s commands are equivalent to _d_i_r and _l_s respectively, only they feed their output to your pager. These commands are primarily for _l_i_n_e _m_o_d_e because direc- tory listings can scroll offscreen. If you do a normal _l_s while in _v_i_s_u_a_l mode, if it would go offscreen, the built- in pager kicks in automatically. Therefore I don't recom- mend using _p_d_i_r and _p_l_s while in _v_i_s_u_a_l mode. The _r_e_d_i_r and _p_r_e_d_i_r commands give you a way to re-display the last directory listing. The program saves the output from the last _d_i_r or _l_s command you did, so if you want to see it again you can do this without wasting network band- width. The _p_r_e_d_i_r command is the same as _r_e_d_i_r, except that the output is fed to your pager. I have found that I mostly download, and have next to no need at all to upload. But the _p_u_t command is there in case you need to upload files to remote hosts. For exam- ple, if I wanted to send some files to a remote host, I could do: NCEMRSoft 2.3.0 13 NcFTP(1) NcFTP(1) lcd ~/docs/files put 02.txt 03.txt 05.txt 07.txt 11.txt The _p_u_t 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 _g_e_t com- mand has, except for the ``-z'' option. The _p_w_d command prints the current remote working direc- tory. In _v_i_s_u_a_l mode, this is in the status bar. If you need to change the name of a remote file, you can use the _r_e_n_a_m_e command, like: rename SPHYGMTR.TAR sphygmomanometer-2.3.1.tar Of course, when you finish using the program, type _q_u_i_t to end the program (You could also use _b_y_e, _e_x_i_t, or _^_D). The _q_u_o_t_e command can be used to send a direct _F_T_P _P_r_o_t_o_- _c_o_l command to the remote server. Generally this isn't too useful to the average user (or me either). The _r_h_e_l_p command sends a help request to the remote server. The list of _F_T_P _P_r_o_t_o_c_o_l 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 ] If you need to delete a remote file you can try the _r_m 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 _U_N_I_X. Similarly, the _r_m_d_i_r command removes a directory. Depend- ing on the remote server, you may be able to remove a non- empty directory, so be careful. The _s_e_t command is provided for backward compatibility with older versions of the program, and is superseded by the _p_r_e_f_s command. The basic syntax is: set option value Where the option is the short name of the corresponding NCEMRSoft 2.3.0 14 NcFTP(1) NcFTP(1) field in the _P_r_e_f_e_r_e_n_c_e_s screen. The short names of the preferences fields can be found by browsing your _~_/_._n_c_f_t_p_/_p_r_e_f_s file. This command is mainly for use with _l_i_n_e _m_o_d_e, but since that mode is no longer officially supported by me, I want to discourage the use of this com- mand. One obscure command you may have to use someday is _s_i_t_e. The _F_T_P _P_r_o_t_o_c_o_l allows for ``site specific'' commands. These ``site'' commands vary of course, but one common sub-command that is useful that some sites support is _c_h_m_o_d, i.e.: site chmod 644 README Try doing one of these to see what the remote server sup- ports, if any: rhelp SITE site help You may need to change transfer types during the course of a session with a server. You can use the _t_y_p_e command to do this. Try one of these: type ascii type binary type image If you ever need to contact me about the program, please familiarize yourself with the _v_e_r_s_i_o_n command. This com- mand dumps a lot of information that tells me which edi- tion 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 SSPPEECCIIAALL DDOOWWNNLLOOAADDIINNGG FFEEAATTUURREESS You probably already know that you use the _g_e_t command to copy files on the remote host to the local host. But the _g_e_t command has a few other tricks that you might find useful. First of all, _n_c_f_t_p 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 net- work bandwidth to download it again. The program tries to get the date and size of the remote NCEMRSoft 2.3.0 15 NcFTP(1) NcFTP(1) 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 pro- gram to _m_i_r_r_o_r 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 _n_c_f_t_p to help you out by setting the appropriate local and remote directo- ries, then simply doing: get * The program will skip over the old files, and only down- load 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 _g_e_t to force a download: get -f README You may also need to use the ``-C'' flag to force the pro- gram to continue downloading where it left off. I some- times call that feature ``forced reget'' for historical reasons. You can also turn off _w_i_l_d_c_a_r_d _m_a_t_c_h_i_n_g with _g_e_t by using the ``-G'' flag. Other _F_T_P 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. _N_c_F_T_P differs in that respect, and if you used the older programs, you would find that the program's _g_e_t behaves more like those other program's _m_g_e_t command. This means that in _N_c_F_T_P_,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: NCEMRSoft 2.3.0 16 NcFTP(1) NcFTP(1) get -z file01 ../junk/files/01.txt would get ``file01'' and use the local name ``../junk/files/01.txt.'' Another thing that _g_e_t 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 _g_e_t command. Other FTP programs provided a _r_e_g_e_t command, which was useful when you lost a connection during a down- load. Instead of the remote host resending the entire file, you could use the _r_e_g_e_t command to continue the transfer where it was cut off. _N_c_F_T_P has this capability built-in, and it examines the date and size of the remote file and local file to deter- mine 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 _g_e_t is recursive mode, which is turned on with the ``-R'' flag. This fea- ture 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 ser- vice, 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. MMAACCRROOSS 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 _m_a_c_r_o_s file in your _._n_c_f_t_p subdirectory of your home directory. Your _~_/_._n_c_f_t_p directory is created for you automatically the first time you run the program, but you have to make NCEMRSoft 2.3.0 17 NcFTP(1) NcFTP(1) the _m_a_c_r_o_s 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 _f_t_p 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 _n_c_f_t_p com- mand. Macros can also have parameters, much like the _K_o_r_n _S_h_e_l_l's shell functions and the _C_-_S_h_e_l_l'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 _c_d to /pub, and then try to list its contents with _l_s. Dollar variables are somewhat like those in the _B_o_u_r_n_e and _K_o_r_n shells. Example syntax: $4 : Argument 4 $* : 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 NCEMRSoft 2.3.0 18 NcFTP(1) NcFTP(1) There are some special macros, which I call _e_v_e_n_t _m_a_c_r_o_s. The program looks for macros by special names, and if they exist, runs the macro when that event happens. One event macro is the _._s_t_a_r_t_._n_c_f_t_p macro. If you have a macro by that name defined in your macros file, the pro- gram will run that macro each time you run the program. Similarly, there is also a _._q_u_i_t_._n_c_f_t_p macro that is run each time you quit the program. Another set of event macros are site-specific. For exam- ple, if I have a site bookmarked as ``typhoon'' I could then define macros named _._o_p_e_n_._t_y_p_h_o_o_n and _._c_l_o_s_e_._t_y_p_h_o_o_n which would run each time I opened and closed ``typhoon.'' Another, more generic set of event macros are the _._o_p_e_n_._a_n_y and _._c_l_o_s_e_._a_n_y macros which run when I 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. I 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 _m_a_c_d_e_f _i_n_i_t hack that the traditional _f_t_p program used in its _._n_e_t_r_c file. For example: macro .open.infomac echo "Getting recent files list" get -z /pub/info-mac/help/recent-files ~/docs/recent ls -lrt end UUSSIINNGG CCOOLLOONN MMOODDEE The _c_o_l_o_n_-_m_o_d_e feature is used from your shell's command line. In ancient times, way back during the Disco Era, you could use a program called _t_f_t_p to fetch a file using the Inter- net standard _T_r_i_v_i_a_l _F_i_l_e _T_r_a_n_s_f_e_r _P_r_o_t_o_c_o_l_. 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: NCEMRSoft 2.3.0 19 NcFTP(1) NcFTP(1) csh> ncftp wuarchive.wustl.edu:/graphics/gif/README csh> head README This tells your shell, in this case the _C_-_s_h_e_l_l to run _N_c_F_T_P, which would open wuarchive, fetch /graph- ics/gif/README and write the file /README in the current working directory, and then exits. The _c_o_l_o_n_-_m_o_d_e 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 _U_n_i_f_o_r_m _R_e_s_o_u_r_c_e _L_o_c_a_t_o_r 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 _c_o_l_o_n_-_m_o_d_e file in the current working directory, or perhaps you want to pipe the output of a remote file into something else. _C_o_l_o_n_-_m_o_d_e has options to do this. It was inspired by the guy who wrote the _f_t_p_c_a_t 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 _m_o_r_e) Of course this won't work if the thing you give _c_o_l_o_n_-_m_o_d_e 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 UUSSIINNGG LLIINNEE MMOODDEE The only reason I provide _l_i_n_e _m_o_d_e is so that the primi- tive operating systems whose _c_u_r_s_e_s library is missing or dysfunctional won't render the program completely useless. exceptions of the functions that require _v_i_s_u_a_l _m_o_d_e, such as the _P_r_e_f_e_r_e_n_c_e_s screen and the _B_o_o_k_m_a_r_k _E_d_i_t_o_r. You NCEMRSoft 2.3.0 20 NcFTP(1) NcFTP(1) will have to edit the _~_/_._n_c_f_t_p_/_p_r_e_f_s and _~_/_._n_c_f_t_p_/_b_o_o_k_m_a_r_k_s file manually, with a text editor. As a small consolation, you get to use the full-powered line-editing libraries, like _G_N_U _R_e_a_d_l_i_n_e if they were compiled with the program. SSUUMMMMAARRYY OOFF CCOOMMMMAANNDD LLIINNEE OOPPTTIIOONNSS When you invoke the program from your shell, there are ``dash flags'' you can use like you can with most other _U_N_I_X 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 _t_r_a_c_e in your _._n_c_f_t_p subdirectory of your home directory. If you need to report a bug, it would be helpful to mail me the _t_r_a_c_e file so I can track it down better. In addition to the program flags, you can also use flags from the _o_p_e_n and _g_e_t commands with a _c_o_l_o_n _m_o_d_e 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. AAUUTTHHOORR _N_c_F_T_P was written by Mike Gleason, _N_C_E_M_R_S_o_f_t (mglea- son@probe.net). _N_c_F_T_P is copyrighted 1995 by NCEMRSoft. All rights reserved. As of this writing, the most recent version is archived in /pub/ncftp, on _f_t_p_._p_r_o_b_e_._n_e_t. TTHHAANNKKSS Ideas and some code contributed by my partner, Phil Dietz, _N_C_E_M_R_S_o_f_t (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 NCEMRSoft 2.3.0 21 NcFTP(1) NcFTP(1) 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 _P_r_o_b_e _T_e_c_h_n_o_l_- _o_g_y, for giving _n_c_f_t_p a home on _p_r_o_b_e_._n_e_t, the midwest's best connection to the internet. For testing above and beyond the call of duty, I am espe- cially 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. BBUUGGSS Due to a limitation in the _c_u_r_s_e_s library, scrolling may be slow in visual mode. Shell escapes, suspending (^Z) and resuming, and interrup- ing (^C) still have quirks with _v_i_s_u_a_l _m_o_d_e. There are no such sites named _b_o_w_s_e_r_._n_i_n_t_e_n_d_o_._c_o_._j_p or _s_p_h_y_g_m_o_m_a_n_o_m_e_t_e_r_._u_n_l_._e_d_u. SSEEEE AALLSSOO _f_t_p(1), _f_t_p_d(8), _n_s_l_o_o_k_u_p(1), _a_r_c_h_i_e(1), _r_c_p(1), _t_f_t_p(1). NCEMRSoft 2.3.0 22