FTPMon 1.0 for OS/2 DESCRIPTION --------------------------------------------------------------------- I wrote FTPMon so that I could scan the incoming directory of an anonymous FTP site and not have to look through a lot of old files to see what was new. FTPMon maintains a list of all the files in the incoming directory of a site, but displays only those that you have not seen previously. Once you see a file in the list, you can download it, view it, or tag it as boring. Downloaded and boring files are removed from the list (but not, of course, the FTP site), and don't appear there again. FTPMon will refresh the list once an hour, or at the request of the user. COPYRIGHT AND DISTRIBUTION --------------------------------------------------------------------- See the file README.1ST for copyright and distribution information. HOW TO USE FTPMon --------------------------------------------------------------------- Install FTPMon according to the directions in README.1ST. Double- click on the "FTP Monitor" program object to start FTPMon. _First time startup_ The first time you run FTPMon, you will see a Quick info... screen describing the next two dialogs you will see. Double click on the title bar icon to continue. You will then be asked for your e-mail address. The e-mail address is used to set your initial password for anonymous logins. You will then asked to create a site file. A site file holds the information needed to connect to a specific site as well as the list of files you've already seen. You may create or switch to another site file by selecting the 'Site File...' option from the 'Options' menu. _Using FTPMon_ Once the first time startup information is entered, you will see the FTPMon main window. It will look something like this (best viewed with a monospaced font): .__________________________________________________________________. |\/| New Files - HOBBES | |__________________________________________________________________| |Options | |__________________________________________________________________| |.________________________________________________________________.| || |/\|| || | || || | || || |\/|| |+________________________________________________________________+| |.________________________________________________________________.| || hobbes.nmsu.edu/incoming || |+________________________________________________________________+| | Download Directory | |.________________________________________________________________.| || C:\TMP || |+________________________________________________________________+| |.______________. .______________. .______________.| || Download | | View | | Boring! || |+______________+ +______________+ +______________+| |.________________________________________________________________.| || Update Now || |+________________________________________________________________+| +__________________________________________________________________+ The FTPMon window consists of the following parts: (1) An Options menu, which is described later. (2) A list box. The list box will eventually contain a list of files at an FTP site. (3) An entry field. In entry field, enter the name of the FTP site you're interested in and the directory you want to monitor in the format /. For example, hobbes's incoming directory would be 'hobbes.nmsu.edu/incoming' and CDROM's incoming directory would be 'ftp.cdrom.com/pub/os2/incoming'. (4) Another entry field, under the Text "Download Directory". Enter the drive and directory on your computer where you want the files you download to go. (5) Four pushbuttons: Download, View, Boring!, and Update Now. To download files in the list to the directory in the Download Directory entry field, highlight all the files in the list you want to download and push the Download button. Multiple files may be selected via ctrl-click and (if the files are sequential) shift-click in the list box. After downloading a file, it is removed from the list automatically. You will not see those files in the list again. To view files text files in the list, highlight the files you want to view and push the View button. To remove files from the list without downloading them, highlight the files you want to remove and push the Boring! button. You will not see those files in the list again. To update the list by re-scanning the FTP site, push the Update Now button. FTPMon will then connect to the FTP site, get a list of files in the desired directory, disconnect from the FTP site, and update the list. Note that updating the list involves adding files that you have never seen to the list as well as removing files from the list that are no longer there. **If a file was removed from the list because you downloaded it or because you said it was Boring!, it will NOT reappear.** The list is updated automatically every hour. _The Options menu_ The options menu has the following items: (1) Login info... This selection brings up a window that lets you enter the username and password you want to use. The defaults are "anonymous" and your e-mail address. These fields are stored in the site file so they will not interfere with your username/password for any other site. THE PASSWORD IS NOT ENCRYPTED IN THE SITE FILE. IT IS NOT PROTECTED IN ANY WAY. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK. (2) Email (email address)... This option allows you to change your e-mail address. The current e-mail address is displayed. (3) Site file... This option allows you to create or to switch to another site file. All information for the current file is saved before opening the new file. (4) Other... The only field currently on the Other Options window allows you to set the program started to View files. The default is 'E', the OS/2 system editor. (5) Age file... Aging a site file means removing old 'downloaded' and 'boring!' entries from it. Aging a file currently takes a long time. KNOWN BUGS/LIMITATIONS --------------------------------------------------------------------- No true bugs are known. FTPMon does have these limitations: (1) Viewed files are downloaded to the directory pointed to by the TMP environment variable. The user is responsible for deleting these files. (2) Aging a site file takes much too long. (3) Filenames are case sensitive. If a file appears on the site twice, once uppercase and once lowercase, the file will appear in the list twice. (4) No checking is done to insure that a file Viewed is a text file. (5) Only a file's name is used when deciding if a file has been in the list before. If a file is uploaded to the FTP site, made Boring!, removed from the FTP site, and another file with the same name is uploaded to the FTP site, it will not appear in the list. Aging the site file should help lessen this problem. POSSIBLE ENHANCEMENTS FOR FUTURE VERSIONS --------------------------------------------------------------------- The following is a list of enhancements that may appear in future versions of FTPMon. If you have any other ideas for enhancements, please e-mail them to abbott@hiwaay.net. (1) Speed up aging of site files. (2) Rather than deleting a file from the list after the user downloads the file or selects "Boring!", leave the file in the list but change the color. This would also eliminate all aging problems, as aging would no longer make sense. (3) Automatically delete Viewed files when the user exists the program.