FTP Browser readme ================== This file contains the following sections:  What is FTP Browser?  System requirements  Feature list  Features that may not be obvious  Solutions to common problems  Changes for this release  Legal disclaimer  Availability and support  Installation procedure  Changes in previous releases ===================================================================== What is FTP Browser? ===================================================================== FTP Browser is a powerful and intuitive FTP solution for OS/2 Warp that features drag and drop, server to server and directory tree transfers accross a variety of hosts. Please, feel free to use this shareware version of FTP Browser to evaluate its functionality as long as you agree to the legal disclaimer. Should you continue to use this product beyond the 30-day trial period, please select "Registration information" from the application's menu. Registration for FTP Browser is only $23.00 in US funds. Thank you for your interest in FTP Browser. ===================================================================== System requirements ===================================================================== Your system must meet the following minimal requirements in order to install and use FTP Browser: OS/2 Warp version 3 or 4 Presentation Manager TCP/IP 2 Mb free disk space ===================================================================== Feature list ===================================================================== The following features will surely enhance your FTP experience:  FTP site manager that stores sites in folders  Drag and drop enabled for transfers, queueing and site manipulation  Ping feature to test site responsiveness before connecting  Unlimited number of simultaneous connections to the same site  Graphical file transfer display  Host redialing for busy sites  Seamless and smart reconnects for lost connections  Automatically resume interrupted transfers  Transfer queue for storing items to transfer  Recursive directory tree transfers and deletes  Server to server tree and file transfers  Tree synchronize feature for maintaining identical trees on local and remote systems  Archive content and text file viewer  Configurable file associations for viewing downloaded files  Classical and transparent proxy firewall support  Firewall support for travelling (laptop) users  Configurable directory lisiting cache  "Quick paths" allow access to frequently accessed directories  Previous directory button to travel to parent directories  Communications log with save to file option  Hooks for command file execution after file transfers  Download information optionally written to file EAs  File list filter and search facility  Hover help for all toolbars  Tabbed notebook style  Drag and drop color and font configurability ===================================================================== Features that may not be obvious =====================================================================  To move a site to a new folder, drag and drop the site over the target folder. To copy a site hold down the control key while dropping the site over the target folder.  To connect to a site double click the site name. To connect to every site within a folder, double click the folder name.  To be prompted for a site address or password, simply leave these fields empty in the properties notebook.  To start FTP Browser from another application and automatically connect to a FTP site, use the following command: ftpbrows ftp.site.address  To transfer files and directories, simply drag objects from or into the FTP window.  To view a file using the defined associations, double click the file name in the FTP window. If the file's extension matches that of a defined association it will be viewed using the defined external application. For example, double clicking on a ZIP file will display the contents of the archive. Any file for which there is no association is assumed to be a text file and will be displayed in the built-in text viewer window. Associations can be defined in the configure options notebook.  To resume an interrupted file transfer, simply start the transfer again and select append from the file transfer prompt.  To transfer files and directories from one site to another, simply drag objects from one FTP window to the other.  To recursively delete directories on a site, make your selection then select delete.  To synchronize directory trees between your system and a remote system, both the local and remote directory fields must changed to the directories that are to be synchronized.  To filter the file list add the filter string to the end of the remote directory. For example, the following remote directory would only list ZIP files: /os2/incoming/*.zip To remove the filter refresh the directory.  To change the font and color of a window, simply drag and drop them to the window. All changes will be saved. ===================================================================== Solutions to common problems ===================================================================== - if there is a problem getting a list of files from a Windows NT FTP server, try changing the site type in the site's properties notebook to DOS. - if there is a problem connecting to sites on the internet through a firewall/proxy server, make sure that the "located behind firewall" check box is not checked. It should only be checked for sites within (local to) your LAN. - if a site does not allow fully qualified path names when changing or listing a directory, the file list will be empty even though there are files. If this is the case then disable "fully qualify directory changes and listings" on the preferences page of the site's properties notebook. - if you are having problems connecting through a firewall or connecting to a specific site, view the communications window and select save. Send this text file along with a description of the problem in an e-mail message to the address listed under support. - when closing the FTP window, it is normal if it takes up to 5 seconds to shut down. ===================================================================== Changes for this release ===================================================================== Site manager updates --------------------------- - added a menu item to the site manager window for creating a desktop icon that references a site. Click this icon to directly connect to the site. - added menu items to the site manager window for cascading, tiling or closing all open FTP windows. Cascade and tile use the size of the top-left-most window for determining the size of the others. - changing certain options and site properties are now reflected immediately if the there are open FTP windows. - updated all toolbar buttons with a consistant graphic scheme. - replaced some infrequently used toolbar buttons with more frequently used ones. - added a setting to the site properties notebook for turning off fully qualified directory names, because some sites do not like the LIST command fully qualified. NOTE: turning off fully qualified pathnames prevents recursive directory tree transfers etc. - added a setting in the site properties notebook for converting uploaded file names to FAT (8.3) format. - fixed the deletion of sites from the site manager window which was causing a memory leak. - fixed the site manager splitbar, so that the sizing pointer (left-right arrow) is displayed while moving the splitbar. FTP window updates ------------------ - enhanced transfer status window updates, which are now performed in a seperate thread. It was found that updating the status from within the transfer thread degraded transfer performance by as much as 50% with extremely fast transfers (30kbs+). - added a list of files to transfer to the transfer status window. - added an elapsed transfer time field to the transfer status win. - multiple FTP windows are now cascaded instead of opening on top of each other. - changed the following FTP window dialogues to windows for improved functionality: Connect status, Transfer status, Transfer queue, Quick path Communications log, Synchronize - added help to many of the remaining (modal) dialogues. - added a select all function to the FTP window directory menu. - enhanced file transfer code which now allows a user selectable action when a file exist condition occurs during a recursive tree transfer. - enhanced the file transfer prompt with a manually rename file option and changed the old rename option button to "unique". - added column titles to the FTP window file list, transfer queue, and synchronize list. - enabled the remote directory field to accept filter strings. - synchronize feature now compares file names without case sensitivity and also compares file sizes in determining which files to synchronize. - fixed a bug during file transfers of > 40MB which caused the percent and progress indicators to reset to 0. - improved server to server transfer code, now more robust in dealing with transfer failures. - FTP window now displays on top after a successful connection. - FTP Browser can now be purchased from The Scandinavian OS/2 Shareware Registration Services in Scandinavian currency at http://www.cybernet.dk/users/berggreen/os2/. See "registration information" in the help for more information. ===================================================================== Legal disclaimer ===================================================================== FTP Browser is provided "as-is" without any warranties (or conditions), expressed or implied with respect to the software, including the implied warranties (or conditions) of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. The entire risk arising out of use or performance of the program remains with you. In no event, will Jason Rushton be liable for any lost profits, lost savings, incidental or indirect damages or other economic consequential damages, even if Jason Rushton has been advised of the possibility of such damages. In addition, Jason Rushton will not be liable for any damages claimed on you based on any third party claim. FTP Browser, Copyright (c) 1996 Jason Rushton ===================================================================== Availability and support ===================================================================== If you have questions, suggestions or bug reports, use any of the following contact methods. Registered users will receive first priority, although I will surely make an effort to respond to unregistered users as well. Internet mail rushton@netcom.ca Regular mail Jason Rushton 81 Calais Street Whitby, Ontario Canada, L1N 5M3 The latest version of FTP Browser will always be available for download from the following internet FTP archives, WWW pages and internet BBSs: ftp.cdrom.com /.4/os2/internet hobbes.nmsu.edu /os2/internet ftp.bmtmicro.com /bmtmicro http://www.bmtmicro.com/catalog/0internet.html ftp.leo.org /pub/comp/os/os2/tcpip/ftp sky.chph.ras.ru /os2/tcpip/ftp os2.musthave.com /OS2 http://www.os2ss.com/internet/ftp/ bbs.os2bbs.com Area #35 ===================================================================== Installation ===================================================================== To install FTP Browser: 1. Unzip the compressed file into a temporary directory. 2. Make this directory the current directory. 3. Run INSTALL.EXE to install the application. ===================================================================== Changes in previous releases ===================================================================== v1.55 - added a directory tree synchronize feature, which lists and recursively transfes missing files between your a system and a remote site - enhanced the informational messages displayed in the status area and the connect window - added a "how do I ..." section the help system - added a similar "Features that may not be obvious" section to this readme file. - added an switch that can toggle between active and passive data connections - added the ability to start an FTP session from the command line (or your another application) by specifying an ftp site address eg. ftpbrows ftp.cdrom.com - added an option to not display the local and remote dir fields in the FTP window - fixed a bug which confused FTP Browser when informational messages posted by some sites contained an extra new line character. A dash as the first character of the password is no longer needed for Hobbes. (Directory -> Synchronize) - fixed a bug in the passive data connection code - fixed a small GUI flaw in the status area - fixed the display of binary/ascii transfer mode - many GUI and network code optimizations - reduction in memory requirements and increased performance