DRAFT. EXPECT SOME OMISSIONS AND INACCURACIES

NFTP : New File Transfer Protocol Client Version 0.80
Copyright (C) 1994-1996 Sergey Ayukov

Home page of NFTP. Check it for new versions, updates etc.

Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Installation
  3. Quick start
  4. Usage
  5. Keyboard commands summary
  6. Known bugs and limitations
  7. Troubleshooting
  8. Licensing information
  9. Acknowledgements
  10. Registration
  11. Contacting the author
Version history

INTRODUCTION

NFTP is a text-mode ftp client for OS/2. Comparing to popular ncftp, it has a number of enhancements:

The biggest advantages over majority of PM ftp clients (like FTP-PM, sftp etc.) are the ability to 'reget' (continue transfer after interruption), speed of simple and effective text-mode interface, small memory requirements.

In my opinion, LW-FTP while being very elegant is useless due to big overhead of Workplace Shell object creation/deletion.

The drawback, however, is that NFTP isn't free as ncftp. But registration fee is only US$ 20 -- and you'll get all future versions and support by e-mail at this price! See registration details below.

INSTALLATION

  1. Requirements are
  2. Installation.

    Unpack archive nftp*.zip into some directory and run install.cmd. After answering some questions necessary files will be copied to the directory you specified and your WPS desktop will hold two new objects -- "NFTP" (executable) and "NFTP Manual". You probably already done that because you're reading that "NFTP Manual"!

    If you want to install NFTP by hand (without install.cmd), copy all files into the directory of your choice (eg, "d:\apps\tcpip\nftp"), load nftp.ini into your favourite ASCII text editor (eg, TEDIT shipped with Warp) and insert your e-mail address (it will be used as a password for anonymous logins) at the appropriate place (line 

    
          anonymous-password="your-e-mail-address"
    ). I also suggest to decide where you will keep your bookmarks and transfer history and set corresponding variables accordingly. If you like to launch programs from desktop, create program object for NFTP. Put supplied nftp.mrk file into the directory which you've chosen in nftp.ini.

    The language NFTP uses is determined by environment variable NFTP_LANG. It should be set to the name (without extension) of corresponding DLL file. E.g., if you want to use Japanese version, you should use

              set NFTP_LANG=japanes
    This statement can be put to config.sys or to the batch file invoking nftp (install.cmd does exactly this). If you only need English version you may omit this variable.

    install.cmd creates Workplace shell object to run NFTP. This feature can be useful even you are die-hard command-line user (see below). NFTP can run in a fullscreen session or in a VIO window. Installation script sets it to run in a window, and window will not be closed automatically after exit -- this can help to diagnose problems. Turn it off when everything works as expected.

QUICK START

After installation, run nftp.exe (from command line or WPS object). If you're launching NFTP from WPS object created by installation script you will be asked to enter "FTP server to log in"; simply press ENTER now. You should see list of bookmarks on the screen. Use cursor keys to select one of them and press ENTER. If everything is set up correctly, you'll see client-server negotiation and then finally list of files and directories on the ftp server you've chosen. Hit SPACE to view control connection window (and it is scrollable!), TAB to view local files/directories. Return to remote directory view by pressing space/tab another time. Move pointer with cursor keys, press ENTER on a directory to enter it. Select files to download with INSERT or simply press F5 to transfer single file. To upload file to server, switch to local files view (with TAB), select file(s) and press Shift-F5. To view local or remote file, move pointer to it and press F3 (of course, remote file will be downloaded first -- that will probably take some time). Navigating in the viewer is simple and intuitive: scroll file with cursor keys. Press F10 to log off and exit NFTP.

USAGE: LAUNCHING NFTP

You often already know where the file you need right now is located. Let's suppose, say, you want to retrieve RFC 959 from 

       src.doc.ic.ac.uk:/pub/rfc/
Launch nftp in the following fashion: 
       nftp  src.doc.ic.ac.uk:/pub/rfc
or 
       nftp  src.doc.ic.ac.uk/pub/rfc
After logging in into src.doc.ic.ac.uk nftp will change directory for you to /pub/rfc. You will then locate required file and download it.

The command line format for NFTP is: 

      nftp [hostname[[:[port]]directory]   [userid]
"hostname" is the name of ftp server ('src.doc.ic.ac.uk' in the above example), ":" can be omitted, "directory" is remote directory ('/pub/rfc' in the above example), "port" is port number (don't use it if you don't know what's it). If you have an account on ftp server (i.e. you're not anonymous user), you can specify your userid in the command line. You will be asked for a password. An important note -- there shouldn't be any spaces between hostname and directory! Another examples are: 
      nftp private.crlf.net:7500/users    (nonstandard port)
      nftp ftp/pub                        (domain suffix omitted)
      nftp 128.128.128.128:/mydir         (IP number instead of host name)
      nftp lnfm1.sai.msu.su/home/asv asv  (login with explicit directory and real password)

Specifying directories in a command line is a pretty useful feature: when you've found some reference, paste it directly into the command line (e.g., File Commander/2 1.4 allows this) and you'll get right into the place without typing anything except Ctrl-Ins and Shift-Ins! Note that it's impossible to specify filename on the command line -- use directory name, not file name (i.e. /pub/rfc instead of pub/rfc/rfc959.txt.gz in the above example).

NFTP will try to use any text mode you have set before starting it. Modes with 80 columns work rather good, but do not expect this from 132-col or other modes.

USAGE: LOGGING IN AND OUT

NFTP has several ways to choose ftp server. First of all, you can specify it on the command line as an argument (see previous chapter, "USAGE: LAUNCHING NFTP"). Second, you can put server's hostname into the bookmark list if you frequent this site. Third, you can open it manually -- press Ctrl-L (for anonymous login) or Ctrl-N (for named login). to be continued

USAGE: NAVIGATING REMOTE SITE AND LOCAL DIRECTORIES

USAGE: TRANSFERRING FILES

USAGE: CUSTOMIZING NFTP

 Almost all customization is done through NFTP.INI. This file usually resides in the same directory as NFTP.EXE itself. However, you can also place it into PATHed directory or current directory.

The file NFTP.INI is plain ASCII file and can be edited with any ASCII editor (e.g., "System Editor" or "TEDIT"). Lines starting with semicolon ";" are comments; empty lines are ignored. The file itself holds comments about configuration and parameter meaning.

Note that only one entry in NFTP.INI is required -- your e-mail address (anonymous-password). All other fields are commented by default (installation script sets log-transfers-name and bookmarks-file). Do not forget to remove leading ";" when doing customizations.

To get rid of overhead of parsing of text initialization file, NFTP converts NFTP.INI into NFTP.BIN. This operation is done only when necessary (i.e. when NFTP.BIN does not exist or older than NFTP.INI). Conversion is fully automatic and done by NFTP-OPT. Please note that file NFTP-OPT.EXE should be placed into the same directory as NFTP.INI or into the directory listed in PATH environment variable. In general, you shouldn't worry about it.

Below is a complete explanation of all parameters in NFTP.INI. Parameters can be of one of three types: integer, boolean and string. Integer values are represented by integers :-) and can be prefixed by sign. Boolean values can be specified as "0", "n", "no" (false), "1", "y", "yes" (true) (WITHOUT! quotes). Different capitalization (e.g., "Yes") can also be used. Strings are represented by character sequencies enclosed into double quotes; if value contains only letters, digits and minus sign you can safely omit quotes. Types and default values are shown after each parameter name in parentheses.

  1. Networking options and parameters ([network] section)
    anonymous-name (string; default: anonymous)
    your name for anonymous transfers
    anonymous-password (string)
    your password for anonymous logins. Insert your e-mail address here
    default-port (integer; default: 21)
    default ftp port. Do not change unless you're know what are you doing. To make this feature useful create special directories for sites with nonstandard ports and set 'default-port' in them, not in general nftp.ini: nftp will look for initialization file in the current direcory first
    firewalling (boolean; default: no)
    set to "yes" if you are behind the firewall
    proxy-server (string)
    name of your proxy server (firewalling only)
    proxy-login (string)
    your login on proxy server (firewalling only)
    use-PASV-mode (boolean; default: no)
    whether to use passive mode all the way. If you don't know what's that don't touch it

  2. General options ([options] section)
    derefence-links (boolean; default: yes)
    whether to dereference symlinks on server. Setting to 0 is not recommended
    show-dotted (boolean; default: yes)
    whether to include files starting with "." into the list
    debug (boolean; default: no)
    debugging. Do not set to 1 unless nftp goes crazy. Produces huge logs
    transfer-bell (boolean; default: yes)
    whether to beep at the end of transfer
    login-bell (boolean; default: yes)
    whether to beep when logged in
    transfer-pause (boolean; default: yes)
    whether to pause at transfer stats screen at the end of transfer
    log-transfers (boolean; default: yes)
    whether to log transfers. Pretty useful option to keep history and statistics
    log-transfers-name (string; default: "nftp.fls")
    name of transfer log. This may be global file (one for several instances of nftp running simultaneously).
    save-bookmark-at-logoff (boolean; default: no)
    whether to ask to save current host/dir as bookmark at logoff. Do you remember that nCftp does this always?
    bookmarks-file (string; default: "nftp.mrk")
    where to save bookmark information. This may be global file (one for several instances of nftp)
    text-viewer (string; default: "tedit.exe")
    external program invoked by Alt-F3. Substitute your favourite viewer/editor
    auto-switch-to-control (boolean; default: no)
    whether to switch to Control Connection Window automatically when sending commands to server
    default-sort (integer; default: 0 (no sort))
    default directory sort for remote file list. 0-unsorted, 1-by name, 2-by extension, 3-by size, 4-by time
    default-download-path (string; no default value)
    if this parameter is set, nftp will change into this directory after start
    default-dir-mode (integer; default: 1 (parsed))
    default view of remote directory. 0 - raw (as supplied by server), 1 - parsed (owner/group removed)

  3. Screen colours ([colours] section)

    File Listing
    pointer-marked-dir (default: yellow on cyan)
    cursor pointing to marked directory (not used)
    pointer-marked (default: yellow on cyan)
    cursor pointing to marked file
    pointer-dir (default: lightgreen on cyan)
    cursor pointing to directory
    pointer (default: black on cyan)
    cursor pointing to file
    marked-dir (default: yellow on black)
    marked directory (not used)
    marked (default: yellow on black)
    marked file
    dir (default: green on black)
    directory
    regular-file (default: grey on black)
    file

    Dialog windows
    dialog-box-text (default: grey on blue)
    dialog window
    dialog-box-selected (default: white on grey)
    selected element in a dialog window
    dialog-box-entryfield (default: black on cyan)
    entry field
    dialog-box-text-warn (default: grey on red)
    dialog window containing important information

    Control Connection
    controlconn-header (default: grey on blue)
    window header
    controlconn-respline (default: grey on black)
    server messages and responces
    controlconn-command (default: lightgreen on black)
    command which was sent to server
    controlconn-comment (default: lightred on black)
    comment (actually not a part of control connection)

    Bookmarks
    bookmark-background (default: black on grey)
    bookmark window
    bookmark-pointer (default: black on cyan)
    cursor

    Built-in File Viewer
    viewer-text (default: grey on black)
    file contents
    viewer-header (default: black on cyan)
    status line

    Miscellaneous
    status (default: grey on blue)
    status lines on remote directory (no. of files, no. of bytes, current host/directory etc.)
    status-local (default: white on blue)
    status lines on local directory (no. of files, no. of bytes, current host/directory etc.)
    transfer-status (default: grey on blue)
    file transfer panel
    help (default: black on cyan)
    help viewer

  4. Keyboard combinations ([keys] section)
    All these parameters are of type 'string' and can take more than one value. Separate values by comma. Quotes aren't needed because key names do not contain special characters.

    nothing
    binds key to no action. Useful for removing unwanted defaults

    Switching modes
    switch-to-cc (default:space)
    switches between file manager and control connection
    switch-local-remote (default:tab)
    switches between local and remote file view
    directory-mode-raw (default: ctrl-w)
    switches to raw directory view (as in versions 0.60-)
    directory-mode-parsed (default: ctrl-p)
    switches to parsed directory view (more space for filenames, owner/group id's omitted)

    Logging in and out
    bookmarks (default:ctrl-b)
    log in to server from bookmark list
    login-anonymous (default:ctrl-l)
    log in to anonymous ftp server, enter server name
    login_named (default:ctrl-n)
    log in to private ftp server, enter server name/login/password
    logoff (default:ctrl-k)
    log off site
    exit (default:f10)
    exit NFTP

    Transferring files
    download (default:f5)
    download file(s)
    upload (default:shift-f5)
    upload file(s)
    change-transfer-mode (default:ctrl-t)
    switches transfer mode between ASCII/BINARY
    download-all-dirs (default: alt-f5)
    download all marked files in all directories
    save-listing (default: alt-s)
    save listing of current directory

    File operations
    view-int (default:f3)
    view file with internal viewer
    view-ext (default:alt-f3)
    view file with external viewer
    delete (default:f8)
    delete file/directory
    mkdir (default:f7)
    create directory
    rename (default: f6)
    rename file/directory

    Sorting file list
    sort-name (default:ctrl-f3)
    sort file list by name
    sort-ext (default:ctrl-f4)
    sort file list by extension
    sort-time (default:ctrl-f5)
    sort file list by time
    sort-size (default:ctrl-f6)
    sort file list by size
    sort-unsort (default:ctrl-f7)
    make file list to be unsorted (as supplied by server)
    sort-reverse (default:ctrl-f8)
    reverse sort order

    Navigating directory structure
    enter-directory (default:enter,ctrl-pgdn)
    enter into the directory under cursor
    go-root (default:ctrl-backslash)
    go to the root directory
    go-up (default:ctrl-pgup)
    go to the directory one level up ("cd ..")
    reread (default:ctrl-r)
    re-read directory
    change-local-drive (default:f2)
    change local drive
    change-directory (default:alt-c)
    input remote directory name and change into it

    Selecting/deselecting files
    select (default:insert)
    select/deselect file under the cursor and move cursor one position down (if possible). When cursor points to the directory, just move down
    select-all (default:ctrl-numplus)
    mark all files in the current directory
    deselect-all (default:ctrl-numminus)
    unmark all files in the current directory
    select-by-filter (default: plus)
    mark files by user-specified filter
    deselect-by-filter (default: minus)
    unmark files by user-specified filter
    invert-selection (default: *)
    inverts selection
    select-alldirs (default: alt-numplus)
    mark all files in all visited directories
    deselect-alldirs (default: alt-numminus)
    unmark all files in all visited directories

    Miscellaneous
    autocontrol (default:ctrl-a)
    switches autoswitching to control connection on/off
    screen-redraw (default:ctrl-d)
    redraws screen (do not re-reads remote directory)
    noop (default:alt-n)
    send NO OPERATION command (useful for verifying connection aliveness)
    useflags (default:alt-f)
    switches between NLST with flags/LIST commands
    quote (default:alt-q)
    send command to ftp server verbatim
    save-bookmark (default:f4)
    save current remote directory as bookmark

  5. Owner identification ([registration] section)
    Ignored in the current version until August 1, 1996.
    name (string)
    Your registration name (specify exactly as typed in registration form); enclose into double quotes
    code (string)
    Your registration code; enclose into double quotes. If you're running unregistered version, set this parameter to empty value.
    message (boolean; default: yes)
    If you're running unregistered and hate those warnings about registration, set this parameter to 0 -- you'll no longer see warnings. Of course, files larger than 500KB will be still unreachable.

The following table lists valid keyboard combinations. "Y" means that this keystroke can be used; "--" -- keystroke cannot be assigned (it's not generated at all or intercepted by system); "N/R" -- not recommended (e.g., better leave Esc or Enter bound to defaults); "char" -- generates plain ASCII character code.

VALID KEY COMBINATIONS: FUNCTION AND ALPHANUMERIC KEYS
Key Plain Shift Alt Ctrl
esc N/R same as 'esc' -- --
f1-f12 Y Y Y Y
~ ` char char Y --
1 ! char char Y --
2 @ char char Y Y
3 # char char Y --
4 $ char char Y --
5 % char char Y --
6 ^ char char Y Y
7 & char char Y --
8 * char char Y --
9 ( char char Y --
0 ) char char Y --
- _ char char Y Y
+ = char char Y --
| \ char char Y Y
backspace N/R same as 'backspace' Y Y
tab N/R N/R N/R N/R
enter N/R same as 'enter' Y Y
a-z char char Y Y
{ [ char char Y same as 'esc'
} ] char char Y Y
: ; char char Y --
" ' char char Y --
< , char char Y --
> . char char Y --
? / char char N/R --
Space char same as 'space' NA NA

VALID KEY COMBINATIONS: NAVIGATION KEYS AND NUMERIC KEYPAD
Key PlainShift Alt Ctrl
insert N/R same as 'insert' Y Y
delete N/R same as 'delete' Y Y
home N/R same as 'home' -- Y
end N/R same as 'end' Y Y
pgup N/R same as 'pgup' Y Y
pgdn N/R same as 'pgdn' Y Y
up N/R same as 'up' Y Y
down N/R same as 'down' Y Y
left N/R same as 'left' Y Y
right N/R same as 'right' Y Y
num / same as '/' same as '/' Y Y
num * same as '*' same as '*' Y Y
num - same as '-' same as '-' Y Y
num + same as '+' same as '+' Y Y
num enter same as 'enter' same as 'enter' Y same as 'ctrl-enter'
num 1 same as 'end' same as '1' -- same as 'ctrl-end'
num 2 same as 'down' same as '2' -- same as 'ctrl-down'
num 3 same as 'pgdn' same as '3' -- same as 'ctrl-pgdn'
num 4 same as 'left' same as '4' -- same as 'ctrl-left'
num 5 Y same as '5' -- Y
num 6 same as 'right' same as '6' -- same as 'ctrl-right'
num 7 same as 'home' same as '7' -- same as 'ctrl-home'
num 8 same as 'up' same as '8' -- same as 'ctrl-up'
num 9 same as 'pgup' same as '9' -- same as 'ctrl-pgup'
num 0 same as 'insert' same as '0' -- same as 'ctrl-insert'
num . same as 'delete' same as '.' -- same as 'ctrl-delete'

KEYBOARD COMMANDS SUMMARY

 All interaction with NFTP is keyboard-based; there's no mouse support (and I am not going to implement it -- at least now). This approach is somewhat tough for novice user, but after some learning it gives the best results in terms of usability and interaction speed. Here is the list of keystrokes ("hot keys"); it's divided into several sections each pertaining to specific mode of operation or action classification.

GENERAL KEYBOARD COMMANDS
Note that these commands are available almost always
Key Meaning
Shift+F1 program information and general keyboard commands
F1 brings context sensitive help
F10 logoff from site and quit NFTP
Ctrl-K logoff from site
Ctrl-B open bookmark list and log to site from it
Ctrl-L login as anonymous into new site
Ctrl-N login with userid/password into new site
Ctrl-V display version information
Ctrl-A toggle state of autocontrol flag
Ctrl-T toggle ASCII/BINARY mode
Ctrl-D redraw screen (do not re-read remote dir)
Alt-N send NO OPERATION command (verify connection aliveness)
Ctrl-W sets remote directory view to raw (as used in NFTP 0.60-)
Ctrl-P sets remote directory view to parsed
Alt-F use/inhibit NLST with flags (default is on). Some servers
do not like NLST -lLa. Try if you see strange messages from server when retrieving directory listing. NOT RECOMMENDED.

CONTROL CONNECTION WINDOW
Key Meaning
arrow keys move viewpoint
Esc bring you back to the end of history (same as End)
Space switches to directory view
Alt-Q send any string to server verbatim (quote)
Alt-C change to arbitrary directory

FILE LISTING VIEW (REMOTE OR LOCAL)
Key Meaning
Navigating
arrow keys move cursor around. Horizontal scrolling is also possible
Ctrl-Left/Ctrl-Right horizontal scrolling by 10 symbols
Ctrl-\ change to root directory
Ctrl-PgUp goto the directory level higher ("cd ..")
Ctrl-PgDn chdir to directory under cursor
Enter same as above
Alt-C change to arbitrary directory
Space switch to control connection
F2 select drive letter -- local view only
Sorting file listing
Ctrl-F3 sort directory by name, dirs first
Ctrl-F5 sort directory by time, then name, dirs first
Ctrl-F6 sort directory by size, then name, dirs first
Ctrl-F7 remove sorting, return to original state
Ctrl-F8 reverse current sort order
Marking/unmarking
Ctrl-num+ mark all files in current directory
Ctrl-num- unmark all files in current directory
Insert mark/unmark file under cursor. Directory cannot be marked
* invert selection
Alt-num+ mark all files in all visited directories
Alt-num- unmark all files in all visited directories
Transferring files
F5 download file under cursor or marked files (if any) -- remote view only
Shift+F5 upload file under cursor or marked files (if any) -- local view only
Alt-F5 download all marked files from all directories -- remote view only
Alt-S save listing of current directory into file -- remote view only
Viewing files
F3 view file under cursor, use fast internal viewer
Alt-F3 view file under cursor, use external viewer
Creating/deleting/renaming files/directories
F6 rename file/directory
F7 make directory (you have to have permissions on remote)
F8 delete file or directory under cursor
Ctrl-R re-read directory (refresh file list)
Miscellaneous
F4 save this place as a bookmark
alphanumeric keys quick search for files starting with these symbols

ENTRY FIELDS
Key Meaning
Esc/Enter abandon/confirm
Left, Right, Home, End move cursor around
Tab, Shift-Tab move to next/previous field (if any)
Del, Backspace delete characters
Pressing any keys different from Left, Right, Home, End will clear the initial string.

BOOKMARK LIST
Key Meaning
arrow keys move cursor
Enter select bookmark
Esc abort (leave bookmark list)
Del delete bookmark
Insert create new bookmark

BUILT-IN FILE VIEWER
Key Meaning
arrow keys scroll (note that you can scroll horizontally also)
Ctrl-Left/Right scroll by 10 symbols horizontally
F7 search for text string
Shift-F7 repeat search for text string
F2/Alt-S save contents to file
Esc exit viewer

KNOWN BUGS AND LIMITATIONS
  1. Not all ftp servers are supported. Most ftp servers in the world use wu-ftpd under Unix as their server software, so you shouldn't experience this trouble too often. Nearly all Unix ftp servers are supported. IBM TCP/IP 2.0 for OS/2 ftpd and Windows NT ftpd are supported too.
  2. When running with 'debug=1', your password will be recorded in debug tracefile -- beware!
  3. When running with 'debug=1', run nftp off HPFS partition - debug file has long filename with two dots.
  4. Error handling is still pretty primitive

TROUBLESHOOTING
Q: nftp says "emx not found".
A: You don't have emx runtime package installed. Read INSTALLATION section again.
Q: nftp crashes, saying "core dumped".
A: If you can repeat situation, please send me details of your setup (nftp.ini, nftp.mrk, keystrokes which caused fault).
Q: nftp seems to be hanging, no activity is visible
A: If this happened during transfer, try "Q". Otherwise terminate it with Ctrl-Break.

LICENSING INFORMATION

The Program (NFTP) is owned by Sergey Ayukov and is copyrighted and licensed, not sold. The term "Program" means the original program and all whole or partial copies of it.

You may:

You may not:

The Program is provided `as is'. Any express or implied warranties, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties for merchantability and fitness to a particular purpose are disclaimed. Sergey Ayukov will not be liable for any lost profits, lost savings, incident, special, or indirect damages or other economic consequential damages, even if Sergey Ayukov has been advised of the possibility of such damages. Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or limitation of incidental or consequential damages, so the above limitation or exclusion may not apply to you.

The size of files that can be transferred with free version is limited to 500KB. If you want to exploit full capabilities of the Program and receive support by e-mail from author, you have to register your copy. See section Registration below. If you don't need neither to transfer files larger than 500KB nor support you don't have to register. Using unregistered version is perfectly legal; the above conditions apply. Using registered version is covered by separate license; it will be provided later.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Many people have helped me in creating and improving NFTP. They are (in alphabetical order):

Special thanks to Eberhard Mattes, author of emx/gcc development system!

This program is packaged using Info-ZIP's compression utility. Info-ZIP's software (Zip, UnZip and related utilities) is free and can be obtained as source code or executables from various bulletin board services and anonymous-ftp sites, including CompuServe's IBMPRO forum and ftp.uu.net:/pub/archiving/zip/*.

REGISTRATION

Registration fee will be US$ 20. For this price you'll get free updates (i.e. all future versions of NFTP) and support from author by e-mail. Single registration covers all national language versions, so if you want to run, say, English and Chinese versions, you'll have to pay only once.

If you think that price is too high for this small utility, simply don't use NFTP.

The program isn't complete, so there's nothing yet to pay for. Please wait for release version (1.0). Version 0.80 will become unregistered August 1, 1996. There should be another version this Summer.

For people living in Former Soviet Union countries registration will cost only one postcard. If you want to register in advance, send nice postcard (preferably with your home town if it's not Moscow) enclosed in envelope to

Sergey Ayukov
Sternberg Astronomical Institute
Universitetsky pr., 13
Moscow 119899
Russia
You will receive your registration number after sending registration form by e-mail. This form will be provided later.

Nothing else here at the moment.

CONTACTING THE AUTHOR

You can reach me at asv@sai.msu.su.

Where to find new versions:

  1. anonymous ftp: ftp.sai.msu.su:/pub/os2/internet/ftp/
  2. WWW: http://crydee.sai.msu.su/nftp/
  3. ftp-os2.cdrom.com, hobbes.nmsu.edu, ftp.leo.org

Note that first site is managed by myself so it always contains the latest version while Hobbes and cdrom archives sometimes become outdated.

Sorry for any typos and bad grammar. I will gladly accept any corrections to this short manual.

Sergey Ayukov (asv@sai.msu.su)

Version history

Version 0.1 (preview)
First usable version. Used FTPAPI calls. Very slow; control connection messages cannot be seen. Wasn't exposed to public, although available.
Version 0.2 (preview)
Got rid of FTPAPI. Full-scale socket programming of ftp control connection and data transfers. Introduced bookmarks.
Version 0.3 (preview)
Never showed to public. The last version compiled with IBM CSet++. See 0.4.
Version 0.4 (preview)
Nearly the same as 0.3, but compiled with emx 0.9a + gcc 2.6.3. A handful of new features:
Version 0.5 (preview; close the beta stage)
Bugfixes plus Will not work after 31 Dec 1995
Version 0.51 (preview; close the beta stage)
I am sorry for releasing 0.5 so full of bugs... There was a lot of...
Version 0.52
Same as 0.51 but without 31 Dec limitation. Only to be distributed by SAMS Publishing.
Version 0.53
Nearly the same as 0.52 but limited to 30 March 1996.
Version 0.60
I am a bit short on time; 0.53 expires today, so some new features weren't tested much. Bugfixes and small improvements plus:
Version 0.70
Few bugfixes (including failing to recognize "hostname/directory" format when specified in the command line) plus
Version 0.71
Several bugfixes plus
Version 0.72
No new functionality. Fixed small mistakes in national language translations. Added Norwegian version. Added missing ASCII and Postscript manuals.

Version 0.80

Planned for next versions (note that not all these features will be in the first shareware version (1.0)):

There were several requests for PM version. I hope that I will write it sometimes, but probably not in 1996.