What is FTP?
FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol. FTP is used to upload files to another location on the Internet (for example, to the site on the Internet where your Web Page is kept) and to download files from another location on the Internet (for example, to get a copy of a software program). FTP also lets you browse disks of remote computers that have FTP server software installed.
FTP is one of the earlier applications used on the Internet (back in the "dark ages" before the World Wide Web was developed) and will likely be part of the Internet for some time to come since it is a very effective way to move individual files or groups of files from one location to another.
What is My FTP Places?
My FTP Places is an FTP client software which lets you connect to FTP sites, browse them, upload and download files.
The primary difference between My FTP Places and other FTP clients is that My FTP Places lets you access FTP sites just like folders on your disk.
What is anonymous FTP?
The word "anonymous" is derived from the Greek word for "without a name" or "no name." FTP was designed to always ask for a username and password to access an FTP site. All FTP sites that provide public access to their files let you use the word "anonymous" as the username and your email address as the password. Most FTP sites do not verify the email address you provide as the password. Some anonymous FTP sites do not require a password or just ignore it.
Text vs. Binary Transfer Mode.
By default, My FTP Places uses binary transfer mode for file transfers. In binary mode, files are transferred "as is" without any modifications.
Text mode is used to convert end of line characters in text files from UNIX-type to Windows-type text format and vice versa.
If you are viewing a text file downloaded via FTP and the text
has boxes where the line breaks should be, it means you have to redownload the file in text mode.
Warning: use text mode transfer only when necessary because binary archives and executables downloaded or uploaded in text mode will be corrupted.
Setting Up an FTP Connection to a Site
Setting up a password protected FTP connection to a site
Click My FTP Places icon on the desktop and click on the Add New FTP Place. A dialog box will appear.
In the "Host name or IP" field, type in the domain name of
the FTP site (e.g. ftp.domain.com or just domain.com)
or IP address (e.g. 192.168.10.119) as was given to you by
your Web hosting provider.
In the "User friendly name" field, type in any name by which you would
like to refer to this FTP site.
In the optional "Start directory" field, type in whatever information
was provided by your Web hosting provider. In most cases, this field is not required.
Click Finish. A new shortcut to an FTP site will be created.
Click on it to connect. You will be asked to provide the username
and the password for this FTP site after which the directory listing will be loaded.
Setting up a link to a public (anonymous) FTP site
To create a link to an anonymous FTP site, you may follow the
above steps except you will not need to supply a username and a password.
You may also drop an FTP link from your Web browser to the My FTP Places
window to create a link to an anonymous FTP site.
My FTP Places Options Dialog Box
General Page
Email address used as password for anonymous FTP access:
See Introduction for a description of anonymous FTP.
Double-click behavior: specify the action taken wjen you
double click a file on a remote FTP site. The default is Open.
Use file type specific editors: if this option
is on, the editor associated with the file type will be
launched when editing a file on a remote FTP site.
Use specified editor: if this options is on, the specified
editor will be launched regardless of the file type. The
default editor is Notepad.
Confirmations
Replace local file: lets you specify the default action
taken when you try to copy a file from a remote FTP site to your
hard disk in case the file already exists on your hard disk.
The options are:
Ask always: no default action will be taked but the program
will always prompt you for the action.
Replace always: always replace (overwrite) the existing file
on the local hard disk with the file from the remote
FTP site.
Skip always: never overwrite local files.
Replace remote file: lets you specify the default action
taken when you try to copy a file from your hard disk to
a remote FTP site in case the file already exists on
the FTP site. The options are the same as above.
Confirm remote file/directory deleting: if this options is set,
the program will always display a confirmation dialog box
when you try to delete a remote FTP file or folder.
Confirm server/folder deleting: if this options is set,
the program will always display a confirmation dialog box
when you try to delete a link to FTP site or a folder
with FTP sites.
Display "Download to..." dialog: if this option is set,
the program will prompt you for the location on your local disk
to save the file to, when you press the Download button.
Dislay transfer errors in pop-up message boxes: if this
box is unchecked, the errors will be reported only.
Cache Settings:
Cache folder: specifies the location where the FTP cache
is stored. You may move the cache to another location by pressing
the "Move cache" button.
Free disk space: displays the free space on the disk where the cache
is located.
Current cache size: displays the current size of the FTP cache
Maximum size of cached files: lets you set the maximum size of
the cache in megabytes. The default is 1MB.
Move cache: lets you move the cahce to another location
Clear cache: lets you clear the cache
File transfer:
File transfer mode: lets you specify the file transfer mode.
See Introduction for a description of file transfer mode.
File name case conversion:
Do not convert: the case of file names will not be changed
during file transfers
Convert to lower case: file names will be converted to lower case
during file transfers
Convert to upper case: file names will be converted to upper case
during file transfers
Preserve file modification date and time: if this options is checked,
the file modification date and time will not be changed
during file transfers. Otherwise, the date and time will be
changed to current time.
Firewall/Proxy:
Firewall type: select the firewall type used in your
organization's computer network or select Direct connection
if you are connected to the Internet without a firewall.
Host name (IP): type in the network name or IP address of the
firewall or proxy server.
Port: type in the port used by the firewall or proxy server.
Username: type in the username used to authenticate you at the
firewall or proxy server.
Password: type in the password
Use PASSIVE mode for data transfers through the firewall:
Uncheck this box only if your firewall does not support the
passive FTP mode.
Site Settings
General Page
Host name or IP: the network name, domain name (e.g. example.com),
or IP address (e.g. 192.168.0.17) of the FTP site
Port: the default port for FTP is 21. In most cases you should not change this number.
If the FTP site uses a port other than 21, you should enter the correct port into this box.
Start directory: the path to a directory on the remote FTP site which will be loaded after
the initial connect. In most cases you may leave this box empty because most sites provide a
default directory. For some FTP sites you will need to specify a start directory
specific to each site.
User friendly name: the name by which you would like to refer to the site. This name
is only used in FTP site listing on your computer.
Default download folder: you may assign this FTP site a default folder on your hard disk where the files will
be downloaded when you right-click on a file name and select Download from the pop-up menu or press the Download
button on the toolbar. This folder will be used in a prompt message in the "Download to..." dialog box
where you will be able to change it if necessary.
Bypass firewall for this FTP site: if you are connecting to the Internet through a firewall
(specified in the Program Options dialog box) but do not want to use firewall for this FTP site (e.g. because
it is a local FTP site), you may uncheck this box.
Server time zone: lets you specify the time zone for the remote FTP site. This setting
is used to adjust remote file times in directory listings.
Password Page
Anonymous login: select this option if the FTP site does not require username and password
Use specified username and password: lets you specify username and password for the FTP site
Account: if the FTP site does not require account, leave this field empty.
Initialization Commands Page
This is for advanced use only. Lets you specify commands to send to the FTP site immediately
after the initial connection.
Connection Page
PASSIVE mode for data transfers: uncheck this box only if you know what you do.
Reconnect attempts: the number of reconnect attempts if failed to connect initially
Seconds between attempts: lets you specify the time interval between reconnect attempts in seconds
Send keep alive requests: lets you specify the time interval between keep alive requests to the remote FTP site.
This option may be useful when the FTP site disconnects you after a timeout. Note that some sites
will disconnect you regardless of this setting.
Close session if idle more than N seconds: disconnect from remote FTP site after the specified period of inactivity.
Timeout: timeout for file transfer operations.
Recv buffer size: TCP/IP socket option for advanced use.
Send buffer size: TCP/IP socket option for advanced use.
Cache Page
By default, My FTP Places caches directory listing locally for faster operation.
This page lets you fine tune the cache settings to your needs.
Cache files locally: check this box to cache files on your hard disk. By default, files are not cached locally.
Flush file cache at logon: if this box is checked, the file cache will be emptied at every logon to the FTP site.
Expire files after: lets you specify the time interval after which the cached files will be considered stale.
Cache directories locally: check this box to cache directory listings on your hard disk. By default, this option is on.
Flush directory cache at logon: if this box is checked, the directory cache will be emptied at every logon to the FTP site.
Expire directories after: lets you specify the time interval after which the cached directory listings will be considered stale.
Directories never expire: select this option if you do not want to reread directory listings from remote FTP sites but always use cached listings.
This option is useful for FTP sites that do not change often.
You can always use the Refresh button to refresh the directory listing regardless of the cache settings.
File Listing Page
Show hidden files: check this box if you want to display the hidden files on a remote FTP site
'LIST' command parameter to show hidden files: if the FTP site requires a special parameter for showing hidden files
which is different from the default one, you may change it here.
Show parent folder '..' in listing: show the parent folder as '..' in a file listing. By default this option is on.
Show only files matching the mask: lets you specify the mask for file listing (e.g. the mask "*.zip" will show
only zip files).
Do not show directories beginning with '.':
Do not show files beginning with '.':
Resolve symbolic links:
Transfering Files Between a Site and Your Computer via FTP
Transfering files between a remote FTP site and your hard drive
is no different than copying files between hard disks on your local
PC or copying them between computers on the local network.
You can use the same drag and drop or cut and paste methods
you use when copying local files with Windows Explorer.
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