AppleShare IP 5.0: FTP Service (FAQ)

1. How are 'put' files stored on the server?
2. Are files uploaded to the FTP server automatically binhexed?
3. Are they also compressed?
4. Are files downloaded from the FTP Server automatically decoded?
5. How do I FTP from Netscape Navigator or Internet Explorer if a name and password are required?
6. When I log on to an AppleShare IP 5.0 Server using AppleTalk and the Chooser, I can 'upload' files in a drop folder. However, when I log on using FTP, the FTP application says "Access Denied" when 'putting' files in the same drop folder.
7. Why can't I put files in a folder with "Drop Box" permissions?
8. Why don't aliases resolve that reside on the FTP server?
9. Why can't I use "mget" to get a list of files?

Question 1: How are 'put' files stored on the server?

Answer: Files are stored in their original format.

Question 2: Are files uploaded to the FTP server automatically binhexed?

Answer: The encoding of a file in any format is specific to the client used. The most common formats are MacBinary and Binhex. Many Macintosh FTP clients will automatically encode the file before posting it to the server in the format selected by their preference setting.

When a file is received by the AppleShare IP server, it automatically decodes any file in the MacBinary or Binhex format.

Question 3: Are they also compressed?

Answer: The compression of a file is again entirely dependent on the FTP client being used. Some Macintosh FTP clients have the ability to compress a file before sending it to the server if that function is enabled by their preference setting.

The AppleShare IP FTP is not capable of decompressing files.

Question 4: Are files downloaded from the FTP Server automatically decoded?

Answer: Not all transmitted files are encoded, so sometimes decoding is not necessary. If decoding is necessary, most of the FTP clients for Mac OS are capable of decoding automatically. The behavior in this matter is entirely dependent on the FTP client.

Here is what the FTP server uses to determine what type of encoding is necessary:

• If the transfer mode is "text" (ASCII), and the target file is a text file, then it is encoded in the text format.
• If the transfer mode is "text" (ASCII), and the target file is NOT a text file, then it is encoded in the Binhex format.
• If the transfer mode is "binary" (Image), then just the data fork of the file is transferred with NO encoding.
• If the transfer mode is "binary" (Image) and a "MACB E" command has been issued, then the file is encoded in MacBinary format.

Question 5: How do I FTP from Netscape Navigator or Internet Explorer if a name and password are required?

Answer: Use this URL format: ftp://username:password@ftp.site.com/

Question 6: When I log on to an AppleShare IP 5.0 Server using AppleTalk and the Chooser, I can 'upload' files in a drop folder. However, when I log on using FTP, the FTP application says "Access Denied" when 'putting' files in the same drop folder.

Answer: In order to use a common AppleShare IP 5.0 dropbox, the FTP client needs to have the "store unique" option available. Currently, Fetch does not support this feature. Most Unix clients will support this "store unique" option.

Question 7: Why can't I put files in a folder with "Drop Box" permissions?

Answer: In order to maintain security and a consistent user experience across all services, the FTP client must use the "Store Unique" option in order to put files in a "Drop Box" folder. While most Mac OS clients currently do not support this feature, many Unix FTP clients do.

Question 8: Why don't aliases resolve that reside on the FTP server?

Answer: Aliases do not resolve to ensure server security.

Question 9: Why can't I use "mget" to get a list of files?

Answer: You can use the "mget" command on some FTP clients to retrieve a list of files rather than one at a time. However, the list must consist of full filenames. Using wildcards in filenames (examples: *.gif, *.jpg) is not supported in this release of the FTP server.