WS-FTP
Tutorial
You can get WS-FTP from several places. Please
try one of the following:
http://www.tucows.com
http://www.download.com
http://www.shareware.com
http://www.wsftp.com
First, in order to connect to your desired domain
using "WS-FTP", you need to create a
"Session Profile". Do this by clicking on
the "CONNECT" button found on the menu bar at
the bottom-left of the "WS-FTP" program.
A window similar to FIGURE-1 below will appear.
Figure-1 (Configuration)
Second, click on the "NEW" button, found
under the "Profile Name" box in the figure
above. Then, in the "Profile Name" box,
type in the name you wish to call the desired connection.
This can be anything you want. Third, type
in the FTP address of the FTP site you wish to connect
to. This address goes into the "Host
Name" address box. Fourth, make sure that the
"Host Type" box is set to automatic
detect. Fifth, type your FTP username in the
"USER ID" box. Sixth, type in your FTP
password in the "Password" box. To save
the configuration, put a check in the "Save
Password" and "Auto Save Config"
boxes. Last, click on the "SAVE" button
just under the "Profile Name" box. This
will save your configuration. To connect to the
site you just created, click on the "OK" button
.
After connecting to your desired site, a window
similar to the one found in Figure-2 (show below) will
appear.
Figure-2 (Basics)
Notice that the FTP window is split into two sections
in the figure above. When you connect to a site,
your computer will be under section "Local
System" and the remote computer will be under
"Remote System". Local System will
display the current path, files and drives on your
computer. Remote System will display the current
path, files and drives on the remote computer you
connected to. Directly under the label "Local
System" you will find three boxes. The top box
will contain your current path (in the above figure-2,
this would be "C:\Program Files\WS-FTP\")
The middle box will contain a list of drives that exist
on your computer (in the above figure-2, it lists
"A", "C", "D",
"E","F".) And the bottom box
will contain a listing of the files in the current
directory (in the above figure-2, it has the listing
"complete.wav" "connect.wav"
"error.wav" and ect...). The Remote
System will contain the same type boxes, only displaying
the remote computer's information. Please take note
of the Items in the above figure-2 with the red arrows
pointed to them. They will be more thoroughly
explained below.
Transferring and Receiving Files
To download a file(s), first click the name of the
file(s) on the remote system that you wish to download
(in figure-3 found below, the file "access_log"
is selected). After you have the desired file
selected, click on the "Download Arrow" (shown
below where the mouse cursor is) and the download process
will start. The file will be placed in the
"local system's" current path. (the
local path in figure-3 below is "C:\Program
Files\WS_FTP\").
Figure-3 (Downloading)
To upload a file(s), click the name of the file(s) on
the local system that you wish to upload (in figure-4
found below, the file "complete.wav" is
selected). After you have the desired file
selected, click on the "Upload Arrow" (shown
below in figure-4 where the mouse cursor is) and the
upload process will start. The file will be placed
in the current path under "remote system" (the
remote path below is "/bin").
Figure-4 (Uploading)
Transfer Modes
When transferring files, the FTP protocol enables you
to select the format the file can be sent in. If
you do not have the correct format selected, the file(s)
you are transferring can be corrupted and become
unusable. Usually this option is on
"auto" mode by default and will automatically
distinguish the difference. Although sometimes you
will need to specify which mode to use. With text
files, the default format is "ASCII". The
default for binary files (all other types of files that
aren't text) is binary. These options can be
selected directly under the file listing boxes. In
the example below (Figure-4), the option
"ASCII" is selected.
Figure-5 (Transfer Modes-ASCII)
FTP Commands
When using an FTP program, sometimes you will
need to use specific FTP protocol commands. Here is
a list of commands that WS-FTP allows.
- CWD-change working or current directory
- PWD-present or current working directory
- HELP-displays the allowed FTP commands
- SYST-displays the remote system information
- SITE-remote site specific command
- QUOTE-allows you to enter a command to remote
host
- LIST-displays a detailed list of the remote
directories and files
- NLIST-displays a normal list of the remote files
and directories
- RETR-retrieves a remote file or directory
- STOR-sends a remote file or directory
FTP directory commands
are (examples are in figure-6):
- "Change Directory"
- "Make Directory"
- "Delete Directory"
To use any of the above commands, left click on the
remote file or directory you wish to use them on, and
then press the right mouse button. A list of
commands similar to the ones found in the example below
(Figure-6) will appear.
Figure-6 (Directory Permissions
and Commands)
Sometimes, depending on the work that you are doing,
you will want to alter the "permissions" of the
files and directories on the remote account.
Permissions are attributes that a file or directory can
have. Common permissions include "read"
"write" and "execute". To
change these permissions, left click the file you wish to
change permissions on, then right click it. All
permission attributes are under the file command
"CHMOD". Default file permission settings
are:
Directories: 755
Files:
644
Scripts: 755
Also, other file commands that can be used include:
- Transfer Files
- View File
- Execute File
- Rename File
- Move File(s)
- Delete File(s)
All of these commands are found below in
Figure-7.
Figure-7 (File Permissions)
GOOD LUCK FTPing!
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