tadguy@cs.odu.edu (Tad Guy) (01/01/90)
I recently received this. Thought those of you who cannot FTP to
xanth.cs.odu.edu might find this useful (probably the last great
understatement of the year...) :-)
...tad
Over the past several months, each of you has sent a request to
Princeton's BITNET FTP server, BITFTP@PUCC. In each case, you
have received a reply indicating that BITFTP was unable to serve
you because you appeared to it to be sending your request from a
node that was not directly attached to BITNET (or EARN or NetNorth).
(The problem was that it was unable to send non-mail files through
the mail-only gateways out of BITNET.)
However, I have recently enhanced BITFTP to enable it to send files
through mail-only gateways from BITNET into other networks. If you
have not already found a better way to get to BITFTP, you might wish
to try using it again. I append below a current HELP file to give
you more information on using BITFTP.
Note that if in parsing your mail BITFTP decides that your node is
on the other side of a mail-only gateway, it will send the files
you request in UUENCODED format inside mail files. UUENCODED
files will go safely through most mail-only gateways, but are not
absolutely guaranteed to do so. (They may be corrupted by incorrect
EBCDIC-to-ASCII translation at some node between ours and yours.)
Thus, if your node really is attached directly to BITNET or EARN or
NETNORTH, you should send me mail stating that fact so that I can
correct BITFTP to understand that it can send your files via BITNET.
Melinda Varian,
Office of Computing and Information Technology,
Princeton University
BITFTP -- Princeton BITNET FTP Server
BITFTP provides a mail interface to the FTP portion
of the IBM TCP/IP product ("FAL") running on the
Princeton VM system, to allow BITNET/NetNorth/EARN users
to ftp files from sites on the Internet.
BITFTP currently accepts requests only via RFC822-format
mail, IBM NOTE-format mail, PROFS-format messages, or
files with no headers at all. BITFTP currently returns
the requested files as NETDATA-format files or as mail files
containing UUENCODED data. If you specify "UUENCODE" or
"NETDATA" on your "FTP" command, BITFTP will attempt to
use that format. If you do not specify the format, BITFTP
will attempt to select the appropriate format for your node.
BITFTP attempts to send NETDATA-format files through the gateway
from EARN into Janet via the NIFTP facility at Rutherford Lab.
If BITFTP sends you a file you cannot read, THE FIRST THING
TO DO is to make sure that you specified ASCII if the file
should contain textual material or that you specified BINARY
if the file should contain binary data, executable programs,
tar files, or the like. VMS users should specify BINARY F 512
and should use RECEIVE/BINARY to receive the NETDATA-format
binary files BITFTP sends them.
To use BITFTP, send mail containing your ftp commands to
"BITFTP@PUCC". The first command to BITFTP must be "FTP"
or "HELP".
The recommended syntax for ftp requests is:
FTP hostname
USER username password
<other ftp subcommands>
QUIT
After the hostname on the FTP command, you may specify
"UUENCODE" or "NETDATA" to tell BITFTP the format in which
you wish to receive files.
(If the username is "anonymous", no password is required;
BITFTP will use your userid and nodeid as the password.)
Note that on many systems passwords are case-sensitive;
that is, the password may be required to be in lower case
or mixed case or upper case. (The same is true of directory
and file names.)
The following is an example of an ftp request:
FTP f.ms.uky.edu
USER anonymous
CD /pub/msdos/Games
DIR
BINARY
GET robotron.arc msdos.robotron
QUIT
BITFTP implements a subset of the ftp subcommands provided
in the IBM TCP/IP and uses the same syntax. Therefore, you
may find it useful to obtain the "IBM TCP/IP for VM Command
Reference Manual", IBM order number GC09-1204.
The currently supported subcommands are:
ACCT -- to send host-dependent account information.
format: ACCT account-information
ASCII -- to change the file transfer type to ASCII.
format: ASCII
BINARY -- to change the file transfer type to image.
format: BINARY <FIXED record-len> <VARIABLE>
CD -- to change the working directory.
format: CD directory
CLOSE -- to disconnect from the foreign host.
format: CLOSE
DIR -- to get a list of directory entries.
format: DIR
EBCDIC -- to change the file transfer type to EBCDIC
format: EBCDIC
GET -- to get a file from the foreign host.
format: GET foreignfile <localfile>
If you specify "localfile", it must be in
the forms "filename.filetype" or "filename",
and the filename and filetype may each be no
more than 8 characters long and may not contain
periods.
LOCSTAT -- to display local status information.
format: LOCSTAT
LS -- to list the files in a directory.
format: LS <name>
PWD -- to print the working directory.
format: PWD
QUIT -- to disconnect from the foreign host.
format: QUIT
STATUS -- to retrieve status information from a foreign host.
format: STATUS <name>
SYSTEM -- to get the name of the foreign host's operating system.
format: SYSTEM
TYPE -- to specify Image, ASCII, or EBCDIC file transfer.
format: TYPE <I|A|E>
The files you request will be sent to you in NETDATA format or
UUENCODED inside mail files.
You will also receive a mail file containing a log of your
ftp session. In that mail file, entries prefixed by ">" are
your original commands; those prefixed by ">>" are your
commands as interpreted by BITFTP and passed to TCPIP; those
prefixed by ">>>" are your commands as interpreted by TCPIP and
passed to the remote host; those prefixed by "<<<" are messages
from the remote host; and those prefixed by ">>>>" are completion
messages from BITFTP.
If BITFTP is unable to connect to the host you specify,
it will send you mail after the first attempt, but will keep
trying at intervals over three days. The only additional mail
files you will receive will be when the connection is made
successfully or when BITFTP gives up after three days.
The load on BITFTP is often very heavy, and network
backlogs are often so great that it may take several days
for a file to get to you once BITFTP sends it, so please be
patient and don't send multiple requests for the same file.
If your system allows you to send interactive messages, you
can inquire about BITFTP's backlog by sending the query
"How are you?", e.g., on a VM system:
TELL BITFTP AT PUCC How are you?
This service is currently under development and is far from
complete. Current plans for improvements include:
1. Acknowledgments via MSG when mail is received and when
processing has been completed.
2. A much more complete HELP facility.
Questions about BITFTP and suggestions for improvements
should be directed to Melinda Varian, MAINT@PUCC on BITNET or
MAINT@pucc.princeton.edu on the Internet.
The author gratefully acknowledges the use of the FTP
SUBCOM interface written by David Nessl (DAVID@NERVM), the
SENDJANI EXEC written by Alan Flavell (SY07@I1.PH.GLA.AC.UK),
the uuencoding utility written by John Fisher (FISHER@RPIECS),
and the RFC822 parsing routine written by Eric Thomas
(ERIC@LEPICS).