Important note: this manual has not been updated yet to reflect Windows and Linux versions.
NFTP is a text-mode ftp client for OS/2, Windows 95/NT and Linux. It has a number of quite useful features (new ones are in boldface):
The biggest advantage (and one of the main design concepts) of NFTP is speed and effectiveness of text-mode keyboard user interface.
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"), rename nftp.i into nftp.ini, load it 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:
anonymous-password=
Then 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. Rename supplied
nftp.bm file to nftp.bmk and put it into the directory which you've
chosen in nftp.ini. BMKCONV.CMD can be used to convert old bookmarks
file (nftp.mrk) into new format (nftp.bmk).
The language NFTP uses is determined by environment variable
NFTP_LANG. It should be set to the name (without
extension) of corresponding NLS file. E.g., if you want to use
Japanese version, you should use
set NFTP_LANG=japanese
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.
If somehow WPS NFTP folder is lost, you can create it again with makeobjs.cmd.
After installation, run nftp.cmd (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 bookmark folders on the screen. Use cursor keys to select one of them and press ENTER. You are now inside folder; you can return to folder list by pressing Esc or left arrow key. Select one of the sites listed in the folder contents; press ENTER again. 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. If you know name of the file (or first symbols of the name), type it directly: NFTP will try to position cursor on a file which name starts with these symbols.
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).
Press F10 to log off and exit 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
or even
nftp ftp://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. Having directory listing before you,
start typing 'rfc959': cursor will be positioned on
rfc959.txt.gz. You may now download required file.
The command line format for NFTP is:
nftp [hostname[[:[port]]directory] [userid]
or
nftp -{F|f} hostname[:port]filename]
Second format is used to download single file; use 'F' if you want to
log off afterwards and 'f' if you want to stay connected.
"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!
Other 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)
nftp -F crydee.sai.msu.su:/pub/comp/software/asv/nftp/older/nftp001.zip
(retrieve NFTP 0.10 and then log off)
Specifying directories in a command line is a pretty useful feature: when you've found some reference, paste it directly into the command line and you'll get right into the place without typing anything except Ctrl-Ins and Shift-Ins!
NFTP will try to use any text mode you have set before starting it, i.e. it will run even in 160x80 text window. Some parts are optimized for 80x25 screen, but this is to be fixed in the future.
NFTP has several ways to choose ftp server:
To log off, use Ctrl-K; F10 will log off and exit NFTP.
Currently, NFTP does not work with Squid-style ftp proxy servers.
You decide of what type your firewall is, and then edit NFTP.INI setting appropriate variables:
Complete list of available commands is in the Keyboard Commands Summary section. You can also view it while working with NFTP - just press F1. Ctrl-F1 displays context-sensitive help, i.e. keystrokes valid in the current mode. Shift-F1 shows general information about program usage.
During transfer, you can skip files (S) and interrupt transfer (Q). Response to these keys is usually slow if server is very far away and link is slow. This feature has been improved in the version 1.10; please report your experience (especially bad one).
To look at the file, use F3 (fast internal viewer). If you happened to love some particular file viewer you can use it instead (edit NFTP.INI to set name of the viewer and then use Alt-F3). When using internal viewer, files are cached in memory (so if you'll want to look at the file again, NFTP won't transfer it again).
See also FAQ about transferring entire directory trees.
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. NFTP folder has an icon which starts OS/2 System Editor and loads NFTP.INI.
Note that only one entry in NFTP.INI is required -- your e-mail address (anonymous-password). Installation script sets some others. Do not forget to remove leading ";" when doing customizations.
Complete explanation of all parameters in NFTP.INI is in NFTP.INI itself. I feel it is more appropriate place than this manual; it makes little sense to duplicate information here.
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.
Many people have helped me in creating and improving NFTP. They are (in alphabetical order):
Also helped (in alphabetical order): AC/DC, Accept, Ritchie Blackmore, Tony Carey, The Cars, Nick Cave, The Cranberries, The Cure, Dire Straits, Dio, Peter Hammill, Hawkwind, Iron Maiden, J.M.Jarre, Judas Priest, King Diamond, King Crimson, Kraftwerk, Megadeth, Metallica, Oasis, Ozzy Osbourne, Pink Floyd, Rainbow, Rush, SuperMax, Twisted Sister, Uriah Heep, Roger Waters, Andrew Lloyd Webber.
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 fee is 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.
Important: the price will go up to $25 on 1 Sept 1998.
As of Jan 1998, there are two ways to register. You might view NFTP homepage to check whether new methods of registration are available.
In any case, whether you are registering via BMT Micro or directly with author, fill in 'regform.txt' supplied with NFTP and e-mail it to myself (asv@sai.msu.su).
Savings bank of the Russian Federation, Moscow Bank.
Moscow, Russia.
SWIFT: SABR RU MM100
Khamovnicheskoe Branch N 7812/0495
Moscow, Russia
acc. 089120031
Sergey Ayukov
acc. 3800170500199
This way is reliable but not fastest: it can take 2 weeks for money to
reach my bank, and you'll wait all that time. Your bank might also
ask unreasonably large fee for transfer, especially when converting
from other currency.
For people living in Former Soviet Union countries registration
costs only one postcard. Important: this offer will terminate
on 1 Sep 1998! Send nice postcard (preferably with your home
town if it's not Moscow) enclosed in envelope to
You can reach me at asv@sai.msu.su.
Where to find new versions:
Sorry for any typos and bad grammar. I will gladly accept any corrections to this manual.