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How To . . . Use File Transfer Protocol

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Step-By-Step January 2000 • Vol.6 Issue 1	Add To My Personal Library
How To . . . Use File Transfer Protocol

Our lives are full of useful technologies that work so well we barely know they are there. Electricity, microwave ovens, and water treatment are all things most of us don't even think about, much less understand.

On the Internet, File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is one of the most useful online technologies, but many users hardly think about it. In short, FTP is the system that allows the exchange of files over the Internet. You may have used FTP without knowing it because most Web browsers support FTP by allowing you to download files by simply clicking a file's link. (Downloading is when you copy a file from another computer to your computer via the Internet; uploading is when you copy a file from your computer to another computer via the Internet.)

In the old days of the Internet, using FTP meant typing obscure commands into your computer to download files. FTP programs (or FTP clients) made things much easier, but then Web browsers came along and eliminated much of the need for FTP programs.

You can still use FTP programs; good ones include BulletProof FTP ($30; http://www.bpftp.com), FTP Voyager ($38; http://ftpvoyager.deerfield.com), and WS_FTP Pro ($37.50; http://ftpvoyager.deerfield.com). FTP programs offer greater control, greater reliability, and greater speed over downloading via a Web browser. Below, we provide an example of how to use an FTP program to download a file from the Internet.

Using An FTP Program.

In this case, we'll use a free FTP program, WS_FTP LE (http://www.ipswitch.com/Products/WS_FTP). Although every FTP program uses different procedures, the basic concepts are similar.

First start the program by selecting it in the Windows Start button's Programs menu. The Session Properties window will appear. This window allows you to configure WS_FTP LE to connect to an FTP server, which is an Internet computer running FTP.

WS_FTP LE calls a set of settings a profile. Once you have entered settings into a profile and clicked Apply, WS_FTP LE saves the profile for future use. The next time you want to use your profile, select it from the Profile Name drop-down menu.

R CLEAR=ALL> WS_FTP LE's Session Properties window lets you set up your connection to the FTP server, which is the FTP computer from which you want to download files.

To set up a profile, you first need to enter a name for the profile in the Profile Name box. In our example, we'll be using the Qualcomm FTP server, so we'll call our profile Qualcomm. In the Host Name/Address field, enter the name of the FTP server to which you will connect. In our example, this is ftp.qualcomm .com. You'll notice this looks similar to a regular Web address, but it has "ftp" instead of "www;" however, this is not always the case for FTP servers. Leave the Host Type field set to Automatic Detect. If you have a username and password that you use to log on to the FTP server, you'll enter them in the User ID and Password fields.

Most of the time, FTP servers allow people to connect anonymously, so if you don't have a username, click the Anonymous box so it has a check mark in it. In the Password field, you should enter your e-mail address. Click Apply to save the profile, then click OK to connect to the server.

WS_FTP LE now tries to connect. If it fails, it lets you know, otherwise, you'll see the main window. On the left is the Local System pane; this shows your system and the folder that is presently open. On the right is the Remote System pane; this shows the server to which you've connected. Below these panes is a status field that tells you what the program is doing.

In the Local System pane, select the folder into which you want to download the file. The present folder is shown in the drop-down menu at the top of the pane. Below that menu is the listing pane, where you'll see all your folders and files. To browse a higher-level folder (the folder in which the folder you're in is stored) double-click the green arrow in the listing pane. To browse a subfolder that is inside your current folder, double-click the folder's listing. To browse another drive, double-click the drive listing (for example, A: for the diskette drive); these are listed last in the listing pane.

Now, in the Remote System pane, use the same techniques discussed in the preceding paragraph to browse the FTP server's files and folders. When you find the file you want to download, double-click the file's listing. A status screen appears while the file downloads. When the status window disappears, the download is complete.

The procedure for uploading a file is similar. After logging on to the server, you would browse the Remote System for the folder to which you want to upload the file. Then you would find the file in your Local System pane and double-click it to upload it.

If all this sounds too difficult, you can still use your Web browser to download files via FTP. For the more adventurous, FTP programs allow for faster downloads and more control than you might expect.

by Shawn Mummert

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