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From: meggers@orion.cf.uci.edu (mark eggers)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: Looking for FTP client for mac
Summary: NCSA, BYU, anonymous ftp
Message-ID: <2529@orion.cf.uci.edu>
Date: 21 Aug 89 18:32:21 GMT
References: <3949@phri.UUCP>
Organization: University of California, Irvine
Lines: 39

In article <3949@phri.UUCP>, roy@phri.UUCP (Roy Smith) writes:
> 
> 	Does there exist an ftp client program for the macintosh?  We have
> NCSA telnet, and are generally happy with it, but the server-only ftp
> support is very frustrating.  It is also very counter-intuitive, especially
> for novice users, and very un-mac like.

There is a modification from BYU that has client ftp. Available from
the same place that NCSA telnet is (ftp.ncsa.uiuc.edu).

> 	We want our Mac users (including secretaries) to be able to
> transfer files to and from our Unix systems without having to know anything
> about ftp or unix.  The ideal interface would be to start up the ftp
> client, have it prompt you for a user name and password, and then present
> you with a normal mac-like file diaglog, just like the current "set
> transfer directory" (*) dialog, but on the unix side.  

Unfortunately, it is not very intuitive. Basically, you get a 'raw' ftp
connection with no prompts. You have to know to type user 'username'
and you have to deal with what appears to be a standard Unix ftp interface.
It's not nice, but it is workable.

> I don't see any
> reason why an ftp client can't, on its own initiative, get a directory
> listing of the remote side, parse the "ls -l" output to discover which
> entries are files and which are directories, and present it as a normal
> scrollable mac file menu.  Perhaps you could have two side-by-side file
> menus, in the style of the Font/DA handler.

This sort of interface exists in SU/IP from Stanford. Unfortunately, it
doesn't have a robust terminal interface (my opinion), and does not use 
MacTCP. If you don't use MacTCP, then you could use the Stanford program
for file transfers, and NCSA Telnet for terminal connections. You have to
quit one application to start up the other . . . . again not nice.

So in summary, there doesn't seem to be a no-cost solution that does
everything yet.

/mde/