Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!math.lsa.umich.edu!emv From: emv@math.lsa.umich.edu (Edward Vielmetti) Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.misc Subject: Re: Joining binhexed files? Message-ID: Date: 9 May 90 22:26:36 GMT References: <1990May3.134238.20598@usenet.ins.cwru.edu> <3254@umbc3.UMBC.EDU> <1990May8.014517.10451@agate.berkeley.edu> <2818@crystal9.UUCP> <1383@marlin.NOSC.MIL> <1386@marlin Sender: news@math.lsa.umich.edu Organization: University of Michigan Math Dept., Ann Arbor MI. Lines: 39 In-reply-to: mocko@marlin.NOSC.MIL's message of 9 May 90 22:12:48 GMT In article <1386@marlin.NOSC.MIL> mocko@marlin.NOSC.MIL (Gary S. Mocko) writes: i'll admit i'm a UNIX rookie. i have yet to find an =ftp= command that'll let me read a =README= file. i find it annoying to transfer one of these and then quit to have to read it. the other alternative is to transfer more than one, in which case they either get clobbered or a forget where they came from in the first place. bsd 4.3 ftp and its kin will do this: ftp> get README "|more" and show it to you on-screen. indeed the creative can use ftp> get jumbo.tar.Z "|zcat|tar vtf -" to scope out tar files, tho you'd best be sparing of this on slow links. From TFM: FILE NAMING CONVENTIONS Local files specified as arguments to ftp commands are pro- cessed according to the following rules. 1) If the file name `-' is specified, the standard input (for reading) or standard output (for writing) is used. 2) If the first character of the file name is `|', the remainder of the argument is interpreted as a shell command. ftp then forks a shell, using popen(3S) with the argument supplied, and reads (writes) from the standard output (standard input) of that shell. If the shell command includes SPACE characters, the argument must be quoted; for example `"| ls -lt"'. A particu- larly useful example of this mechanism is: `dir | more'. --Ed Edward Vielmetti, U of Michigan math dept. emv@math.lsa.umich.edu