Newsgroups: comp.unix.questions
Path: utzoo!censor!comspec!tvcent!lethe!geac!maccs!edge!johnb
From: johnb@edge.cis.mcmaster.ca (John Benjamins)
Subject: Re: How to view files from FTP.
Message-ID: <1991Feb15.140458.26192@maccs.dcss.mcmaster.ca>
Organization: C.I.S., McMaster  University, Hamilton, Ontario, CANADA
References: <143291@tiger.oxy.edu> <1991Feb10.093616.26635@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu>

In article <1991Feb10.093616.26635@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> dslg0849@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Daniel S. Lewart) writes:
>colello@oxy.edu (Robert Scott Colello) writes:
>>   I just got an account on a NeXT system with Unix.  How can I view files
>> before I download them to the NeXT via FTP.  Is there any sort of "cat"
>> command for FTP.  Help!!
>ftp> get remote-file -
>	OR
>ftp> get remote-file |more
>	OR
>ftp> get remote-file |less

This doesn't help.  The contents of the file still will have to traverse the
network (things are worse if it's a compressed and/or tar'ed file) wether
you are copying the file to your local disk, or just examining the
contents.  Then if after seeing the file, you decide to download, you have
to send the contents of the file across the network again!  Cut down on
network traffic by just getting the file once.  Delete it if you don't want
it.

E. John Benjamins                                      BITNET: JOHNB@MCMASTER
Computer and Information Services,       Internet: johnb@edge.cis.mcmaster.ca
ABB 131, McMaster University,             voice-mail: (416)525-9140 ext. 2920
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada    "You can't chop down a symmetry" -- Jane Siberry