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From: rossi@NUSC.ARPA ("ROSSI J.A.")
Newsgroups: mod.computers.vax
Subject: Problems with FTP Binary files processing
Message-ID: <8603181155.AA29354@ucbvax.berkeley.edu>
Date: Tue, 18-Mar-86 01:37:00 EST
Article-I.D.: ucbvax.8603181155.AA29354
Posted: Tue Mar 18 01:37:00 1986
Date-Received: Wed, 19-Mar-86 01:53:34 EST
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Reply-To: "ROSSI J.A." <rossi@nusc.ARPA>
Organization: The ARPA Internet
Lines: 28
Approved: info-vax@sri-kl.arpa


Persons,

For some time I have been trying to get the VAX cluster here at NUSC to
download BINARY files from SIMTEL-20 program directories using FTP.
When I FTP SIMTEL20 the server announces that it has acknowledged the
NUSC FTP and wil6{ communicate in 8-bit bytes (Are there other than 8-bit
bytes?).  Typing HELP while in FTP gets me a list of commands including
get and bget.  I can GET ASCII files O/K.  I made the assumption that BGET was
for binary files.  When I use it, something gets transfered from SIMTEL
to NUSC and the files are the correct size, however, when I download from
the 780 at NUSC to my PC (via, XMODEM, KERMIT, MEX etc) I never can
get a file that is not garbage.  For example, any squeezed file cannot
be unsqueezed by any USQ, UNSQ, USQxx program I have available.  I tried
manually unpacking bytes at nibble intervals to try to find any hidden
ASCII chasracters withj several C progfram attempts, both in VAX 'C' and
in MS-DOS Lattice 'C'.  Other people with whom I have communicated with
who have a System-20 running Tops-20 say they have a good deal more parameter
control over the FTP process than I seem to have under VAX/VMS.
Is there a probable cause, solution, etc. for this problem.  Is it common
to all VAX/VMS implementations?  What can I do to download binary files
using FTP.

Questionably,
John Rossi III
ROSSI@NUSC.ARPA

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