Scripting: programming transfers in NFTP

Alert: New scripting interface in version 1.60!

Using scripting

# downloading current index of fresh files on Hobbes (v.1)
open crydee.sai.msu.ru
cd /packages/os2.hobbes/incoming
lcd d:\hobbes
get 00index.txt
quit

Few more words about syntax in the script file. The first word is always name of the command (see list of commands below). The arguments are separated from the command name by arbitrary amount of spaces or tabs. You can't break the command and continue it on the next line, but the limit on the line length is rather large. Empty lines are ignored, and lines starting with # are considered to be comments.

If you did try to perform the above test, you might have noticed some inconveniences: if you forgot to create d:\hobbes, NFTP would stop at the lcd d:\hobbes command; if you run the script for the second time, NFTP would complain about file 00index.txt (it already exists and will be skipped). You could add a command to create directory d:\hobbes to script (lmkdir d:\hobbes) before lcd d:\hobbes and a command to remove the index file (ldelete 00index.txt) before downloading. However, these commands will fail when directory already exists and file does not. To prevent this stupid circle, we have to use another command, set errorstop. The enhanced daily-hobbes.txt file looks like:

# downloading current index of fresh files on Hobbes (v.2)
open crydee.sai.msu.ru
cd /packages/os2.hobbes/incoming
set errorstop 0
lmkdir d:\hobbes
set errorstop 1
lcd d:\hobbes
set errorstop 0
ldelete 00index.txt
set errorstop 1
get 00index.txt
quit

Commands in the script file

[ ascii | binary | cd | close | delete | get | lcd | ldelete | lmkdir | lrename | lreread | lrmdir | logfile | mget | mirror | mkdir | mput | open | put | quit | quote | rename | reread | rmdir | set ]

ascii

Switch transfer mode to ascii.

binary

Switch transfer mode to binary. This is the default mode, and you only need to issue this command after ascii.

cd directory

Change directory on the server. Examples:
cd /
cd /pub/comp/os/Be
cd ..

close

Closes connection to server. Typically, you should not need this command (just use quit).

delete filename

Deletes filename on remote. Use rmdir to delete empty directories. Re-reads directory after action has been taken. Filename can contain wildcard patterns (*, ?). Examples:
delete nftp153o.zip

get filename

Download filename into the current directory. The local name will be the same as remote. If you need to rename it, you can do it later with lrename command; if you need to set specific local directory, use lcd. You need to be connected to execute this command (see open). Specifying pathnames instead of simple file names will not work. Also note that in many cases remote filename is case sensitive. Example:
get nftp153o.zip

lcd directory

Change local directory. On systems with drive letters, you can specify them. Forward and backward slashes are equivalent. Examples:
lcd /tmp/outgoing
lcd d:\download

ldelete filename

Deletes local filename. Use lrmdir to delete empty directories. Re-reads directory after action has been taken. Filename can contain wildcard patterns (*, ?), and it should not include path. Example:
ldelete nftp153o.zip

lmkdir directory

Create local directory. Access rights (on Unix) are determined by current value of umask. Example:
lmkdir daily-download

lrename oldname newname

Rename local file from oldname to newname. Cannot move file between filesystems (drive letter on OS/2, Windows; mount points under Unix, BeOS).

lreread

Re-read local directory contents. Typically you don't need this command as NFTP refreshes its local listing after operations which create/delete/update local files.

lrmdir directory

Delete local directory. If the directory is not empty, it will not be deleted. Example:
lrmdir daily-download

logfile filename

Record control connection history into the filename during execution of a script. The file is appended if exists and created if it doesn't; it never gets overwritten. To stop logging, use "none" as name of the file. Examples:
logfile d:\log\transfers
logfile none

mget template

Download files matching template into the current directory. Two wildcard characters are allowed in the template: "*" which will match to arbitrary number of characters (including zero) and "?" which will match exactly one character. Note that when no files match specified template this is not considered as error. You need to be connected to execute this command (see open). Example:
mget nftp*

mirror download | upload

Syncronizes local directory with remote (download) or remote directory with local (upload). Example:
mirror download

mkdir directory

Create directory on remote. Example:
mkdir newupload

mput template

Upload files matching template into the current directory. Two wildcard characters are allowed in the template: "*" which will match to arbitrary number of characters (including zero) and "?" which will match exactly one character. Note that when no files match specified template this is not considered as error. You need to be connected to execute this command (see open). Example:
put nftp-1.6?-*.*

open URL

Connect to site represented by URL. It may include username and password, if necessary, otherwise anonymous is assumed. You can put the directory into the URL, or set it later with cd. Typically, this is the first command in the script. Examples:
open ftp.cdrom.com
open ftp://crydee.sai.msu.ru/pub/comp/os/os2
open asv@crydee.sai.msu.ru
open asv:password@crydee.sai.msu.ru

put filename

Upload filename into the current directory. The remote name will be the same as local. If you need to rename it, you can do it later with rename command; if you need to set specific remote directory, use cd. You need to be connected to execute this command (see open). Specifying pathnames instead of simple file names will not work. Example:
put nftp153o.zip
Note that this command is case sensitive even on systems which do not have true case sensitivity in their filesystems. E.g., on HPFS both nftp153o.zip and NFTP153O.ZIP are valid names for the same file, but NFTP will only look for file with specified case. This is to prevent problems with uploading files to remote servers with case sensitive filesystems. For example, if you specify put NFTP153O.ZIP instead of put nftp153o.zip, you'll end up in remote name being NFTP153O.ZIP which might be not what you want. Therefore you have to ensure that the case is correct in the put statement. On FAT under OS/2, which is not case sensitive at all, all filenames are assumed to be in lowercase.

quit

Exit NFTP, closing connection if necessary.

quote command

Send arbitrary command to server. Note that server response code is ignored, so even if you will issue invalid command to server, NFTP will still think that everything went OK. Example:
quote site umask 077

rename oldname newname

Rename remote file from oldname to newname.

reread

Re-read directory on the server. Useful for forcing updating file list after upload, delete, etc.

rmdir directory

Delete directory on remote. If the directory is not empty, it will not be deleted. Example:
rmdir newupload

set variable value

Set variable to value. See next paragraph about available variables and their values.

Variables

Variable	Value	Explanation
errorstop	1	Stop at errors on subsequent commands. Default
	0	Ignore errors on subsequent commands. Script syntax errors still cause abort
errorexit	1	Exit NFTP on error (it is recommended to turn on logging with logfile to see what has happened)
	0	Stay in control connection when error during script execution happens. Default
mirror.delete-unmatched	1	delete unmatched files when mirroring
	0	leave unmatched files when mirroring
mirror.include-subdirs	1	change into subdirectories when mirroring
	0	do not change into subdirectories when mirroring