AutomatingFTP

A user once asked, "Is there a way to make FTP transfers automatic? I need to send a few files and get a few files". The answer is, there are three features in TSX that fit into the general category of automated FTP. We shall briefly describe each one:

• Batch FTP sites. Using this mechanism, which is described in the TSX-Online Networking manual, your TSX system maintains databases which list the files available on remote FTP servers. Periodically TSX goes out to these sites to query them and update the databases. Users then browse the filename databases and select files which they want to transfer from the remote system. The great thing about this is that your system becomes a "files supermarket", providing ACCESS to thousands of times more files than you could actually store on your hard disk.
  
• FTP based "File server clients". This mechanism, which is also documented in the TSX-Online Networking manual, is intended for periodic automated transfers FROM a non-TSX system to your system. The original motivation for this was periodic transfers of files which have been receivied by a newsfeed satellite service whose receive program is running on a Win95 machine attached to your LAN. The setup for this in sysop is under "Network configuration".
  
• FTPBOT. The FTPBOT program is basically "FTP driven by a take file". FTPBOT is used by both the batch ftp and the file server client facilities of TSX; they generate FTPBOT take files (script files) and invoke FTPBOT. However, FTPBOT is available for general purpose use. The syntax of the take file is documented in the TSX-32 Networking manual. A brief summary if the keywords is available on-line. To use this, you would create a take file telling FTPBOT what to connect to, how to log on, and what files to get or send. Then, to cause this to happen on a periodic basis, you would create a command procedure containing the appropriate FTPBOT command and schedule that as a scheduled event in SYSOP.