FTP Enhancements

by Raghuram B. Commercial Systems Division

The following is an overview of new features available with FTP/iX.

Implementation of FTPSRVR under INETD

Until now, FTP/iX server service, FTPSRVR, was initiated by the FTPMON process which was started by the JFTPSTRT.ARPA.SYS job. The INETD/iX process will now replace the FTPMON process and the JFTPSTRT.ARPA.SYS job will be replaced by JINETD.NET.SYS job.

Anonymous FTP Functionality

FTP/iX anonymous logon allows a restricted access to the MPE/iX file system via the FTP/iX server, without the need for a logon account. The remote user can access the FTP/iX anonymous environment by specifying either one of the accepted user names 'anonymous' or 'ftp' (these login id's are currently defacto standards).

Support for Non-Standard MPE/iX File Types

The following types of MPE/iX files can be transferred to a remote host using FTP.

Standard MPE files with fixed, variable or bytestream format.
Files with either binary or ASCII data types.

The Configurable Server Time-Out

Previous patch releases of FTP/iX 5.0 and 5.5 have a hard-coded infinite time-out value applied to the data connection timer of the FTP/iX server. The FTP/iX client, which shares this data connection, has a configurable time-out which is user-controlled through the TIMEOUT command.

Hash Command

While transferring files, if the user desires to receive progress status during file transmission, the hash command provides this capability.

REPLACE Command

This FTP/iX client controlled option allows the user to override the default file placement strategy of FTP/iX (unconditional replacement of the target file.)

MOVE Option

This FTP/iX user-controller option allows the user to selectively specify on the GET, PUT, MGET, or MPUT command whether to delete the source file after confirmation of a successful file transfer to the target system.

Details and example of these options for FTP/iX are provided in the "Technical Articles" chapter of this book.

The Implementation of CI Environment Variables for Additional FTP/iX Status Information

The following status information will be provided through these CI environment variables:

FTPXFERFILES: number of files successfully transferred during the last FTP/iX execution.
FTPREQFILES: total number of files requested for transfer during the last FTP/iX execution.
FTPREPLACE: reflects the state of the file placement policy of FTP/iX: either unconditionally (TRUE) or conditionally (FALSE) replace the target file(s) specified in the user commands GET, PUT, MPUT, and MGET (see the REPLACE option for additional details).

The following environment variables are currently supplied with FTP/iX:

FTPLASTERR: identifies the last FTP error encountered.
FTPLASTREPLY: identifies the last FTP protocol reply message string.