Introduction

FTP Wanderer is a multi-threaded FTP client with the look-and-feel of Windows Explorer, it makes moving files

between the Internet and your computer as simple as local file manipulation.

•	If you have problems while connecting to a server, you can configure FTP Wanderer to automatically retry if the connection attempt fails.  You can specify the number of times it should try to connect, and the time delay between connection attempts.

•	All file transfer requests are handled in the background, so you don't have to wait while files copy to continue browsing the current server. You can even connect to a different server, while file transfers on another server are still in progress.

•	The Transfer Manager shows all file transfers currently in progress plus the ones that are in the queue. You can configure how many transfers are processed simultaneously, so you don't run out of resources.

•	FTP Wanderer uses the Windows 9x/NT/XP style list boxes for displaying the contents of remote servers.  With all familiar system icons and context menus.

•	Full Drag and Drop support. Simply drag one or more files or even complete folders onto FTP Wanderer's file view area to transfer them to the location of the server that is currently connected.

•	Easily configure FTP site settings, like username, password, port, initial remote folder, number of retries and default download folder.

•	Resume support for download and upload!

•	CERN Proxy support.

What's new in Version 2 ?

•	Customizable toolbar.

•	Favorites menu.

•	Local browser for easier drag and drop.

•	Transfer Manager and Trace are now dockable.

•	Upload and download queues have been totally rewritten for much better performance.

•	Transfers can be forced to parallel execution (instead of the default serial).

•	Send custom FTP commands to the server.

•	Sites can now be organized in folders using the Site Manager and are saved in XML.

•	Move files and folders on the FTP server.

•	And much more!

Choose one of the following topics:

Configuration

Getting Started

Site Manager

Menu Options

Options

Credits

FAQ

© Copyright 2005 Pablo Software Solutions


Configuration

FTP Wanderer uses the standard WININET settings of Microsoft Internet Explorer. So when you are using Internet Explorer without any trouble, you should have no problem with getting this application to work.

To specify some generic settings of the application, go to Tools->Options.


Getting Started

When running FTP Wanderer by default the Site Manager is shown.

This is where you configure all the necessary settings  to connect to a FTP server.

If you're familiar with the concepts of FTP, you should have no problem filling in these fields.

Before you begin, it's recommended that you configure all default settings in the programs Options dialog.

You should at least enter your email adres and the default parameters in the Connection tab. This ensures everything is setup correctly when you going to use the connection wizard for example.


Site Manager

Site name

Enter a site name under which the server settings are saved.

This name will be displayed in the list on the left of the Connect Dialog and in the Favorites menu.

Host address

The Host Address field contains the location of the FTP server.

You can either specify a URL or IP address.

Port

The default Port of a FTP connection is 21, but if necessary you can configure something else.

PASV mode

PASV mode is useful for certain types of firewalls that do not allow FTP servers to initiate data connections back to the connected client.

Login

This is where you enter the username of the FTP account that allows you to logon to the FTP Server (also see anonymous setting).

Password

Enter the password of the FTP account.

If you leave the password field blank, a popup will appear when you connect to the FTP server to allow you the enter the password manually. This can be usefull for people who don't want to save their passwords.

Anonymous

Some FTP sites allow you to logon with to a 'anonymous' account. When you select this option it will automatically fill in the username (=anonymous) and password (=your email address). By default it will use the email address you configured in the options dialog (explained later in this document).

Remote folder

Here you can configure the initial folder on the remote server. This feature makes it easy to automate the navigation to a commonly visited folder on the server.

For example if you specify /softlib/mslfiles/ as initial path for the Microsoft ftp site (ftp.microsoft.com) it will automatically navigate to this folder for you. The default is your root directory.

Local folder

This is the default path to which file transfers will be downloaded. Use the Browse button to select a folder.

Retries and Interval

Use these options to allow FTP Wanderer to automatically retry the connection if the initial attempt fails.  The "Attempts" field contains the maximum number of attempts that the program will try before returning an error.  The "Interval" option instructs the program how long to wait between connection attempts.

Comment

Enter a description for this particular FTP configuration.

New Site

Adds a new site to your Favorites.

Select a folder if you want to create the new site in a specific folder.

Select a previous created site to copy that site's settings into the new site.

New Folder

Adds a new folder to your Favorites.

Delete

Delete a site or complete folder from your Favorites.

Press the Connect button to make a connection with the server in the selected profile.

Site settings are automatically saved when your change them!

You can also drag and drop sites or folders from one folder to another!


Menu Options

The following menu options are available:

File Menu

Commands Menu

Favorites Menu

View Menu

Tools Menu


File Menu

Connect

Connect brings up the Site Manager to connect you to a FTP server.

Disconnect

Disconnect closes the current FTP connection.

Cancel

Cancel lets you cancel the current FTP operation. For example a request for a folder listing which takes too long.

Connection Wizard

With the connection wizard you can quickly add a new site to FTP Wanderer.

Exit

Quits the application.


Commands Menu

Download

Initiate a download of the selected item(s) to the default download folder.

If you always want to download the item(s) to the location of the Local Browser make sure you set the option 'Always download to Local Browser location' in the General Options page.

Download To

Initiate a download of the selected item(s) to a specific path. You will be prompted for the file name(s) and location(s).

Upload

Choose this option to select one or more files on your local machine and submit a transfer request to copy these files to the current folder on the FTP server.  You may also drag and drop files onto the File View area of the program to queue a transfer request to copy the selected files to the server.

New Folder

Create a new folder on the FTP server.

Rename

Renames the selected item.

Move

Move the the selected item(s) to another location on the FTP server.

You can move items by using drag and drop between the file view and the folder tree.

Delete

Deletes the selected item(s).

Explore

Explore the selected item. If the selected item is a folder, it will list the contents of this folder. If the selected item is a file, it will initiate a download.

Custom Command

Send a custom FTP command to the server. For example: SYST or MKD NewFolder

The result of commands send through this option are not reflected in the file view (press F5 to update the view)!


View Menu

Toolbar

Show or hide the toolbar

Statusbar

Show or hide the statusbar

Folders

Show or hide the folder tree.

Quick Connect

Show or hide the Quick Connect bar. Via Quick Connect you can quickly connect to a FTP site without adding it first to the Site Manager. Enter hostname, username and password and press Connect to log you on to the server. For other connection parameters (like Download Path, Retries, Retrydelay and PASVMode) default values are used from the Options->Connection configuration. When you enter a hostname that is present in the Site Manager, Quick Connect automatically will use the parameters configured in the Site Manager.

Local Browser

Show or hide the local browser. The local browser has the same look and feel as Windows Explorer. It allows you to easily drag and drop files between local and remote folders.

Transfer Manager

Show or hide the Transfer Manager. The Transfer Manager shows all file transfers currently in progress plus the ones that are in the que. You can configure how many transfers are processed simultaneously, so you don't run out of resources.

Large Icons

Display items by using large icons.

Small Icons

Display items by using small icons.

List

Displays items in a list.

Details

Displays detailed information about each item in the window.

Go To

This option allows you to directly enter a folder on the FTP server.  Enter the path to the folder that you want to enter, and press the OK button.  FTP Wanderer will jump directly to the chosen directory, and display its contents.

Up One Level

Goes up one level (in the folder structure).

Refresh

Use the Refresh option to update the file or folder listing of the current connection.

Trace

Show or hide the trace window. In this window you can follow everything what FTP Wanderer is doing.

Select All

Selects all items in the file view window

Invert selection

Reverses which items are selected and which are not.


Favorites Menu

The Favorites Menu shows all the sites you've created using the site manager. It allows you to quickly make a connection with a server.

Add to Favorites

Add the currently connected site to your Favorites. The local path will be set to the path selected in the Local Browser and the remote path to the remote current folder.

Organize Favorites

Starts the Site Manager


Tools Menu

Transfer Mode

Here you can specify if transfers are made in ASCII of Binary mode.

By default all transfers are in binary mode, but for some (text) files it may be necessary to switch to ASCII mode.

Options

Brings up the FTP Wanderer Options dialog.


Options

The options are split into 3 different pages:

General Page:

Email Address

Specify your emailaddress which will be used for anonymous logins.

On startup

When the application is started:

•	Do nothing.

•	Show Site Manager.

•	Connect to last connected FTP site.

Save window size and position

Saves the positions and size of various windows of FTP Wanderer between sessions.

Delete Confirmation (recommended)

Asks for confirmation when you try to delete something.

Only show error messagebox when Trace is hidden

If you prefer to see messageboxes when something is going wrong, uncheck this option.

Do not show progress dialog for uploads and downloads

Hides the progress window that displays the current status of your uploads/downloads. If you hide these windows you can still see the status in the Transfer Manager window.

Auto reconnect when connection is lost with the server

Sometimes when a connection is idle for a longer period, the FTP server will close the connection.

If you check this option, FTP Wanderer will automatically try to reconnect to the server when you perform an action. It also remembers the folder that you were working in.

Always download to Local Browser location

Normally when you select download from the menu the selected items will be downloaded to the Local Folder you've specified in the Site Manager, but when you select this option it will instead download the files to the folder you've selected in the Local Browser window.

Connection Page:

Default Download Path

This value be used a default when using the Connection Wizard or when connection via Quick Connect.

Default Retries

This value be used a default when using the Connection Wizard or when connection via Quick Connect.

Default Retrydelay

This value be used a default when using the Connection Wizard or when connection via Quick Connect.

Default Use PASVMode

This value be used a default when using the Connection Wizard or when connection via Quick Connect.

Connection Timeout

Timeout before connection request will be aborted.

Maximum Simultaneous Connections

When you check this option you can limit the number of connections that are open simultaneously. Some FTP servers have a limit of connections per IP address, so too many simultaneous connections will generate connection failures. If you activate this settings, FTP Wanderer will queue all requests if it has reached the specified limit.

Proxy Preconfigured (default)

Retrieves the proxy or direct configuration from the registry.

Proxy Direct to Internet

Resolves all host names locally.

Proxy through CERN proxy

Passes requests to the specified proxy. The name of the preferred CERN proxy must be entered in the Proxyname field.

Advanced Page:

Disable resume feature

This option disables the resume feature:

Normally when downloads or uploads are interrupted, you can continue the transfer using the resume feature of FTP Wanderer.

This is a great feature if you want to download/upload big files, but can be quite confusing if you transfer a lot of small files (that you want to overwrite instead of resume). If this is the case select this option and FTP Wanderer will not ask to resume transfers.

Do not show Status Callback Information

Hides the detailed status information in the Trace window.

Send keepalive to prevent timeouts

Will sends dummy request (NOOP) to the FTP server, so it will not timeout on you.

Interval

The interval in which dummy messages are send to the server (default: 30 seconds.)

Remove failed transfers from queue

With this option checked failed transfers will be deleted from the queue (in the transfer manager). If you do not check this

option, all failed transfer will remain in the list wit hthe failed status, so you can resubmit them again.

Force parallel file transfers

By default FTP Wanderer starts simultaneous selected files for upload and downloads in one thread (serial).

Files will then be up/downloaded one by one. This improves transfer speed for small files, because only one connection has to be made to the server. Sometimes it may be better to transfer files parallel (like previous version of FTP Wanderer did). Especially for large files.

All selected files will then be up/downloaded in a seperate thread.

You can also force parallel file transfer 'on the fly' by holding down the SHIFT key while pressing upload or download.

Preserve remote timestamp for downloaded files

Select this option if you want to preserve the original remote timestamp for downloaded files instead of the current timestamp.

Preserve local timestamp for uploaded files

Select this option if you want to preserve the original local timestamp for uploaded files instead of the current timestamp.

The FTP server must support the MDTM command (last MoDification TiMe) to make this feature usefull. Other servers will just ignore the command.


Connection Wizard

The Project Wizard will guide you through the necessary steps of creating a new connection.

Fill in the fields in every step and the wizard will create a new profile and add it to the site manager.


Credits

This application is programmed by Pablo van der Meer.

website: http://www.pablosoftwaresolutions.com

© Copyright 2005 Pablo Software Solutions


Anonymous

Some FTP sites are open to anyone, others offer restricted access only.

All FTP sites require you to log on, but so-called 'Anonymous' sites don't specify a specific username and password, so anyone can use them.


Server

A computer permanently connected to the Internet which stores files.


Root Directory

The top-most directory on the FTP Server.


Folders or directories

Most computer users tend to use talk about the 'folders' on their harddisks, while FTP programs usually describe them as 'directories'. But the terms folders or directories are pretty much interchangeable.


WININET

The Win32 Internet Extensions, or WinInet, provide access to common Internet protocols, including gopher, FTP, and HTTP. Using WinInet, you can write Internet client applications at a higher level of programming, without having to deal with WinSock, TCP/IP, or the details of specific Internet protocols. WinInet provides a consistent set of functions for all three protocols, with a familiar Win32 API interface. This consistency minimizes code changes you need to make if the underlying protocol changes (for example, from FTP to HTTP).


FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions:

What is the difference between a folder and a directory?

See Folders or directories.

FTP Wanderer seems to hang for a long time, when connecting to a FTP server, what's wrong?

You probably specified a very long timeout in the Tools->Options->Connections setting.

Make sure Connection Timeout is not to long (the application doesn't response, because it's waiting for data from the FTP server).

I can connect to the server, but I can't see any files.

Try connecting using PASV mode (Site Manager).

How can I backup the user account information?

Copy the file sites.xml to a save place. This file can be found in he same folder as the application.

When I start FTP server it gives me the following error: FTPserver.exe file is linked to a missing export MFC42.DLL...

Please make sure you have the latest Run-Time Components for Visual C++ Applications. (MFC42.DLL, MSVCP60.DLL ...)

You can download these files from the Microsoft site (search for Q259403)

I found a bug in your application, what should I do?

Please send all bugs reports to info@pablosoftwaresolutions.com I will try to fix them a.s.a.p.


PASV Mode

The FTP protocol has 2 modes, PORT (also called "regular" or "normal" mode) and PASV ("passive" mode).

The FTP client determines the mode that will be used. If the client issues a PORT command, it is attempting "PORT" mode. If the client issues a PASV command, it is attempting "PASV" mode.

PASV mode forces the client-server data connection to be established by the client, rather than the server (which is the default).  PASV mode is required for users who are behind a router-based firewall.

Details:

In PORT and PASV mode the FTP session uses two port numbers.

The first port number is allocated on the server (default: port 21). This is referred to as the "Control or Command Channel".

If the client sends a PORT command, which contains the client IP address and (the second) allocated port number.

Then the FTP server connects to this port to send the data (referred to as the "Data Channel").

Client:	PORT 127,0,0,1,12,82

Server:	200 Port command successful.

If the client sends a PASV command, then the FTP server responds back to the client with a port number that it has allocated.

In this case the "Data Channel" connection is created by the client to the IP Address and port number provided by the FTP server.

Client: 	PASV

Server:	227 Entering Passive Mode (127,0,0,1,12,251).