Friday, March 29, 2024

Web Developer Class: How Do I Use FTP To Transfer Files?

FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol. It’s the concept of moving a file from your storage space to your server so others can look at
it. This is one of the basics of HTML, and most people know how
to do it, but are confused why items can sometimes be corrupted
when transferring. I put this together to try and explain some
of the statements I make.

How FTP Works

FTP is actually very basic. There
are about a million different FTP programs you can take off the
Internet as shareware or purchase, heck even Netscape and
Explorer will allow you to take files, often called
“downloading.” Obviously then, placing a file from your storage
space to the server is called “uploading.”

My guess if that you have your own
FTP program already, but if not, you can download one. They come in freeware and shareware. If you want free, try FTP Explorer or the free (limited) version of WS_FTP.

If you don’t mind spending a couple of bucks after a 30-day trial, click on one of these. I’ve tried them all and can vouch that they are all good programs.
Try either WSFTP full version, CuteFTP or my personal favorite,
FTP2000.

Below, in Table form, is the
general interface
for a basic FTP program. Yours is something like this. By the
way, “interface” is the thing between you and the computer,
mainly the graphics. In fact, an interface is anything that acts as a go-between for two items. You and your computer are as good as any two.






ASCII
 
BINARY


Files    
 
On
Your
 
    Hard
  
   Drive
<-
COPY
->
Files   
  
On    
 
Your

Server


<-
VIEW
->
<-
DELETE
->
<-
RENAME
->

Let Me Explain It…


  • The Bold “ASCII” and “BINARY” at the top are buttons that
    change the transfer type.
  • The center column of three buttons allows you to click either
    side of the command to transfer the file from or to the server.
    See the arrows?

ASCII vs. Binary


This is the main reason for this
tutorial. I get letters all the time asking why images, or
Applets, or JavaScripts, don’t work. My answer is usually that
the person corrupted it in the FTP.
That usually confounds the problem further. Here’s a more
in-depth explanation:


  • ASCII Sometimes called “TEXT” or “TEXT DOS”.


ASCII stands for American Standard
Code for Information Interchange. It is text, short and simple.
But it is text that is standardized so all computers everywhere
understand it. Look at your keyboard. See all those things,
those letters and characters? There are actually 128 of them in
all. (Count upper and lower case as two).


Now it gets loopy –


Computers deal with numbers.
Period. Yes, you see little letters, but the computer doesn’t.
It sees numbers–ones and zeros to be exact. Each one or zero is called a “bit.” That’s short for “binary digit.” ASCII is a series
of seven one and zero number combinations representing letters
and characters. (Some computers now use an “Extended ASCII” that uses eight numbers) An extra digit is often added as a check to see
if the other seven are correct. It’s called a “parity digit” or “check bit” and through a mathematical equation involving the other seven
numbers, it checks to see if the numbers are correct. Here’s what
some ASCII code looks like:








Symbol
ASCII Code
Symbol
ASCII Code

A
01000000
a
01100001
!
00100001
$
00100100
Z
01011010
z
01111010
…etc, etc, etc up to 128


Notice that there are only two
numbers involved, one and zero. This is what’s known as “binary”, two
items. THEN WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO?!?!–you ask.
I told you this gets loopy. ASCII code is code for text alone.
Those 128 groupings of ones and zeros represent text, period.


In terms of FTP: If you are FTPing something that only has
text, like an HTML document, use the ASCII mode of your
application. More on why in a moment.


  • Binary Sometimes called “Raw Data” or “All Files”


Binary is best explained in
comparison to ASCII. Binary also uses the seven (sometimes
eight) digit ones and zeros combinations, but sees the characters
in a different light.


    Let’s say you are FTPing an applet. Yes,
it uses only the 128 characters on the keyboard, but with one
major exception…all characters are not equal. If you look at a
GIF, or a JPEG, or an image (in an editor) – yes, it looks
like text. Remember, the computer sees numbers only, and
characters are a good representation of those numbers. You see,
the computer doesn’t require that you see what happens to work.
Text is just so you can get a representation of what it is
doing.


Where a binary transfer differs
from ASCII is how it treats the characters used. An Applet needs
to not only retain the same characters when it transfers, but
also needs to retain the same form.
It has to be equally as wide and tall when it arrives at its
destination as it was when it left. If it is not – it’s corrupted and won’t
work.

An Example:

When you create an HTML Document – you may have noticed that adding a ton of spaces between words
did not translate into a ton of spaces in the browser window. In addition, where you hit “enter” to jump to the next line didn’t mean didley when
you posted it. The line broke when it wanted (unless you put in
a <BR> command).


The reason for this is because you
saved the document as “TEXT” of one form or another. That only
saved the letters, nothing else. Where you hit return didn’t
mater. Your margin settings weren’t saved – only the text. This
is why you have to put in tags to make the text do what you
want. When you transfer the file over as ASCII, only the text
goes, because that’s all that is required. Its form is
immaterial. You could write your HTML Document as one really,
really long line. The computer doesn’t care. It changes the
text off of the tags, not by the form it was sent. How pretty
you make your HTML document doesn’t matter.

Now, imagine you just finished
writing an Applet. Yes, it’s in text, but the text is more than
just a bunch of words. The text is in a certain format. Some of
the text represents commands for the computer, and some
represents text that will appear on the screen. Still other text
represents a jump to the next line. That format of text must be
retained. If you send the Applet as ASCII, the transfer
literally changes the Applet into a long line of characters –
basically it makes it text alone. The different types of
commands have lost their meaning. All is now equal. It is
corrupted. It will not work.

If you send (or download) an image
as “TEXT” – same thing. The ASCII transfer changes the code into
straight text with no special meaning. It is no longer an image
but rather a long line of unrelated characters – it is corrupted
and it won’t work.

Rule of Thumb

This goes for both FTP and downloading!


  • Use ASCII only for transferring HTML Documents.
  • Everything else – goes Binary (or raw data or all files
    depending on your program)
  • Additional rule – if your HTML Document contains a JavaScript that you know is correct, but doesn’t work when you post
    it, send the HTML Document as Binary. The text might need some minor adjusting, but will probably be fine. The Script is the concern here.

Why Not Send and Save Everything as Binary?

You can. It’s just that sending an
HTML document as Binary, tends to mess it up a bit. More than
just text is being sent – form is now involved, and it may alter
up what you want. Make a point of sending in two forms, binary and ASCII.

Finally!


The things I said above go for
both FTP and downloading!!! Text is text. Applets, images, CGI’s
and Scripts, are quite different.

If you download or transfer something and it fails to work – the smart money is that you corrupted it through one or many of your transfers.

Thanks for stopping by…now go FTP something.

Get the Free Newsletter!

Subscribe to Developer Insider for top news, trends & analysis

Popular Articles

Featured