Having FTP on a machine is really useful. It is probably right up there with having network drives that you can access by drive letter.
So in my quest to fill out my TCP/IP apps, I'm naturally working on an FTP client. I'd like to hear from people who might use it to see what features they consider important. Here is what I have on the list so far:
The only part I'm waffling on is the split screen. Most people use FTP clients from a command line, and the split screen kind of ruins the command line look and feel. But the ability to backscroll is really handy, and I've got the code written already. ;-0
What other features should I have?
So in my quest to fill out my TCP/IP apps, I'm naturally working on an FTP client. I'd like to hear from people who might use it to see what features they consider important. Here is what I have on the list so far:
- Small size - Executable no more than 90KB in size and total memory usage should stay within 160KB.
- High performance - the bulk of file transfer code is based on my netcat client, which is as fast as DOS TCP/IP file transfer comes.
- Split screen (like my IRC client) - enables fast screen refreshes and backscroll capability. (Think about those long FTP directory listings scrolling by.)
- PASV (passive) connections only. Most modern FTP clients default to PASV connections anyway because it is more compatible with firewalls. (A passive connection is where the FTP server listens for an incoming data connection instead of the client.)
- ASCII and binary transfer modes - but no EBCDIC or 'structured' modes
The only part I'm waffling on is the split screen. Most people use FTP clients from a command line, and the split screen kind of ruins the command line look and feel. But the ability to backscroll is really handy, and I've got the code written already. ;-0
What other features should I have?