[nos-bbs] BBS Ddownload and Upload command bug

[Jay Nugent]

Greetings Skip (et al),

On Sun, 25 Jun 2006, George (Skip) VerDuin wrote:

> I guess I'll go on record with the BBS "Download" and "Upload" command
> failures as a bug too.
> On my jnos2.0d the Download command lists the remote file on the
> terminal, no file is created in the local jnos file directory.

   That is the correct behavior.  If you wish to transfer a file from the
remote disk to your local disk, then use FTP.  If your local box is just a
"dumb" terminal or does not support FTP, then you use the [D]ownload
command.

   The process goes something like this:

   1) On your local terminal program open up a "capture" file.

   2) Issue the "D filename" command to the remote server

   3) The file is sent from the remote server to your local terminal 
      program (as plain text and using no protocol)

   4) When the file transfer is completed, close the "caputure" file on
      your terminal program.

      NOTE:  In your captured file you will have also captured the "d 
             filename" command as well as the Alphabet-Soup prompt when it
             appreaded at the end of the transfer.  You will need to edit 
             these out at a later time.


> On my jnos2.0d the Upload command expects the user to enter the file
> content on the terminal, a file is created on the remote site.

   This is correct behavior.

   This allows a distant user to upload a text file to the server without 
the use of any protocols.  The end user can use a "dumb" terminal and 
build a text file on the server.  

   NOTE:  I don't know how many times I have used this feature to edit
          'motd.txt' and other small text files remotely.

 
> Before this situation is repaired per the documentation, I'd like to
> pose and alternative action.
> 
> Documentation now explains the file will be transferred between jnos
> nodes, presumably created under the identical name as the source.

   No. FTP does that. Not [U]pload and [D]ownload.


> To modify the code to do exactly that could fix the problem.
> But wait...
> 
> To modify the documentation to explain that the source or destination is
> the terminal would also fix the problem.

   A'yup.  I think you assumed that the file was being transfered using
some protocol when it was only a simple 'raw dump and save' kind of
operation.  Us OLD GEEZERS remember the olden days of Procomm, Xmodem, and
CrossTalk and performing text uploads and download captutes.  We also
remember those irritating times in the middle of a long download when your
best buddy tries to connect to you and imbeds a "Connect Request from XYZ"
in the middle of your capture file!  ;-)



> I prefer this as step #1 and I will modify both doc and help as needed
> if our community accepts this approach.

   Nothing is broken...


> As step #2 I propose addition of "get" and "put" commands exactly as
> applied in ftp, and again I will contribute the doc and help changes to
> support this approach.

   You may add 'alias' commands to your Alphabet-Soup command line that
will allow you to have a "PUT $filename" and "GET $filename".  There is
really no need to change the JNOS source code nor the behavior of [U]pload
and [D]ownload to do this.
 


> As step #3 other ftp commands might be implemented into the jnos BBS
> command structure?

   Again, U and D are protocol-free raw upload and download commands.  
And as for FTP, the Internet suite of protocols are well defined and
follow a set of standards called out in their respective RFC's.  The RFC
on FTP defines a 'standard' set of basic commands that all FTP
servers/clients support.  JNOS already meets or excedes that spec and it
would be in bad form to bastardise the FTP server/client by making changes
to it in an attempt to make it 'better'.

 
> As a final thought, file transfer seems to this author to be a worthy
> capability.
> To implement file transfer under a TCP/IP connection outside the BBS
> structure that excludes AX.25 file transfer seems flawed.
> OK - that has not been proposed, but I'd like to quash the concept
> before it surfaces...

   I'm not certain I understand what you are proposing, Skip?

   If you would like to have a file transfer mechanism that can handle
both text and binary files and does not require that you have TCP/IP on
both ends of the connection, JNOS already has this feature.  You can add
"Xmodem" support at compile time.  This will add the "DX" option to your 
[D]ownload command:

help download
-------------
  "...If the sysop compiled Jnos with X-Modem protocol support, then
   the DX command is available to download the specified filename
   using X-Modem protocol..."


   Hope this helps to clear up a few of your questions and concerns :-)

      --- Jay Nugent  WB8TKL

"Getting rid of terrorism is like getting rid of dandruff.  It cannot
 be done completely no matter how hard you try." -- Gore Vidal
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