How do I receive a file with FTP?

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6.4. How do I receive a file with FTP?

Once you're connected to an FTP site and have found the files you want, you can use the following commands to retrieve the files in which you are interested.

ascii. This command tells the system that you plan to transmit text (7-bit) files. ascii mode is the default transfer mode and is the opposite of binary mode.
binary. This command switches to binary mode. You must be in binary mode to transfer binary (8-bit) files such as .ZIP, .SIT or .GIF files. In fact, I use binary mode all the time, even for transferring text files.
get and mget. The get command copies one file from the remote FTP site to your local host. If you want to grab multiple files using a wildcard, you can use mget instead. For example, get rutabaga.zip will transfer one file; mget rut* will transfer all files that start with the letters rut.

Note: Unless your computer is directly connected to the Internet (that is, if you are connected through an intermediary remote host), software for use on your home computer needs to be FTPed to your local host, then downloaded to your PC using Xmodem, Zmodem, Kermit, or some other transfer protocol--a two-step process).

Here's a sample FTP session:

$ ftp mac.archive.umich.edu
Connected to mac.archive.umich.edu.
220 pogue.admin.lsa.umich.edu FTP server (ULTRIX Version 4.1 Tue Mar 19
00:38:17 EST 1991) ready.
Name (mac.archive.umich.edu:waffle): anonymous
331 Guest login ok, send ident as password.
Password:
230 Guest login ok, access restrictions apply.
ftp> lcd /nobak/waffle
Local directory now /hustle/stuff/nobak/waffle
ftp> cd /mac
250 CWD command successful.
ftp> ls
200 PORT command successful.
150 Opening data connection for /bin/ls (192.160.13.1,1268) (0 bytes).
.AppleDouble
.cache
00help
00introduction
00ls-lRfile
00newfiles
development
game
graphics
hypercard
incoming
misc
powerpc
sound
system.extensions
util
226 Transfer complete.
168 bytes received in 0.05 seconds (3.3 Kbytes/s)
ftp> cd misc/update
250 CWD command successful.
ftp> ls ram*
200 PORT command successful.
150 Opening data connection for /bin/ls (192.160.13.1,1278) (0 bytes).
ramdoublerup1.01.cpt.hqx
226 Transfer complete.
remote: ram*
26 bytes received in 0.021 seconds (1.2 Kbytes/s)
ftp> get ramdoublerup1.01.cpt.hqx
200 PORT command successful.
150 Opening data connection for ramdoublerup1.01.cpt.hqx (192.160.13.1,1280)
(79182 bytes).
226 Transfer complete.
local: ramdoublerup1.01.cpt.hqx remote: ramdoublerup1.01.cpt.hqx
79182 bytes received in 50 seconds (1.5 Kbytes/s)
ftp> quit

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