DOCUMENT ID: 1252-02 SYNOPSIS: Describes use but not apparent functions in client ftp side OS RELEASE: 2.1, 2.4, 2.5 PRODUCT: Solaris KEYWORDS: ftp client local file DESCRIPTION: The ftp client side is difficult to use when large directories are involved. Scrolling of data off the screen being the most common problem. It would be nice to be able to read text files such as "README"'s without transferring to a local file. Text files may be in various compressed forms adding further need to transfer to a local file. SOLUTION: The "local file" target server facility doesn't necessarily require an actual file to be transferred to allow inspection. The main trick is to specify the "local file" as a function "piped to" rather than just a file name. Chains of commands may also be made to appear as a "local file". It should be noted it is sometimes more efficient, when files are large, to transfer to an actual local file and then examine the contents. Several examples illustrate the alternative functionally. 1) "Page" an ls output ls -C "| more" 2) Examine the content of a "README" file send README "| more" 3) Examine the content of a compressed document (.Z) specify I mode to ftp by entering "bin" send file.Z "| zmore" (note zmore uncompress and pages) NOTE some systems don't have "zmore", "zcat | more" may be used. An even more elemental solution would be "| uncompress | more". 4) Examine the content of a compressed tar file Specify I mode to ftp by entering "bin" send file.tar.Z "| uncompress -c | tar -tvf - | more" DATE APPROVED: 01/11/95