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