RFtp PRO FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
- How do I get the most out of using RFtp PRO?
- What are these "license" things and what do I do with them?
- Will I need one of these "license" things whenever I use RFtp PRO?
- Can I use my old License-ID with RFtp PRO Version 3?
- Why does RFtp PRO look like a "Property Sheet" or "Tabbed Dialog"?
- I'm downloading a huge file, and the unthinkable happens: my connection goes bad, someone kicked my power cord, etc. What do I do now?
- Do any keys have special meaning in the Files window?
- One of the Host page toolbar buttons is "grayed out"... why?
- The Ping button on the Host page is "grayed out"... why?
- What is Ping and why do I care?
- What is a "URL"?
- What about "Year 2000" compliance?
Q: How do I get the most out of using RFtp PRO?
A: Throughout the application, tooltips are provided to explain (or at least hint at) what a particular control can do - look for them!
But on the Files page, things get even better - right-click (aka "context") menus are available for each of the file and folder objects, as well as for the Local and Remote pane backgrounds themselves!
Let's say that again: a large amount of the functionality of the Files page (and of RFtp PRO itself) is accessed through the right-click menus of the objects and pane backgrounds... don't forget!
Q: What are these "license" things and what do I do with them?
A: The RFtp PRO product and site make use of two different pieces of "license" information: the License-ID and License-Data.
While the License-ID was used in Version 2, its role has been expanded for Version 3. Think of it as a key (or reusable ticket) that you can present at various pages on the site to download things like an installer for the latest RFtp PRO, or a License-Data object.
A License-ID is a [relatively] short string that will start with "F2-..." or "F3-...", depending on whether it is intended for use with Version 2 or Version 3. For Version 3, these will always be emailed to you as part of the license purchase transaction.
Which is a good thing, since you will need to take it and go to the Licenses area of the site to download your License-Data (needed the first time you install RFtp PRO on a particular system).
The License-Data object is new for Version 3. It will appear as three lines of "funny" characters (technically, it is "Base64 encoded data")... when you download these lines, copy and paste them someplace safe - you do not want to lose your License-Data. Then just paste it into the installer when asked - that's it!
Q: Will I need one of these "license" things whenever I use RFtp PRO?
A: No. Your License-Data is needed when you install RFtp PRO the first time. Your License-ID will be used to get your License-Data from the site, as well as when you download that shiny new update.
Q: Can I use my old License-ID with RFtp PRO Version 3?
A: No... they are different pieces of information, representing different capabilities. BUT, they can be "traded in" for a deeply discounted Version 3 license!
Fine print: for a limited time, there is still the
Q: Why does RFtp PRO look like a "Property Sheet" or "Tabbed Dialog"?
A: The idea is to allow you to focus on the current task, i.e., connecting to a host OR working with a remote directory OR setting options etc.
Q: I'm downloading a huge file, and the unthinkable happens: my connection goes bad, someone kicked my power cord, etc. What do I do now?
A: The really short answer is, "you're out of luck!" Unless you are running RFtp PRO, in which case you just press the Restart button that will appear on the front (Host) page, and your download will pick up right where it left off!
Q: Do any keys have special meaning in the Files window?
A: Check out the following table:
| Keystroke | Action taken | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enter | In Local pane, perform Open; in Remote pane, we have:
|
||||||
| Escape | Abort current transfer¹, flush queued commands | ||||||
| Ctrl-A | Select all objects in pane | ||||||
| Ctrl-F | Remote pane: start Search dialog | ||||||
| Ctrl-T | Remote pane: list directory to file² | ||||||
| F5 | Refresh current pane's contents | ||||||
| Backspace | In Local pane, go to parent folder; in Remote pane, go to previous folder |
||||||
| Delete | Schedule selected entries for deletion |
1 - this specifically will not result in a Restartable transfer!
2 - filename will be constructed from the Host name and stored in your last transfer directory
Q: One of the Host page toolbar buttons is "grayed out"... why?
A: This indicates that the Create [RFtp] shortcut function is not currently available. You may not have noticed the discussion of this in the Install notes. Take a look at them now.
Q: The Ping button on the Host page is "grayed out"... why?
RFtp PRO was unable to locate the file "ICMP.DLL" which is needed to actually perform the Ping operation. Assuming that this file is present on your system, this means that it isn't installed in any of its "normal" places. Locate it and move it to your system directory (something like c:\windows\system or c:\windows\system32, depending on which OS you're running).
Q: What is Ping and why do I care?
A: Ping sends a series of Internet "tell-me-you-got-there" messages to a host and reports (for each) how long it took to get the response OR "****", which means either that the message took a long time or there was no response. Useful for determining whether an IP address is "good" currently (or at all!), and roughly, the expected "performance".
Q: What is a "URL"?
A: URL stands for Uniform Resource Locator (an "address" to most of us). A URL represents a standardized (RFC 1738) way of describing the type and location (anywhere on the Internet!) of a "resource". A resource can be virtually anything, from a Web page (this page's URL is http://www.rftp.com/Help/RFtpPROFAQ.html), to a USENET newsgroup (e.g., news:alt.binaries.pictures.misc), to the kind that RFtp PRO likes: a directory on an FTP server (e.g., ftp://ftp.jpl.nasa.gov/pub/images). Note that RFtp PRO will assume the "ftp://" if you don't supply it.
Q: What about "Year 2000" compliance?
A: The "Year 2000" issues revolve around the fact that some computer software (and records kept on computers) only allow 2 digits for the year number - implicitly assuming that the other 2 digits, or century number, are "19". The flaw in this approach is expected to cause some amount of trouble as the calendar advances from the last day of 1999 to the first day of the year 2000.
The short answer is that RFtp PRO does not suffer from these problems, and is therefore "Y2K compliant".
A more detailed explanation:
RFtp PRO is internally compliant as regards these "Y2K" issues, in that all dates stored by the program in its own data structures are not subject to the "2 digit" restriction. Additionally, any dates displayed employ a full 4 digit year representation.
On the other hand, RFtp PRO may be subject to the "Y2K" failings of external software, mainly FTP servers, and to a lesser extent, its host operating system (Windows). In the first case, the output date formats from some FTP servers on some operating systems only use 2 digit years in their dates. In the second, since RFtp PRO relies on the underlying system for some of its date translation services, some exposure here cannot be avoided. Happily, Microsoft has committed to bringing all necessary components of Windows into compliance - before the year 2000.
Fine print: of course, we know now that "Year 2000" in fact caused little disruption... and so this FAQ entry is considered "deprecated"... but we still keep it around for nostalgic reasons.