FTP Commands

I. Opening and closing connection

• ftp - starts an FTP session


• open hostname - connects to the specified host


• close - closes the connection (but not the FTP session!)
  
• quit - terminates the FTP session

II. Browsing on a remote machine

• dir - gives a full directory listing on the remote
  machine


• dir test* - displays only files and directories whose
  name begins with "test..."


• ls - same as dir, but provides a simplified listing of
  filenames

III. Directories in FTP

• pwd - prints the name of the current remote
  directory


• cd remote-directory - changes working directory on remote
  host


• cd .. - moves up one level in the directory structure on
  the remote host


• lcd directory - changes the default directory on local
  host

IV. Types of files

• binary - type this command at the FTP prompt to set binary
  mode before transferring binary files


• For example, use binary mode with the following types of files:
  


• SPSS System files


• SAS Transport files


• Stata Datasets


• Graphics files (e.g., *.gif, *.jpg, *.bmp, etc.)


• Microsoft Office documents (*.doc, *.xls, etc.)


• ascii - type this command at the FTP prompt to set
  ASCII mode before transferring text files.


• Use the ASCII mode with any of the following:
  


• Raw Data (e.g. *.dat or *.txt, codebooks, or other plain
  text documents)


• SPSS Portable files


• HTML files

V. Transferring files

• get test - copies file "test" from remote to local host
  (from current remote directory to current local directory)


• mget test.* data.dbf - copies files beginning with "test"
  and the file named data.dbf from remote to local
  host


• put test - copies file "test" from local to remote
  host. You musth have write access to the remove host for this to
  work.


• mput test.* data.dbf - copies files beginning with "test"
  and the file named data.dbf from local to remote host
  
• quit - closes connection and terminates FTP
  session


• If a file name contains spaces (e.g. on your Windows system) you
  should type the file name in quotation marks " ",
  but it
  is strongly recommended to rename such files before FTPing them.

VI. Other Commands

• get test " more" - displays file "test"
  To make sure
  you want a document, you can display it with the more
  command and see the file screen by screen (using the space bar)
  BEFORE you get a file. To exit out of more
  , type q.


• prompt - turns off prompting for individual files when
  using the mget or mput commands.


• If you have mistyped your username or password, use the user
  command to re-login.


• For a list of all FTP commands type ? at the ftp>
  prompt.


• For a brief explanation of a command, type help, leave a
  space,and type the command itself.