NetPenguin Documentation/FAQ
Warning: I hate writing documentation so this is probably the worst documentation you have probably ever seen. This
is not all the documentation, but a pretty bad attempt at starting it.
If you think I should add something, let me know.
NetPenguin is a FTP client. It helps users transfer files from one machine to another over
the internet. =)
Here is a screenshot with description of what certain controls are for.
Normally when an FTP client wants to transfer data, it tells the server what port it is listening to and then the
server connects to that port on the user's machine. This is called an Active connection.
A Passive connection is the other way around, the server will tell the client what port it is listening on, and the
FTP client will connect to that port on the server's machine.
Why does it matter? Well some users have their machines behind a firewall or are using IP Masquerading. When using
these, the user can make outgoing connections, but no incoming connections are allowed or are possible. So in this
case, users will use a passive connection so that all FTP connections are outgoing.
MacOS servers, like NetPresenz, Rumpus, and AppleShare IP. Microsoft Windows server is also supported. Almost any
server that acts like UNIX server is supported.
What does that mean? Any server that gives out the directory listing in the form of the following:
-rwxr-xr-x 1 baron users 865277 Aug 14 12:12 NetPenguin
drwxr-xr-x 1 baron users 2048 Aug 14 12:14 home
If you can't get NetPenguin to work with a specific server, email me
and I will try to support it.
There are many ways to connect to a server:
- Launch NetPenguin and enter the information into the window and then click or hit
Return to initiate the connect. Here is a screenshot with the control window filled out.
-
Select one of the server in the "Shorcut" PopUpMenu at the bottom left of the window and all the details
will be filled in automatically.
-
In a Terminal, type in "NetPenguin " where is the url for the FTP server.
The following is an example for connecting to Be's ftp server: NetPenguin ftp://ftp.be.com/pub/contrib
-
If you have NetPenguin sitting in the Deskbar, click on the NetPenguin icon and select the server
that you with to connect to. How do I get NetPenguin onto the Deskbar?
-
You can also double click on a NetPenguin shortcut file and it NetPenguin will automatically launch and
connect to the server. How do I create a NetPenguin shortcut file?
- Open up a terminal and type "NetPenguin -deskbar" and press return. You should now see
a small NetPenguin icon in the Deskbar.
- Another thing you can do, is to make NetPenguin always show up in the deskbar right after booting up your computer.
To do this open the following file with your favorite text editor: /boot/home/config/boot/UserBootscript and add
the following line to the end of that file: NetPenguin -deskbar.
Note that if you don't find UserBootscript in that directory, make a duplicate of UserBootscript.sample and rename it
to UserBootscript.
- Open the shortcuts window by going to Edit->Shortcuts menu in the control window. After the Shortcut window
comes up either hit CMD-N or ALT-N to create a new shortcut entry.
- You can drag and drop any shorcut item in the Shortcuts window to the Tracker and it will create a shortuct
(bookmark) file that you can double click.
- If you would like to create a shorcut to a server you are already connected to, bring the server window to the
front and hit CMD-S or ALT-S to create a shortcut. A window will come up to confirm all the details about the
server and will let you make any last minute modifications before saving the shortcut.
- You can drag and drop a file from the connection window to the Tracker.
- Select a file and click on the "Download" button. This will bring up a Save dialog box which will allow you
to rename the file.
- You can drag and drop files from the remote directory listing to the local one and the transfer will start.
Note that if you download multiple files or if you use drag and drop, NetPenguin will not let you rename
file that is being downloaded.
- You can drag and drop a file from the Tracker onto NetPenguin.
- Click the "Upload" button and a open dialog box will appear letting you select a file or multiple files
to upload.
- You can drag and drop files from the local directory listing to the
remote one and the transfer will start.
Nope. Squid uses the HTTP protocol to communicate with the outside world. The reason web browsers
works with Squid is because they send a HTTP command like "GET ftp://www.be.com/ HTTP/1.0".
If I'm wrong please let me know. I've tried several FTP clients and none of them will work with Squid.
Go to the preferences window and click on the button called "Reset FTP Handler". This will make NetPositive handle
all the FTP urls like it usually does.
For each connection, NetPenguin maintains a log of what commands are sent and what replies were received. You can
take a look at the log by selecting the Window->Log Window menu in the Connection window.
You can tell NetPenguin to play a sound for different events. You can set sounds for the following events:
- A successful login.
- A failed login.
- Upload complete.
- Download complete.
Where do you set the sounds? Open up the preference window and click on the "Sound" button. The PopUpMenus will
display valid sound files that are located in the following directory "/boot/home/config/sounds/". If the sounds
directory does not exist you can just create it yourself.
You can stick aliases of the sound files in that directory if you wish.
You will find a link to the most recent NetPenguin at the following sites:
Desert Nights the home of NetPenguin.
BeBits a great Be software archive web site.
The author, Zeid Derhally. =)
Seriously, send me an email and I'll try my best to implement the feature
and will definately fix the bug. I usually accept most feature requests.