File Transfers

As well as using FTP, callers can move files over their own connection to the BBS. This page covers the transfer protocols for text callers and IND$FILE for 3270 callers.

Text callers

Text callers (telnet, modem, rlogin) open a file's details and press D to download it, or press U in an area to upload, and then choose a protocol:

Key	Protocol	Notes
X	XMODEM	CRC, or checksum if the terminal program asks; 128-byte blocks
1	XMODEM-1K	1K blocks
Y	YMODEM	batch: names and exact sizes
Z	ZMODEM	batch, CRC-32, error recovery; most terminal programs start it by themselves
K	Kermit	for 7-bit lines and anything else that fails

XMODEM does not send a file name, so the BBS asks for one. Names that a terminal program sends lose any path (C:\DOS\GAME.ZIP becomes GAME.ZIP) and any characters the file areas do not accept. An upload goes through the same checks, size limit and daily allowance as an FTP upload, and is kept only if it arrived complete. XMODEM, YMODEM and ZMODEM need an 8-bit clean line: a modem, rlogin, or telnet in binary mode (the BBS asks for binary mode, and warns a client that refuses).

3270 callers

3270 callers use their emulator's file transfer, IND$FILE. In a file area (8 on the main menu, then S beside an area), with the cursor on the command line, start a transfer: send to upload into the area, or receive to download one of its files, with the file's name as the host file name. The emulator types IND$FILE PUT name or IND$FILE GET name, and the BBS plays the host's part in DFT mode (structured fields), as TSO's IND$FILE does.

Binary mode keeps a file exactly as it is. ASCII with CR/LF stores text with CR LF line ends and gives it back the way the PC expects. Both the TSO and VM/CMS host types work. The emulator must support DFT (x3270, c3270, wc3270 and PCOMM do; Your terminal shows reply 95, Distributed Data Management).

See also: Files and FTP, TN3270