Software
Review of: |
 The
Windows FTP client, CuteFTP 2.0, was shown last year at an Alamo PC meeting.
It looked like a good enough improvement over WSFTP_95 that I’d thought
I’d try it. Within two days, I’d paid for and registered it. And that had
absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I’d won a CuteFTP tee shirt
at the meeting. There were a couple areas that I thought needed improvement,
but it was the best FTP client I’d used yet.
Now version 3.0 has been released, and the improvements are such that
I upgraded within the hour. I would have done it if it had had only one
specific improvement had been made. That is the Persistent File Transfer
feature. If you lose you connection, CuteFTP auto-reconnects and resumes
a transfer until the file requested has been uploaded or downloaded. Lately
I seem to have a problem with my ISP dropping my connection and sometimes
it’s taken me several tries over a couple of evenings to finally get the
download completed. Now, I can start the download, go to bed and know the
file is going to be there in the morning. This works even better if the
remote site is set up to resume broken downloads. Some of the other new
features are:
Once you’ve downloaded and got your key, just run the file. After installing the CuteFTP files, it asks if you want to install CuteHTML as the default editor for CuteFTP. CuteHTML is a new HTML editor from GlobalSCAPE. I use HotDog from Sausage Software as my main HTML editor but sometimes I will make on-the-fly web site edits. Generally I did this using the edit feature in CuteFTP, which used Notepad. I decided to try CuteHTML for this so I answered yes. A new utility called hatbox Tracker is also included. This allows you to get statistics about your web site. When you start CuteFTP the first time, it takes you through a survey and then runs the connection wizard for initial setup. It appears that the connection wizard is designed to setup your default FTP connection as your web page on your ISP. There is a drop down menu that lists numerous ISPs but if yours isn’t listed there is an "other" option. At the end, you’re asked if you want to make this your default connection upon startup. This, plus the new CuteHTML and CuteMAP (for making image maps) products leads me to believe that GlobalSCAPE will be positioning their product line as a web site management and editing package. But then, I though Beta would kill VHS. Once you’re done with the wizard, site manager starts. This is a folder type layout grouping FTP sites by classification, but you could edit to get the listing however you like. GlobalSCAPE includes a very extensive list of anonymous FTP sites; well over a hundred. Everything from GlobalSCAPE’s own site, to NASA sites, to hobbies, to government, to super computers. Site manager includes all the commands for managing the folders and adding sites. To open a site, just double-click on it, or highlight and click connect.
The local window shows the directory listing on your machine. The remote window the directory listing on the remote server. These windows are much more explorer like than version 2.0 was. Two major improvements here are the ability to click on a column header and sort by that column, and to drag and drop files. In 2.0, to sort files you had to go through the view menu and a sub-menu. To download a file or files, you select them in the remote window and then drag them to the local window. Do the opposite for uploading. Again, a huge improvement over version 2.0, where you had to activate either the remote or local window and then click the correct arrow, upload or download. An even easier method for multiple files is to right click on the filename and select "Add to queue". Now the file is listed in the queue window at the bottom. If the filename you add is in the remote window, it’s added to download; if it’s in the local, it’s added to upload. But wait, there’s more! You can go from directory to directory, adding files to upload and download. But wait! For the same low price, you also get the ability to queue up files from different servers! I queued up files to upload and download from three different servers and only encountered one problem. After connecting, CuteFTP will look for an index listing for the site, the default name being "index" with any extension. If there are multiple index files, it will stop and ask which one you want to use. This caused the queue transfer to wait for me to pick one or cancel. The solution was to go into the options and uncheck the auto-load index box. After that, the file transfers worked like a charm. You can also save the queue if for some reason you can’t start the transfer right away, or it’s a transfer you’ll want to repeat. CuteFTP also has a macro capability. The help file says "Commands that can be recorded are limited to: transfers (including wildcards), upload, download, delete and change directory" but I was able to record logging onto three sites, queuing up files in different directories, and then transferring them. Again, a big improvement over 2.0. The macro can be auto-executed from the command line. Though if you want the macro to shutdown CuteFTP when down, you have to use a text editor to add a shutdown command to the end of the macro file. There is no internal editor for the macros and I don’t really see the need for it. It’d just add bloat. I had been using CuteFTP 2.0’s macros to backup client’s web sites onto my local machine but I had to have 2 or 3 macros for each site, and start each one individually. Because of this I’d been doing one site each evening. With the improved macro and queue functions, I have now created one macro that can backup all the web sites, plus with the auto-reconnect feature I don’t have to baby sit the process. I use Windows 98 task scheduler to launch it at midnight and let it run. But if you’re using a web browser you can FTP files through that, right? Yes, within limits. Most browsers won’t resume broken downloads, and certainly won’t allow you to skip around from directory to directory, or site to site, queuing up files. GlobalSCAPE also claims that using CuteFTP can be 20-30% faster than a browser. I have read articles that both support and dispute claims about the speed difference, but have not personally tested it, and so I can’t neither confirm nor deny it. But you can use your browser and CuteFTP together. If a file link uses a FTP URL (ftp:\\epsilon3.com\downloadme.exe) then you can right-click on the link, choose ‘Copy link location or 'Save Shortcut', and CuteFTP will take over. CuteFTP must be running, and it must be minimized for this to work. The icon name will change to indicate that the download is happening. Once started, you can maximize CuteFTP to check progress. And you can continue to add files as you surf. File and MP3 (music files) searches are possible now. Selecting the find option brings up a window that gives you the choice of finding an MP3 or a file, and a number of search sites to use. I entered Led Zeppelin (Ok, so I’m dating myself) and in a matter of seconds it found a hundred files. And it only stopped there because that was the limit I had set. You can then add files to the queue or do a "smart get". Smart get finds all the sites with the same file, put them all in the queue, and then tries each site until it gets a successful transfer. Other features include the ability to spawn multiple FTP sessions; to quick connect to a site without having to create an entry in the session manager; to save a quick connect session into the site manager; to bookmark directory locations within a site; to view, edit, and execute files online; to create custom commands and to compare directories. As much as I already liked version 2.0, I think this is love. Installation was a snap. It hasn’t GPF’d on me yet, and I’ve been playing with the queue and macros a lot. If you just occasionally download a file stick with your web browser, but if you spend much time at all transferring files you’ll find CuteFTP 3.0 to be well worth the money. So you can start that 32-megabyte Descent 3 demo downloading and then catch some sleep, cause you’ll need it. The vital statistics: Windows 95/98 or NT 4.0 or later, 8 MB RAM, 1.5 MB disk space, CD-ROM (if installing from CD), Internet connection.
800 Isom Rd Suite 400 San Antonio, TX 78216 Sales: 210-308-8267 Sales Toll Free: 800-290-5054 Sales e-mail: sales@globalscape.com Jay is a System Software Specialist at Brooks AFB. He also does web site design and hosting. On the rare occasions when he has wandered away from his computer, he has noticed that a woman and two young girls seem to be living with him. He has tentatively identified this as his "family" although he can’t find any information on-line to confirm it. Jay can be reached at morrisj@epsilon3.com |
The
default layout, as in CuteFTP 2.0, consists of four windows: Local, Remote,
Log and Queue. At the top is the log window that logs all commands, responses,
errors, etc between the client and the remote site.