C-Kermit 7.0 Case Study #19

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Article: 11306 of comp.protocols.kermit.misc
From: fdc@watsun.cc.columbia.edu (Frank da Cruz)
Newsgroups: comp.protocols.kermit.misc
Subject: Case Study #19: An Easy Way to Get Files from IKSD
Date:5 Mar 2000 21:41:57 GMT
Organization: Columbia University

Getting files from IKSD (an Internet Kermit Service Daemon) is like getting them from an FTP server. First you have to make the connection, then you have to log in, then you have to change to the desired directory, then you request the desired file(s), and finally you must say "bye" to FTP.

The Web has simplified this process by introducing the FTP URL:

  ftp://host/path/filename

When you click on such a URL in your browser (or for that matter, in K95), it gets the file for you with no further ado. The browser takes care of making the connection, logging you in as "anonymous", asking for the file(s), and signing off from FTP.

Wouldn't it be nice if there were an IKSD URL to do the same thing for IKSD? Maybe there will be some day. In the meantime, here's a script for C-Kermit 7.0 that does the same thing:

  ftp://kermit.columbia.edu/kermit/scripts/ckermit/iksget

If you copy this script to your computer, save it in your PATH, and give it execute permission, then you can type:

  iksget iksd://host/path/filename

(replacing host, path, and filename appropriately) any time you want to get a file from an Internet Kermit Server on any Internet host, such as the one at Columbia University:

  iksget iksd://kermit.columbia.edu/kermit/utils/xxu.c

IKSD can be a handy alternative to FTP, which sometimes doesn't work because of firewalls (since it uses a random second TCP port for its data connection). Plus:

• For cross-platform transfers, text-file record-format and character-set conversions are done automatically (if your client is C-Kermit, K95, or MS-DOS Kermit).

• Multiple files can be requested with wildcards (many FTP URL implementations don't allow this).

Here's an example that extracts the UNIX C-Kermit sources and makefile from among the many files in the kermit/f directory on the Kermit Project server:

  iksget "iksd://kermit.columbia.edu/kermit/f/{makefile,ck[cuw]*.[cwh]}"

(The argument has to be quoted to inhibit shell expansion.)

The wildcard notation, {makefile,ck[cuw]*.[cwh]}, is explained in Section 4.9.1 of the Kermit 7.0 Update Notes.

IKSGET is a "Kerbang script", meaning you can use it like a shell or Perl script. Kerbang scripts were discussed in Case Study #2.

If you haven't looked into Internet Kermit Service yet, it was introduced in Case Study #7.

- Frank

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