Using Fetch FTP

Launching Fetch
Double click on Fetch to get it running. You'll be presented with a dialog box. In the spaces provided, enter ftp.acmeinfo.com as the name of the host you're trying to reach, your username as the user ID, and your password as the password. If you want Fetch to start in a particular subdirectory once you make the connection, enter that in the "Directory:" box. Acme's FTP Server automatically puts you in your main web site directory. Click "OK" when you're done. You'll enjoy playing with the "running dog" icon as Fetch establishes your connection.

Moving Files
Once the connection is made, Fetch presents a screen showing you the contents of your web site directory on ftp.acmeinfo.com. You can scroll the list, and double-click on any folder icons, which symbolize subdirectories. Pop-edit the box above the file listing to move to a previous directory. Moving files in Fetch is easy.

Click the "Put File" button to move files from your Macintosh to Acme's server. Click the "Get File" button to retrieve the highlighted file from our server to your Macintosh.

The three radio buttons at the bottom of the screen marked "Automatic", "Text" and "Binary" refer to different modes FTP uses to move different kinds of files. Text files contain no control codes or fancy formatting (beyond spaces and tabs).

Binary files can contain any kind of control code, and might be formatted word processor documents, or even programs. "Binary" mode isn't a good choice for text files, though. Fortunately, Fetch is very good at choosing modes itself, so you can leave "Automatic" selected almost all the time.

Other Topics & More Help
Fetch has excellent built-in help! Just look under the "Windows" menu. It's quite detailed about both FTP and the program's operation.

Two topics that may prove of interest if you plan on doing a lot of work with Fetch, are Preferences and Shortcuts, both available under the "Customize" menu. "Preferences" are a motley collection of settings that allow you to customize Fetch's operation to your liking. In particular, the Download section lets your select the Mac folder you want to store files in (when you're "getting" a file).

"Edit Shortcuts", also on the "Customize" menu, let's you specify frequently-used FTP sites to be included on the "Shortcut" list that appears at the bottom of the "Open Connection" dialog box. Selecting a Shortcut by clicking on the triangle at the bottom left of the "Open Connection" dialog box quickly starts an FTP connection. It's also a very convenient place to store your list of useful FTP sites, such as ftp.acmeinfo.com.

Again, please see Fetch's built-in help for many more details.

To request an FTP publishing account, submit a request via Acme Internet's account maintenance page.

For more information on FETCH, visit the FETCH FTP web site.