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»Introduction:
In spite of the really warm weather in Germany, Matthias Boecker has managed to release a new version of his FTP program AmiTradeCenter. Because I got a pretty heavy sunburn yesterday and react quite allergic to the sun, I will take a look at it for you :).
Except that AmiTradeCenter V1.1 (or short ATC) now already works with AmigaOS3.0, the system requirements as well as the test system have changed only marginally. I have no access to AmigaOS3.0, so I couldn't test the compatibility with this OS version. Further questions about the requirements are answered in the test report for ATC1.0 in issue 04/2000 of AmigaAktuell(International), available from Aminet and of course in the documentation of ATC. If this text should contain mistakes, possibly the heat is to blame... so I won't give any guarantees ;).
Installation:
The lha-archive can be found in Aminet at comm/tcp/AmiTradeCenter.lha. After loading and unpacking the archive, you can start the installation by double-clicking the "Install" icon.
The installation is done via the Amiga installer. The exemplary support for the new functions of the OS3.5 installer hasn't changed. If you are using the previous version of ATC, you get asked whether you want to update your older installation. If you decide for Update, you don't have to worry about you older "profiles" and pictograms, those are not overwritten. The last question is which language you want use. You can choose between English, French and German. When performing a fresh installation, you also you to choose a destination directory, the icon type (NewIcon or OS3.5 icon) and the preferred artwork for the icons. The installation with the installer from OS3.1 works just as well, but is optically not so appealing. When ATC has settled on the hard disk, the user should take a quick glance in the manual to check if all required MUI custom classes are installed on the system. If not, this isn't a problem either, since the AmigaGuide manual (in German and English) lists them all with sources.
Polished up:
After starting, the first thing that catches the eye is the tidied interface of the ATC-Server-Manager. To the pages known from Version 1.0, "Server", "Advanced" and "Statistics", the new functions "ADT" (Aminet Download Tool) and "Transfer" have been added.
On the page "Transfer" you set a "CPS Limit" and customise the behaviour in case of a bad connection. For example, you order ATC to cut the connection and try to reconnect if the CPS (characters per second) value drops below a (adjustable) level. The "CPS Limit" option can be used to slow down the connection to a FTP server. What is this option good for? you may ask now. But if you have your Amiga connected through a LAN (Local Area Network) and don't want to seize all bandwidth (maybe because other data shall be transferred at the same time) or if you want to surf the web while transferring data form or to a FTP server, you may find this feature useful.
The page "ADT" contain several options for downloading from Aminet. These options can also be found in the ATC preferences, but are here again for quick changes.
The list of servers can now be sorted alphabetically. Just move your mouse above the list and press the right mouse button. You will get a popup menu where you can sort either the current or the main list.
The menu "Server Profile" has got a nice new function. You can now save profiles immediately or in a configurable time interval. So big changes of the configuration are save form crashes (which normally won't be caused by ATC itself).
The ATC preferences have been reworked thoroughly. Almost every aspect of the data transfer and the behaviour of ATC can be configured here. No matter if confirmations, creation of profile backups, definition of defaults, display modes, coloured highlighting and a lot more, you can customise everything here.
The most I like the ADT options. If you don't need WB screenshots or PD games, you can have ATC filter those directories out.
If an Aminet archive matches a certain pattern (e.g. "#?.jpg" or "#?amiga#?"), ADT can highlight it coloured.
On the page "Events" you can configure ARexx scripts, shell commands, sound files or only display beeps to be executed when certain ATC events like "Connection established", "Download finished" etc. occur. With this feature, ATC can for example disconnect a TCP/IP stack via ARexx if the connection to a FTP server has failed. The possibilities are almost unlimited, because there is an entry for almost every event in ATC.
My Amiga tells me (through the "narrator.device") if a connection attempt was successful or if a download has started or finished. This also opens the opportunity to check the file you have just loaded with some Antivirus program. Do whatever you can think of.
ATC can establish several parallel connection to a server at the same time. In version 1.0 you had to copy the servers entry and use this copy to connect a second time (okay, it wasn't that much hassle either ;). In V1.1 it is sufficient to connect the (already connected) server a second time. ATC automatically copies the entry. The copied entry remains there after terminating the connection. If you don't need it anymore, you can delete it with the "Remove Server" function.
When the ATC-Trader is in FTP mode, you change the protection bits of files on the server using the new "CHMOD" button. Of course you need a unrestricted FTP access for this to work. And you should know what you are doing. A good feature for professionals, beginners should keep away from it.
Beside these obvious enhancements, ATC has been reworked internally, too. The "bubble help problem" was already fixed when the article about V1.0 appeared in Amiga aktuell International. Files can be saved into the Ram-Disk now (no more "not enough space" errors) and installing ATC to the "Ram Disk" (note the space) doesn't cause problems anymore. For a complete list, read the "Changes.txt" in the AmiTradeCenter archive and you will see that I just can't list and explain all changes ;).
Result:
After all, it is amazing that the version number only increased by "0.1". Some competitors would have changed to the next full version, regarding the changes made to the program. Matthias and his helpers did an excellent work and everyone looking for a good FTP client should give ATC a try. It's free and not so simple ;). Currently they are working on version 1.2 (or even 1.3?) and with a little luck, this article is already obsolete and needs an update again.
Sources:
The public and tested version can be found in Aminet at: comm/tcp/AmiTradeCenter.lha
Homepage:
www.amisource.de/ATC/
Compliments, criticism, bug reports and suggestions can be sent via the "Feedback" link. "Download" leads not only to the public Aminet version, but also to some beta versions. Furthermore there is the ATC mailing list for public discussion about ATC.
Final words:
Criticism, suggestions, questions and comments regarding this article are gratefully accepted by me. If you want to email me, sent your message to aichi@gmx.de .
Christian Aichinger <aichi@gmx.de>«
