# new completely cocoa FTP client



## solrac (Oct 29, 2002)

Finally!
It looks like panic might finally have something here....

www.panic.com

Download Transmit. Version 2 for OS X is all cocoa, and the core is NcFTP

Seems to finally be the FTP client Mac OS X has been needing for so long. We'll see.....


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## cabbage (Oct 29, 2002)

I guess you haven't used RBrowswer


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## MisterMe (Oct 29, 2002)

> _Originally posted by cabbage _
> *I guess you haven't used RBrowswer *


 Please don't forget about NetFinder 2.3.2  and Interarchy 5.0. Interarchy can mount an FTP site on the desktop of any compatible version of MacOS. It is only slightly less elegant than the Jaguar Finder, but it was first.


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## Javintosh (Oct 29, 2002)

With RBrowser you can't edit files in the FTP site using BBEdt. That pretty much rules it out for me. Also, this app seems to be extremely slow on drag and drop operations.

I use NetFinder but I am not really happy with it (it has a propencity to crash when attempting to download a few hundred files at the same time).

I tried Transmit, but when I tried to download 400+ files it crashed.

I was using Anarchie (and loving it), but StairWays torqued me off (for some reason I can no longer remember) and I went with NetFinder. I have not really been happy with it.


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## solrac (Oct 29, 2002)

Javintosh, did the new verison of Transmit crash on a download of hundreds of files?


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## fryke (Oct 30, 2002)

Over the years, I have tried to replace Fetch several times as my primary FTP client - but there was never a tool that was so complete and yet easy to use as Fetch. Plus: No other player was ever able to have a killer feature (i.e. kill Fetch).

Although it's a Carbon application, it's working incredibly well also in OS X. You can get a free educational license for version 4.x from their site http://www.fetchsoftworks.com (or use the demo version for some time).

(This may be a very personal thing, but I never 'got' why other FTP clients use a two paned window by default. It's easy enough to drag from/to the Finder, isn't it?)


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## toast (Oct 30, 2002)

I agree with fryke. There's a little brown dog in my Dock, and it'll stay there until I find something as good as Fetch 4.02.

I downloaded Transmit 2 three days ago_it's not doing bad AT ALL !!! I'm just waiting to see if it's 100% stable, as Fetch is at home.


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## Javintosh (Oct 30, 2002)

solrac - yes, it was the new version of Transmit.

I'm a student (grad school) maybe I'll get me a copy of fetch. although I never warmed up to it. also, most FTP programs will let you turn off the local view (I never understood that either). I was happy with Anarchie, but then it turned into bloatware....

I just tried it again and it worked flawlessly! NetFinder always craps out part way through the download. I should mention that the download is  drag and drop 17 items at the root of the web site. There are many subfolders there (none go more than 4 levels deep) and the file sizes range from 2K to 16.8MB.

Maybe I'll give Transmit another whirl afterall.


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## Javintosh (Oct 30, 2002)

went to use transmit... I noticed that there was no keyboard shortcut for the edit menu (this is a faitly major inconvenience to me) and then... horror of horrors!!! when I selected edit the file opened in a window within transmit!!! another huge ugh! can't use transmit if it won't let me edit with BBEdit... *sigh* back to NetFinder (and hoping that apple's finder ftp client gets read/write capabilities...


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## solrac (Oct 30, 2002)

In Transmit, you can hide the local view. In between local and remote views there is a little widget you can drag. If you drag it all the way to the left... there you go.

Also, I have keyboard shortcuts for everything in the edit menu???

Also, when you edit a file in Transmit, you are editing directly on the server. If it opened the file in BBEdit, that would be editing from the local drive. If you want to use BBEdit, you should simply have an FTP mirror on your local drive and just double click the files locally in the Finder, which opens BBEdit, then save, then upload when you are finished.

The Edit command in Transmit lets you edit directly on the server without downloading.

And Fryke, what the hell is a "kill feature, i.e. (Kill Fetch)"????


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## MisterMe (Oct 30, 2002)

> _Originally posted by Javintosh _
> *....and hoping that apple's finder ftp client gets read/write capabilities... *


 What do you mean? The Finder mounts FTP sites as though they were regular network volumes. You can read them. You can write to them. The real power of this feature is that you don't have to download files on FTP sites to use them.


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## solrac (Oct 30, 2002)

> _Originally posted by MisterMe _
> *What do you mean? The Finder mounts FTP sites as though they were regular network volumes. You can read them. You can write to them. The real power of this feature is that you don't have to download files on FTP sites to use them. *



Nope. You can not write to an FTP volume mounted in the finder. There is no way to assign permissions to it either.

Even as root in the terminal, you cannot. It is not even a permission denied error. It is a "read only file system".

(terminal output, attempting to move disneypics.zip from desktop, to a mounted FTP volume)
solrac# mv /Users/solrac/Desktop/disneypics.zip disneypics.zip
mv: rename /Users/solrac/Desktop/disneypics.zip to disneypics.zip: Read-only file system


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## Javintosh (Oct 30, 2002)

solrac - the edit command under the file menu does not have a shortcut. In other apps (anarchie, NetFinder and others) when you select to edit a file, the file is downloaded to a temp directory in the local drive  and that temp file is opened in BBEdit (some FTP apps let you select the editor) then every time you save the file, the FTP client uploads it in the background.

This is the functional equivalent of the edit selection under the find menu. Nothing beats browsing to a file, selecting it and hitting a key combo to have the file "open" in BBEdit.

I usually do this when developing php web site. I usually, need to save/see results hundreds of times. I like to do something small, refresh the browser and see the changes...

Maybe other people can, but I can't write hundreds of lines of PHP flawlessly without checking the output.  

right now, I have a site that's maybe 20% done (db functionality only, it looks like crap) so far the php library is over 1200 lines long (no word wrap). The edit functionality in transmit is no match to BBEdit (I wish BBEdit let me split a window into n number of sections rather than just 2).

as to the finder's FTP, it is read-only. I just tried it.


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## solrac (Oct 30, 2002)

Javintosh, you can right-click on a php file in Transmit and select "Edit" from the contextual menu.

It won't open BBEdit, but for a super small change, you don't even need BBEdit. Ideally it would open in BBEdit but for small change-refreshbrowser-change tasks it should work fine!

I sent Transmit peeps an email suggesting allowing external editors. It's still better than fetch


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## Javintosh (Oct 30, 2002)

After trying it I also sent them an email suggesting that they allow external editors.
and also suggesting that they more the garbage can to the toolbar (so I can hide it), if it worked with BBEdit I would definitely switch.


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## gigi (Oct 30, 2002)

I wish Vicomsoft would port Vicomsoft FTP Client to mac os x.


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## boi (Oct 31, 2002)

dude, javintosh, just use the ftp built into BBEdit for your php needs. all you have to do is hit command-s and it saves it to the ftp location you got it from. you can also save copies to make sure you're in sync with your computer.


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## Javintosh (Oct 31, 2002)

I know... I've been trying, but for some reason I subconsiously keep going  back to an external FTP client...

maybe that koolaid was from Peter Li!


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## solrac (Nov 6, 2002)

The developer replied to me saying there will be support for external editors in the next release this week!


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## Javintosh (Nov 6, 2002)

cool. looking forward to it!


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## gatorparrots (Nov 6, 2002)

I'm beta testing Transmit 2.1 for Panic. One of the new features is:

_- Added 'Edit in BBEdit' feature (yay!), accessible via the 'File' menu or contextual menu_

This should make you happy!


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## solrac (Nov 6, 2002)

G. Peretz!!!
Dammit!!! Help them get it right!

You can't sort your favorites alphabetically (you can only drag them around one by one)

When you're in a folder, it doesn't tell you how many items are in that folder!

Every time you select a favorite to connect to, it asks for your keychain password and makes Transmit freeze for 5 - 7 seconds!

Help them!!!!!! Transmit 2.0 is slated to be THE FTP client for OS X!


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## Javintosh (Nov 6, 2002)

great! is there a shortcut for the Edit with BBEdit menu item?


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## KrinkleCut (Nov 8, 2002)

I've been a faithful Transmit user for a few years now, but I don't see any reason to upgrade from the version I have (1.7 I think). 

This version feels sluggish on my machine (yes I have a sluggish machine too, but the old Transmit is faster). And their upgrade price isn't that compelling if there's no 'must have' feature.

One thing that would be nice would be the ability to import bookmarks from Fetch (I hate Fetch - no good reason except it's always felt like beta software to me, hanging on the slightest whim)


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## gatorparrots (Nov 8, 2002)

Panic posted the 2.1 update for public consumption. You can download it and try out the Edit with BBEdit feature for yourself.
http://versiontracker.com/redir.fcgi/kind=1&db=macosx&id=16683/Transmit 2.1.sit.bin

KrinkleCut--The reason to upgrade is twofold: a completely native Cocoa interface (no Carbon library depency or native code) and that it is based on the rock-solid and well-regarded NcFTP.


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## gatorparrots (Nov 8, 2002)

Javintosh -- Yes, there is a keyboard shortcut: Command + J.


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## Javintosh (Nov 8, 2002)

I noticed!


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## fryke (Nov 8, 2002)

pardon my intrusion here, i'm drunk as it's early saturday morning here, but i don't see any way to change permissions for files, which is quite essential for me. the get info command doesn't seem to work. back to fetch, anyway.


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## Javintosh (Nov 8, 2002)

Permissions can be changed from the get info window (which works for me).


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## MacLuv (Nov 8, 2002)

What a long long thread...

Transmit rocks... i've always used it for my quick FTP fixes, even though Dreamweaver manages my site etc, etc... Fetch is a piece of "wondercrap"... yes, just like the bread! Watching that stupid dog run one more time I would have bought a gun I swear it...

Hey Jav, I'll trade you the key code to transmit for a bologna sandwich!!!


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## KrinkleCut (Nov 9, 2002)

> _Originally posted by G. Peretz _
> *KrinkleCut--The reason to upgrade is twofold: a completely native Cocoa interface (no Carbon library depency or native code) and that it is based on the rock-solid and well-regarded NcFTP. *



So it's 'better' under the hood... not enough reason for me to upgrade if I don't see any real world improvements.


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## solrac (Nov 9, 2002)

Krinklecut,

The fact that it's completely cocoa, and completely rewritten based off NcFTP is completely worth upgrading.

NcFTP has been on Unix systems for almost 10 years now.

This is SOOO worth upgrading for!

It's not like it's expensive or anything


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## fryke (Nov 9, 2002)

Well, I've sobered up. Trashed Transmit's preferences, opened a connection and got info. Worked. Hit Cmd-J to edit file in BBEdit, changed, saved. Get Info. Nope. No info window after editing in BBEdit. No changes of permissions. Bad. Back to the dog (Fetch).


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## solrac (Nov 9, 2002)

Oh wow. Another bug!
So, if you edit a file in BBEdit, and change it and save it, you can no longer get info!!! (happened to me, too.)


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## KrinkleCut (Nov 9, 2002)

> _Originally posted by solrac _
> *Krinklecut,
> 
> The fact that it's completely cocoa, and completely rewritten based off NcFTP is completely worth upgrading.
> ...



OK, got that part.. but what does it DO that my copy of 1.7 doesn't? It's not the money (about $30CDN) but the fact I don't see any improvement. Granted, I'm only up and downloading html and php files all day. 

Maybe it's just me, but I'm tired of upgrading software that is perfectly functional just because it's new. I'm starting to ask for REASONS *gasp*.

I'm getting onery in my old age.


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## gatorparrots (Nov 9, 2002)

*solrac*-- I passed on your comments to Panic's beta feedback team. This is what I got back from the developer:

_I agree with the first two, and we hope to address them in a future version, but I'm not sure when. 

The last one, though, we can't reproduce -- it works just fine for us, and we're only ever asked for the keychain information once. There's no 5-7 second delay. I'm not sure what could be happening here! _

Perhaps your keychain is corrupt. Have you tried deleting it and starting over? Perhaps it is just an issue particular to your configuration.


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## solrac (Nov 10, 2002)

> _Originally posted by G. Peretz _
> *solrac-- I passed on your comments to Panic's beta feedback team. This is what I got back from the developer:
> 
> I agree with the first two, and we hope to address them in a future version, but I'm not sure when.
> ...



Thanks!!
As for the keychain, I did delete them all and start over, but it still asks me for my keychain password all the time (not every time), but very frequently. The delay is shorter now. I am on a very slow 400 mhz G4 though....

edit: I click "Always Allow" every time, too!


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## solrac (Nov 10, 2002)

> _Originally posted by KrinkleCut _
> *OK, got that part.. but what does it DO that my copy of 1.7 doesn't? It's not the money (about $30CDN) but the fact I don't see any improvement. Granted, I'm only up and downloading html and php files all day.
> 
> Maybe it's just me, but I'm tired of upgrading software that is perfectly functional just because it's new. I'm starting to ask for REASONS *gasp*.
> ...



Well, for one, it looks a lot nicer. All the icons are consistent, even custom icons get shown and all the UI elements are nearly perfect. It's a great use of Aqua! I can't say this about ANY other FTP program.

Here are a bunch of other stuff it does!
http://www.panic.com/transmit/

Major stuff includes: Support for SFTP (encrypted FTP), support for long filenames natively (Carbon apps don't do that, you know!), synchronization, batch download, remote editing.

The support for long filenames is reason enough. You can screw up an entire web site by uploading long-named files with a bad FTP program that truncates file names like OS 9 does. All carbon programs do this!! Any program becoming Cocoa is just worth an upgrade. You get all those built in OS-level features. Another hidden cocoa feature, you can scroll a window in the background! If you hold the cmd key down while you click on a background window scrollbar... you can scroll it! Cool huh???


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