VMS Help TCPIP Services, FTP, Copying Files, Preserving File Attributes  *Conan The Librarian (sorry for the slow response - running on an old VAX)

    When you transfer OpenVMS files to a UNIX system and back again,
    some record attributes might be lost. To preserve all RMS file
    attributes, use the /FDL qualifier (File Definition Language)
    with the GET and PUT commands.

    You may also need to use the SET TYPE command to determine the
    type of file transfer:

    o  Specifying SET TYPE ASCII results in a sequential file with
       variable records. Select this type when transferring ASCII
       text files.

    o  Specifying SET TYPE IMAGE results in a sequential file with
       fixed records of 512 bytes. Select this type when transferring
       non-ASCII files such as binary files or executable image
       files.

    For example, to transfer an executable image to a remote UNIX
    host, follow these steps:

    1. Specify the IMAGE data type:

       FTP> SET TYPE IMAGE

    2. Transfer the file to the remote host while at the same time
       creating and transferring a secondary file with the file's
       OpenVMS record attributes:

       FTP> PUT/FDL file

    To retrieve the file from the remote UNIX host, follow these
    steps:

    1. Specify the IMAGE data type:

       FTP> SET TYPE IMAGE

    2. Retrieve the file from the remote host after retrieving and
       using the secondary file containing the file's OpenVMS record
       attributes:

       FTP> GET/FDL file.dat

1 - Examples

    1. In this example, the PUT/FDL command does the following:

       o  Creates the FDL file cygnet.bckfdl on the remote host with
          the RMS attributes of file STAT.BCK.

       o  Transfers the data in STAT.BCK and puts it in to
          cygnet.bckfdl on the remote host.

          FTP> PUT/FDL STAT.BCK CYGNET.BCK
          200 TYPE set to ASCII
          200 PORT command successful
          150 Opening data connection for cygnet.bckfdl (130.180.4.8,1028)
          226 Transfer complete
          local: cygnet.bckfdl   remote: cygnet.bckfdl
          846 bytes sent in 00:00:00.03 seconds
          200 TYPE set to IMAGE
          200 PORT command successful
          150 Opening data connection for cygnet.bck (130.180.4.8,1029)
          226 Transfer complete
          local: STAT.BCK  remote: cygnet.bck
          8152 bytes sent in 00:00:00.12 seconds
          FTP>
 In this final example, the GET/FDL command does the following:

       o  Transfers the FDL file cygnet.bckfdl from the remote host
          to the local host.

       o  Uses this file to re-create the file STAT.BCK, with all of
          its original RMS attributes, on the local host.

       o  Transfers the data in cygnet.bck and puts it in to the new
          local file STAT.BCK.

          FTP> GET/FDL CYGNET.BCK STAT.BCK
          200 TYPE set to ASCII
          200 PORT command successful
          150 Opening data connection for cygnet.bckfdl (130.180.4.8,1028)
          226 Transfer complete
          local: cygnet.bckfdl   remote: cygnet.bckfdl
          846 bytes sent in 00:00:00.03 seconds
          200 TYPE set to IMAGE
          200 PORT command successful
          150 Opening data connection for cygnet.bck (130.180.4.8,1029)
          226 Transfer complete
          local: STAT.BCK  remote: cygnet.bck
          8152 bytes sent in 00:00:00.12 seconds
          FTP>