VMS Help TCPIP Services, FTP, Customizing FTP  *Conan The Librarian (sorry for the slow response - running on an old VAX)

    You can modify the way FTP transfers files, depending on:

    o  The operating system of the remote host

    o  The applications you use

    o  Whether you want wildcard name expansion

    o  The information you want displayed during processing

    A few of the FTP commands that control FTP command processing
    are:

    o  ENABLE/DISABLE LOG

       Enables or disables the display of FTP commands sent to the
       remote host.

    o  ENABLE/DISABLE PARSE

       Enables or disables the expansion of file name specifications.

    o  ENABLE/DISABLE REPLY

       Enables or disables the display of all responses from the
       remote host.

    o  QUOTE

       Sends FTP commands directly to the remote host without local
       interpretation.

    The preceding commands control the way FTP displays command
    processing information and status. The SHOW STATUS command
    displays the current status of the FTP client (your local host)
    and, if you have a connection, the remote host.

    By default, FTP returns multiple lines of error messages
    (MULTILINE is enabled). The first line explains the general
    problem, while subsequent lines provide details to help you
    diagnose the source of the problem. These lines may include
    operating system as well as FTP messages. Applications that use
    FTP to transfer files under program control often do not need
    the extra messages returned. To disable the MULTILINE feature,
    when you supply a password to connect to a remote host, precede
    the password with a hyphen "-" (-password), as in the following
    example:

    $ FTP /USER=SALINGER /PASSWORD=-LETMEIN HAGELS

    The SHOW STATUS command displays whether the MULTILINE feature is
    enabled.

    You can modify the way FTP reacts to errors by using the SET
    ERROR_LEVEL command. By default, the error level setting is
    SUCCESS, which means that when FTP is running in batch mode, a
    warning or error message will cause FTP to exit. (FTP runs in
    batch mode when FTP commands are executed by a command procedure
    rather than interactively.) If you do not want FTP to exit upon a
    warning or error message, you can set the error level to ERROR.

    For example, in the following command procedure, if the default
    error level (SUCCESS) is in effect and directory [MILLER.USERS]
    does not exist, the resulting error would cause FTP to exit.

    $ FTP CONNECT HAGELS
    cd [MILLER.USERS]
    DEL *.*;*
    EXIT
    $

    If the error level had been set to ERROR, FTP would not exit
    and the DELETE command in the command procedure would delete all
    files in your current working directory. Note that you can also
    set the error level to WARNING, which causes FTP to tolerate
    warning messages (but not error messages).