Fetch Softworks

Upload and unzip, can I ? (8 posts)

• Started 18 years ago by B. McLaughlin
• Latest reply 17 years ago from Scott McGuire

• B. McLaughlin Member

  Hello,
  I am installing a cms onto a server and would very much like to upload the zip file and unzip it once it is there.
  I have Fetch 4.0.3

  Uploading each file by hand takes over an hour. Uploading the zip file takes 20 seconds...but I do not know how to unzip it once it is there.

  Thanks

  Posted 18 years ago #

• Scott McGuire Administrator

  Hi,

  Fetch cannot help you unzip files on the server, unfortunately. If there is a command or program to unzip files on CMS - and I am not familiar enough with CMS to say whether or not there is - you would have login to the server with something like telnet, rlogin, or ssh, and run that command on the server to unzip it.

  I would suggest contacting the server administrator or provider and asking them for suggestions on how to accomplish this.

  It's surprising that the uncompressed files take an over an hour to upload. Are the files very very large, and compress very well? If you let us know why uploading the files by hand is so timeconsuming, we may have some advice on how to make the process faster.

  Thanks,

  Scott McGuire
  Fetch Softworks

  Posted 18 years ago #

• B. McLaughlin Member

  The compress file is 2.7 megs. Uncompressed it is 10.7 megs...so yes it certainly is compressed well!

  The reason it takes me so long to upload is that Fetch gets hung up if I try to upload too much at once. So I had to do it parts of 600k or less at a time. However it had no trouble sending the 2.7 meg zipped file.

  By "hung up" I mean I get the running dog that never stops. If I hit the stop button, I get the watch that never stops. So I have to quit fetch and reopen and stat again. Pain in the #*!.

  So the question is why does Fetch do the non-stop run? From looking at other posts I see that you need to see the Transcript file. That I do not have and at the moment I would rather not recreate it.
  Most of the answer that I see to this issue has to do with space on the server. That would not apply here because it will all go up if I do it in parts - plus there is at least 500meg of server space for this.

  More info-
  I have run into the running dog issue before when up loading files, I used the same work around (sending it in parts).

  Even more info-
  In the past I have had to send large zipped file to other people's ftp accounts (print houses with tons of space). I would get the running dog. BUT if I took the same file to another location..meaning not my home office but a school where I worked...it would go through. The only difference was where I was sending from.
  Can/do internet service providers put limits on what/how/size of things being uploaded?

  Now that I know about the transcript that you can read, I will save one when it happens again...because it will.

  Thanks

  Posted 18 years ago #

• Scott McGuire Administrator

  Hi,

  There are a variety of reasons that Fetch might hang or stall when uploading files. It can be a problem with your internet provider, or your cable modem/router, a server issue, or a sofware conflict. A transcript would be helpful in narrowing it down.

  If you're on Mac OS X, please give Fetch 5 a try, and see if it the hangs and stalls go away. We fixed a variety of CMS and network compatibility issues in Fetch 5.

  Also, Fetch 5 also has a resume upload feature, so that if an upload of a large file stalls or fails, you just have to upload the remaining part of the file, instead of the entire file all over again.

  Fetch 5 can also automatically zip files as they're being uploaded (but you'd still have to either leave them as zip files on the server, or log into the server another way to unzip them, as I mentioned above).

  And the Fetch 5 transcript provides more detailed information about potential problems should we need to diagnose them.

  You can try Fetch 5 for free for 15 days, and you do not have to uninstall Fetch 4 - both can be on your Mac at the same time without a problem.

  Let us know if this helps, and please do send us a transcript when you have a chance.

  Thanks,

  Scott McGuire
  Fetch Softworks

  Posted 18 years ago #

• B. McLaughlin Member

  Thanks for the info.
  I did download and try Fetch 5 (trail version) with this past upload issue(I was hoping it had a majic "unzip" feature) and had the same results with it getting hung up. I have to say that I am so used to v.4 that I did not have time at that moment to learn anything new...it was one of those moments where I had enough to figure out with out having to use something I did not already know.

  I realize you need the transcript to tell me anything concrete.

  I will get v.5 set up and learn it soon. Next time I have an issue I know to send the transcript.

  Posted 18 years ago #

• Scott McGuire Administrator

  Hi,

  Sorry to hear the problem still appears in Fetch 5. And yes, I can definitely understand about not having time to learn something new when you're trying to solve other problems.

  Fetch 5 has extensive on-line help - choose Fetch Help from the Help menu, or see http://www.fetchsoftworks.com/FetchWebHelp/ . For instance, there is a section on how to use the resume upload feature.

  And let us know if you have other questions. Thanks,

  Scott McGuire
  Fetch Softworks

  Posted 18 years ago #

• mms Member

  Hi,
  I know you responded a long time ago to this question, but I was wondering if the unzipping after upload is on the "to-do" list for future releases. I, too, use a variety of Content Management programs (Gallery, Joomla, etc.) for my clients, and windows users seem to have a large variety of options for unzipping files once they're uploaded. I can't find a similar OSX-friendly way of unzipping.

  I love Fetch, and have used it since the early days, but it can take HOURS to upload all the files for a CMS, especially when the connection gets dropped frequently, as it does with my satellite ISP.

  If the unzip feature is not on the drawing board, do you have any recommendations on how a non-techie Mac person can accomplish it? I'll admit it; all those shell commands scare me to death!

  Thanks so much.

  Posted 17 years ago #

• Scott McGuire Administrator

  Hi mms,

  The main reason that Fetch does not offer an automatic way to upload and then unzip on the server is that would require that the server supports a way for Fetch to tell it to unzip the file; that is not a standard or common feature on most FTP or SFTP servers.

  There are some possible tricks for accomplishing this anyway, but they would not work with all servers. We are aware of the interest in this, and we have discussed it some, but I don't think it's something we expect to add to Fetch in the near future.

  You can, of course, upload zip files and then have the clients download the zip files; OS X will automatically unzip them, but that's probably not what you're looking for.

  If you could tell us the names of some Windows clients that offer unzipping of files after they're uploaded, we'd be interesting - we could investigate and see what they are doing to accomplish this.

  Unfortunately, there is probably no "non-techie" way to do this; it would always require logging into the server and using the command line (and way you would log into a server and the command you would issue would vary from server to server).

  We understand that upload lots of small files over FTP can be kind of trying, especially if your ISP drops connections frequently. If you aren't using the Mirror command to do your uploads, you might consider it; since it only uploads new and changed files, it would allow you to pick up the transfer where you left off, instead of starting over again. We do hope to make resuming uploads of multiple files easier to accomplish in the future, but for now, the Mirror command may do the trick.

  See the Mirroring a local folder to a remote folder help topic in Fetch Help (or click on the link) for more information about mirroring.

  Sorry not to have a better answer for you,

  Scott McGuire
  Fetch Softworks

  Posted 17 years ago #