Hi there, M2 is a legend! I've been searching the posts for what would probably be a batch file that would replace an automatic download ftp client. Basic process: log in to ftp server check for new files (against what has been downloaded already) download new files (including newer versions of files already downloaded) Log off format c:\ (maybe not but just making sure you were watching) I have not found any specific options with mget concerning synchronizing of folders etc. Thanks muchly.

goompa, I endorse your statements about M2! comparing files across ftp is possible, but cumbersome. You have to ftp, list the directory, redirect the entire output to a file, then parse this output and interpret the dates, then compare it with the dates of local file, if you can get this done, I say you get a PhD in batch scripting :-). M2 might still be able stun us. Having said that, if you can find a tool to map to ftp drive, then the scripting becomes simple. One tool that does this is netdrive http://www.divshare.com/download/20... You have to buy this as per Novell policy. It might work for you, it may not. Also, if the FTP server has NetBUI interface(if it is on a Windows machine), mapping may be easy. Hope I made sense. -- Holla.

The script below will get a list of files and spit out: filename.ext year mon date It makes a few shakey assumptions. One is that the output of ls -l looks pretty much like this: drwxr-xr-x 2 ftpuser ftpusers 1088 Jun 6 2005 CMhouse -rw-r--r-- 1 ftpuser ftpusers 0 Jul 2 2003 Dining.html -rw-r--r-- 1 ftpuser ftpusers 30804 Jul 2 2003 Lodging.html -rw-r--r-- 1 ftpuser ftpusers 32796 Jun 26 2004 Orchid4.gif The next hump to get over is making the date layouts conform. ========================================= @echo off setLocal EnableDelayedExpansion > ft.do echo o yoursite.com >> ft.do echo username >> ft.do echo password >> ft.do echo bin >> ft.do echo cd mystuff >> ft.do echo ls -l TLIST >> ft.do echo bye ftp -s:ft.do del ft.do findstr /b /v "d" TLIST > svrlist for /f "tokens=6-9 delims= " %%a in (svrlist) do ( echo %%d %%c %%a %%b ) ===================================== If at first you don't succeed, you're about average. M2

Um M2, did you invent DOS and then Gates looked over your shoulder with a note pad when you wern't looking?

In the line "> ft.do echo o yoursite.com" is the extra "o" supposed to be there or is it a typ"o"? :)

M2, I need to understand your code if I am to apply it so if you look through my comments in your code please correct them where needed. Thanks. @echo off setLocal EnableDelayedExpansion ::This builds ft.do a script for ftp to execute > ft.do echo o yoursite.com >> ft.do echo username >> ft.do echo password >> ft.do echo bin >> ft.do echo cd mystuff ::This builds a file called TLIST which is a file list of the current remote folder. ::I can't find out what "-l" does. >> ft.do echo ls -l TLIST >> ft.do echo bye ::This executes the above then logs off ftp -s:ft.do del ft.do ::This is quite pretty this part, the "/b" m atches pattern if at the beginning of a line and the "/v" prints only lines that do not contain a match. ::It then takes that output and puts it into "svrlist" ::The question I do have, what is this comparing to? findstr /b /v "d" TLIST > svrlist ::These lines confuse the living daylights out of me so I'll leave this to you. for /f "tokens=6-9 delims= " %%a in (svrlist) do ( echo %%d %%c %%a %%b ) So I'm gathering that you have provided me the key. I'm assuming that I'll have to hunt around and do a similar thing for the local directory. My main point of confusion is where does the local get compared with the remote? Thanks.

'::I can't find out what "-l" does.' The usual directory lister in unix is ls ; the -l option makes it list sizes, dates, owners etc, as well as filenames. -------------------- 'findstr /b /v "d" TLIST > svrlist' Notice that the first entry in the TLIST starts with drw which means it's a directory. We don't want thise; just files. ---------- '::These lines confuse the living daylights out of me so I'll leave this to you. for /f "tokens=6-9 delims= " %%a in (svrlist) do ( echo %%d %%c %%a %%b )' The TOKENS are the 'chunks' of chars in a line. In this case separated by spaces. ======================================== Seems like you've got a pretty good handle on this. I'm willing to stick with it if you are. [1\ yes, the o before sitename belongs there. [2] You need to run the basic script for your ftp site to see if it conforms. If it doesn't, we can work with it. [3] Run this little bat so we can see hoe your rig puts out the file date: ============================== @echo off setLocal EnableDelayedExpansion for /f "tokens=* delims= " %%a in ('dir/b/a-d') do ( echo %%~Ta ===================================== If at first you don't succeed, you're about average. M2