FTP(Part 1) - FTP command

The FTP command runs the FTP client program that enables you to transfer data sets and files between your local host and another host running an FTP server.

To access FTP we can use any of the following techniques

1)Code PGM=FTP in a batch job and pass parameters using the PARM keyword. This technique is mainly used on the Mainframe systems.

2)Enter the FTP command from TSO.(mainframe)

3)Enter the FTP command from Unix shell or from windows command prompt.

FTP syntax:

Following is the FTP syntax.

Not all the options will be explained here.

The ones that will be generally used are highlighted.

        .----------------------------. 

        V                            | 

>>-ftp----+------------------------+-+-------------------------->

          +- -a-+- NEVER--+--------+   

          |     +- GSSAPI-+        |   

          |     '- TLS----'        |   

          +- -d--------------------+   

          +- -e--------------------+   

          +- -f-- ftpdata_filename-+   

          +- -g--------------------+   

          +- -i--------------------+   

          +- -n--------------------+   

          +- -p-- tcpip------------+   

          +- -r-+- NEVER--+--------+   

          |     +- GSSAPI-+        |   

          |     '- TLS----'        |   

          +- -s-- srcip------------+   

          +- -t-- data_set_name----+   

          +- -v--------------------+   

          +- -w-- nn---------------+   

          '- -x--------------------'   

>--+---------------------------------+-------------------------->

   |                .-21-----------. | 

   '- foreign_host--+--------------+-' 

                    '- port_number-'   

>--+----------------------------------------------------------------------+-->

   '-(--+--------------+--+--------+--+---------------+--+--------------+-' 

        +- Exit--------+  '- TRACe-'  '- TImeout-- nn-'  '- TCP-- tcpip-'   

        '- Exit--=--nn-'                                                    

>--+----------------------------+------------------------------><

   '- TRANslate-- data_set_name-' 

Following is the meaning of parameters we pass:

-d	Starts the generation of tracing output. Equivalent to TRACE.
-e	Terminates FTP for certain FTP errors with a nonzero MVS™ return code. Equivalent to EXIT.
-f ftpdata_filename	Specifies the client file containing the ftp parameters to be used.
-i	Turns off interactive prompting for MDELETE, MGET, and MPUT subcommands. Equivalent to the PROMPT subcommand.Normally when using mget,mput we get a prompt for every file being transferred.
-p tcpip	Indicates the name of the TCP on the local host to which the FTP client should connect. This parameter is ignored if your system is not configured for multiple instances of TCP/IP. This is equivalent to TCP tcpip.
-t data_set_name	Specifies the name of a nonstandard translation table. Equivalent to TRANSLATE data_set_name.
-v	Enables verbose mode. This parameter gives you extra information.
foreign_host	Specifies the name of the host to which you are connecting. Specify the host by its host name or its IP address.  Note that its not compulsory to provide the foreign_host in the ftp command. We can just invoke FTP by typing FTP and then connecting to the server using the OPEN command
port_number	Specifies the port number of the FTP server on the remote host. The default is well-known port 21. The maximum port number that can be specified is 65 534. This parameter should not be used unless you are sure there is a server listening on a port other than the well-known port 21 at the destination.
Exit	Terminates FTP, for certain FTP errors, with a nonzero MVS return code.
Exit=nn	Terminates FTP with a nonzero return code of your choice when an FTP error occurs. Valid values are in the range 0 - 4095.
TRACe	Starts the generation of tracing output. TRACe is used in debugging.
TImeout nn	Specifies the number of seconds (nn) to be used for the following TImeout parameters:   MYOPENTIME DCONNTIME CCONNTIME INACTTIME DATACTTIME
TRANslate data_set_name	Specifies the data set name of a nonstandard translation table.

NOte : All the information about FTP and the syntax diagrams are taken from the site http://publib.boulder.ibm.com.
Things are put here in simplified words and Many commands that are not used normally are omitted.
Refer the website http://publib.boulder.ibm.com. in case you need more details.