How do you search FTP Asimov?

[Keatah]

How do you search FTP Asimov? There are several ways that immediately come to mind:

 

1- Load the "site_index.txt" file into your browser or favorite word processor and simply search there. You can find most anything with a few well chosen keywords. Try the name or partial name, try the manufacturer, publisher, or author. Getting desperate? Try even the class of software, like BBS, WORD PROCESSOR, DISK UTILITY, something like that.

 

2- Bad comes to worse, back out of it and start browsing through the folder trees manually.

 

3- Make a local mirror of it and then you can search your own local HDD. This is handy because if you maintain a mirror, you can search by "file created date". This lets you see everything added to your disk on the date you updated your mirror. Thus presenting all new/recent files since date xx/xx/xxxx. It works for a range of dates too.

 

4- It is possible that your item of interest is going to be hidden in a Zip file. You can download all the .zips in a category and search through them. Windows treats a .zip file as a standard folder.

 

5- If you suspect your target may be in a series of Public Domain collections or User Group compilations, then.. Download them, unpack them into their native .dsk files. Then search the .dsk files with MDC which is included in CiderPress. It will make a text file of each file in each .dsk "container". You can then skim or search that. Sounds tedious, but not really. Just another tool in the box.

 

6- Sometimes notes and docs are zipped together with the program. Or the other way around. you may find docs with disk images. Or images in doc files.

 

If there are other methods or techniques for locating material in FTP Asimove, let's hear them!

 

[towmater]

I just typed "ftp://ftp.apple.asimov.net/pub/"in Safari, logged in as a guest, which mounts the site as a drive in osx, and then did a spotlight search for "trail" and away it goes:

 

Oregon trail

Checkerboard trails

mecc The Oregon Trail

 

etc.

right-click to show something in enclosing folder

 

[CaptainBreakout]

Is there an easy way to search for and download the recent 4am releases via Asimov? Last I checked they were on the Internet Archive, but ya had to download them link by link.

 

relevant link

 

I'm not sure if they are on Asimov yet, but it would make sense if they are. I'd like to update my Apple II emulator machine with all the 4am releases, but put it off because I didn't want to operate a clickstorm for hours on end. Maybe you know a simple trick via Asimov and your search method?

 

Thanks!

[Keatah]

The way I'd do it in Windows is by using an FTP proram. Been using it for years to interact with Asimov so it's old hat to me. https://filezilla-project.org/

 

1- Sign on to Asimov with it.

2- Set yourself up a search box. (4am crack) is pretty consistent keyword.

3- Start the search, takes a few minutes. Then sort by filetype for easy viewing

4- Bulk select your files and download. You'll be interested in .zip and .dsk files most likely.

5- Be sure and "flatten" the remote paths or you'll end up with as many folders as there are categories and locations of files.

 

 

Essentially you're having the FTP program seach the site and downloading what matches your search. If anyone has simpler way of doing the task I definitely want to hear about it too.

 

 

--- notes ---

 

There's talk of making a special 4am section on Asimov. Don't know how that'll go over because there'd either be a lotta duplicates or some categories like "educational" or "games" would develop gaping holes as the 4am stuff gets pulled.

 

If you have a Mac, as someone stated earlier, you could run a Spotlight Search, but I don't know if you could bulk download that way.

 

Perhaps someone will make a nice GUI utility to download en-masse. Because Archive.org supports such activity via scripting and wget. Well most anything does.. heh!

https://www.google.com/search?site=&source=hp&q=bulk+download+internet+archive

Edited December 22, 2016 by Keatah

[eccofonic]

Does Filezilla have a feature where it reads the ftp server directory and deletes files locally (my copy) that are no longer on the ftp server?

[Keatah]

Does Filezilla have a feature where it reads the ftp server directory and deletes files locally (my copy) that are no longer on the ftp server?

 

Don't think so. If it does I haven't found a way to turn it on.

 

---

 

My solution to that problem is to occasionally scan the local mirror with WinSCP and use it to delete local files not existing (or moved) in the remote.. WinSCP is another FTP program but it supports exact-copy and deleting of local files. You also have the opportunity to review the changes prior to carrying them out.

 

There is a little difference in how WINSCP vs FileZilla handles illegal characters like "/?* and how it likes to rename them on your local mirror. So if you download with FileZilla, and scan for dupes with WinSCP it always likes to flag a handful of 30 or so existing files for deletion and re-download with its naming convention. Conversely, if you download with WinSCP, FileZilla sees them as different.

 

Six of this, half-dozen of the other. I don't care, no files are dropped or missing. Just a minor renaming difference for 30 or so files..

 

Another solution is CuteFTP, it's a paid-for program.

And then there is rsync which is above and beyond what I need, plus it's command line. So no.

Even WinSCP is pretty heavy on the option and the online documentation is way overformatted and tedious.

 

So that's why I think I stayed with FileZilla for such a long time. Lighter weight. And it's free. I always prefer working with free stuff so that when it comes time to recommend something everyone can join in the fun.

Edited December 22, 2016 by Keatah

[Osgeld]

i just use the windows explorer ftp handling .... or the site index text

[MarkO]

<< SNIP >>

 

--- notes ---

 

There's talk of making a special 4am section on Asimov. Don't know how that'll go over because there'd either be a lotta duplicates or some categories like "educational" or "games" would develop gaping holes as the 4am stuff gets pulled.

 

<< SNIP >>

 

 

Unix/Linux and BSD/OS X have Symbolic Links, which could be setup in a 4am Directory, but Point to the actual File somewhere else on the File System.. No Duplicates..

 

MarkO

[c0op3r]

I just use the Cntl -F function of the browser to find what I am looking for, I have an entire copy of the FTP on my local server for the files once I know where they are.

[firebottle]

 

Don't think so. If it does I haven't found a way to turn it on.

 

---

 

My solution to that problem is to occasionally scan the local mirror with WinSCP and use it to delete local files not existing (or moved) in the remote.. WinSCP is another FTP program but it supports exact-copy and deleting of local files. You also have the opportunity to review the changes prior to carrying them out.

 

There is a little difference in how WINSCP vs FileZilla handles illegal characters like "/?* and how it likes to rename them on your local mirror. So if you download with FileZilla, and scan for dupes with WinSCP it always likes to flag a handful of 30 or so existing files for deletion and re-download with its naming convention. Conversely, if you download with WinSCP, FileZilla sees them as different.

 

Six of this, half-dozen of the other. I don't care, no files are dropped or missing. Just a minor renaming difference for 30 or so files..

 

Another solution is CuteFTP, it's a paid-for program.

And then there is rsync which is above and beyond what I need, plus it's command line. So no.

Even WinSCP is pretty heavy on the option and the online documentation is way overformatted and tedious.

 

So that's why I think I stayed with FileZilla for such a long time. Lighter weight. And it's free. I always prefer working with free stuff so that when it comes time to recommend something everyone can join in the fun.

 

Thanks for this info! I'll check WinSCP out, as I've been using wget...

Edited December 23, 2016 by firebottle

[classicgamer_27330]

There are some discs that I've been hungering for a long time, since my apple died and found out about the apple emulator

 

The New Game Show (not to be confused with The Game Show, this is a sequel with better graphics and more subjects)

 

Applesoft Basic games made by Software Excitement

[Keatah]

New things are added to the worldwide "library" of Apple II material at the rate of around 15 titles per week. Best estimates indicate only 40-50% of everything ever written has been recovered. Some optimists might say as high as 65%.

 

If the popular repositories don't have what you're looking for. The next best step is to start a campaign with the intent on raising awareness about preserving disks. But not just for your specific wants and needs - that causes too narrow a focus. You want to (have to) include everyone, and hope that someone in that expanded audience will have what you're looking for.

 

And there is a need for this added urgency. Disks are 40 years old already. They're not going to last forever.

[classicgamer_27330]

I have some disks, just don't know how to transfer those disks into .dsk images for the emulator

[Keatah]

Physical disks? 2 solutions that have been around for years.

 

http://adtpro.sourceforge.net/

http://dreher.net/?s=projects/CFforAppleII&c=projects/CFforAppleII/main.php

 

And one newcomer.

https://www.bigmessowires.com/shop/

 

There may be other solutions too.

[Lisias]

I think I have a working (yet beta, please be patient) solution for searching files from Asimov:

http://service.retro.lisias.net/search/

It searches even for filenames (or filename fragments) inside disk images (give it a try using "paravia" on keywords. (feature only available for Asimov at the moment).

This thing is running from a bunch of raspberries pi at my living room. Please be patient. :-)