GS Design Just another developer blog

The problem

If you are developing or using remote files you might be interested in services like dropbox witch allow you to copy a file in a folder in your computer and have it uploaded to a remote location. I personally love dropbox and usit as a back-up & sharing that i can access from multiple locations. I store my password manager software on it for example

But services like dropbox dont solve all your problems since sometimes you might want to sincronize to a location of your choise, like a FTP server.

This really comes in handy when you develop web application on a server you installed on your computer. I personally dont do it because of 2 reasons:
1. i have to remember to upload the copy to the remote server
Cant really show the client from my computer or have it stored on a stick with a portable webserver.
Also, having the last copy online is good when you might login and do modifications from multiple computers.

2. compatibility issues
There is always the possibility of the application working on my computer and not on the server. This is both due to the difference in OS but also in the serves configurations.

But i can see the advantage of having application developed locally. The most important would be speed ( saving files and viewing the website ), also not depending on the internet connection ( yes, e i get that sometimes, at night, probably from all the guys logging in to download torrents & porn ).

The solution

Well i recently discovered a really handy piece of software that solve my first problem. Its called
Fling FTP Software and is a powerful ftp program that allows you to synchronize a local folder with an remote one by using FTP.

The cool feature about it is that it integrates really well with your Windows explorer.

Also you have several options of synchronization, including sync between hardisks, network folders and flash sticks.

The way fling works is you setup rules for each folders you want to sync.
This is done in 2 steps:
1. You setup the source and destination folder

1. You setup the scanning options
Here you have the options of telling fling when you want the transfers to be executed and in which way. You have options to do it manually, automatically or at preset intervals. You can also specify witch is the primary source ( when files are conflicting witch one to keep )

I find this software really useful and another cool feature about it : Fling is completely free.

Download Fling FTP Software 2.02

Cheers

I have tried and tested a few FTP clients in search for one that would be to my liking, but couldnt really find one. So i revert back to using Total Commander as my ftp client.

A few dayas ago I stumbled across FileZilla. It’s an open-source FTP client for Windows and i find it to be really good. It’s fast, reliable, and user-friendly.

I think i finally found something to replace old Total Commander with .

What FTP clients do you use ?

Today i wanted to start work on a new project, so i open my Zend Studio Editor and add the FTP details for the new project in the File System ( feature that i love in Zend Studio ). But to my surprise something was not completely right.

The FTP seem to be added correctly, upon clicking connect it seem to connect just right, the color would turn to black from the unconnected gray, but the files and folders on the FTP would not show up. I spent one hour trying a bunch of stuff out. I tried reading the FTP Server, closing and reopening Zend Studio, even tried to restart windows as a disparate act. Nothing worked.

I tried googling the problem but no results came about this problem.

After some little thinking i tried adding exception to the windows firewall, with no luck, even disabled it but the same situation. Tried to do the same with the NOD antivirus system. Nothing seem to do the trick.

Before you comment if the FTP details were correct, they are … i tested them in a FTP client and it worked.

Finally just a few minutes ago i found the solution !
The problem was that when i added the FTP Server at Initial Directory: i usualy left the default value of /, and the Editor would usually find the correct value which would be the account username on most cases. But for some reason on this FTP Server it didn’t do that so it tried to access the servers root folder where i didnt have any rights …. so no files to show.

I am glad i manage to fix this, and not use the E-TextEditor ( the FTP Server worked in it ) which although is a pretty nice editor with a lot of cool features, does not rock my boat. I got used to the Zend Studio interface and it would very hard for me to change to something else now.

Hope you find this article useful and find it when you encountered the same problem and maybe save some time.

Cheers