I work for a photography lab/studio, and have been given the task to find a good ftp program that will allow clients to upload their files to us so that we can print them. Clients should be able to create their own account, with their relevant information, and then send us the files through their browser. Once it is uploaded we would like to get a notification email with their information so that we know we have new files to print. I can design a layout, but have never had experience with integrating that with FTP (uploading files, etc.) The catch here is that the server is on a machine running Windows NT 4, so I'd need a program that would work on that. I'm designing the website however on a mac using Dreamweaver 2004 MX. Any suggestions? I don't specialize in web design, instead doing Photoshop work, but I've been through this project because I've done sites for personal use.
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Suggestions for FTP with web interface?
- Thread starter ultrafiel
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I'm actually working on something similar to this for my website... I'm trying to figure out a way for users to upload files (pictures) and have it create a directory for each person and send me a notification email. I'm trying to use php and its 'copy' command to write a script. We'll see how it goes.
So yeah, my point to all this is that you may not need a separate program, but rather just a script.
So yeah, my point to all this is that you may not need a separate program, but rather just a script.
I'll make a couple of suggestions here.
If you want a web interface, use a script as opposed to trying to interface with an FTP server. That is a pain in the butt - especially on NT. If you search on the web, you can download scripts in many languages that let a user upload a file to your server and other scripts that send email notifications when they execute. For the person working on NT, look for a Perl script since the Perl interpreter interfaces with IIS on NT not too badly.
The other thing you should be incredibly careful about is making sure the files that are dumped to your server are actual photos and not some virus or trojan. Without getting into a lot of detail, all files have headers that identify what they are. Your script should read the file header and either ensure it is a graphic image, ensure it is not an executable, or both.
If you want a web interface, use a script as opposed to trying to interface with an FTP server. That is a pain in the butt - especially on NT. If you search on the web, you can download scripts in many languages that let a user upload a file to your server and other scripts that send email notifications when they execute. For the person working on NT, look for a Perl script since the Perl interpreter interfaces with IIS on NT not too badly.
The other thing you should be incredibly careful about is making sure the files that are dumped to your server are actual photos and not some virus or trojan. Without getting into a lot of detail, all files have headers that identify what they are. Your script should read the file header and either ensure it is a graphic image, ensure it is not an executable, or both.
I use "Gallery". It is PHP based, very customizable, and easy to use. It can be a little tricky to set up though.
Their web site is here:
http://gallery.menalto.com/
You can see how it looks on my web site here:
http://www.lakesidevilla.gotdns.com/externalsites/gallery/index.php
Their web site is here:
http://gallery.menalto.com/
You can see how it looks on my web site here:
http://www.lakesidevilla.gotdns.com/externalsites/gallery/index.php
ultrafiel said:
Does this mean that your webserver is on the same platform? If so is it Apache/PHP or IIS? If IIS, I would recommend "rolling your own" scripts in ASP to accomplish handling of a multipart encoded file (fancy term for file uploads through web) and creating your own notification workflow.
There are some web server configuration parameters to keep in mind which you may or may not control. In a default installation, PHP only allows file uploads of 2MB or less. I assume that since you are printing these files, they may exceed that 2MB limit, which would mean you would need to keep this in mind.
PHP is open source and basically platform independent. To the best of my knowledge it will run on Windows NT, but I could be wrong I try to avoid NT. 
My personal server set up is Mac 10.2.8 with Apache 2.0 and PHP 4. I just thought that someone else may find it useful.
My personal server set up is Mac 10.2.8 with Apache 2.0 and PHP 4. I just thought that someone else may find it useful.Thanks for the suggestions...
Thanks for the suggestions, I think going with a script is the best like you advise. I'm not too familiar with PHP, so I can't go that route. I'll most likely have to search out a script that does what I need now. I've never written a script, and just do plain HTML really. If anyone has any scripts like what I need let me know. Thanks.
Thanks for the suggestions, I think going with a script is the best like you advise. I'm not too familiar with PHP, so I can't go that route. I'll most likely have to search out a script that does what I need now. I've never written a script, and just do plain HTML really. If anyone has any scripts like what I need let me know. Thanks.
If you decide to go with perl, check out cpan.org. There are a ton of downloadable scripts there as well as many other sites. Since you are new to scripting, I would also suggest the book: Perl and CGI for the World Wide Web by Elizabeth Castro, Peachpit Press, ISBN: 0-201-73568-7.
http://www.brianellisrules.com/stickers/upload/ultrafiel said:
I just wrote this within the past week. It seems pretty close to what you need...
ultrafiel said:
PHP is a script language. There are a lot of free prewritten scripts that you just download and copy to your server. The trickiest part is installing the PHP application on the server, but you will have that issue with just about any script language that you decide to go with.