topic Re: Perl vs shell scripts for FTP in Operating System - HP-UX

Perl vs shell scripts for FTP

Benjamin Cheong — Tue, 13 Apr 2004 02:05:01 GMT

Hi there,

I've noticed several threads discussing the automation of FTP using Perl and shell scripts and was wondering about the pro's and con's of either approach.

For example, how's the performance of Net::FTP compared to standard FTP?

Cheers,
Ben

Re: Perl vs shell scripts for FTP

KapilRaj — Tue, 13 Apr 2004 02:10:57 GMT

I had made a similier request and I found ,

1. It can give you a return code which shell script can not give you for a proper and improper file transfer.

Regds,

Kaps

Re: Perl vs shell scripts for FTP

H.Merijn Brand (procura — Tue, 13 Apr 2004 02:33:05 GMT

I fully agree with Kapil, that that is the most important switch to choose for.

On avarage, the speed is not depending on the scripting language, but on the speed of your connection line.

Several smaal commands might be faster in shell, whereas a few large transfers are easier dealt with in Perl.

Due to the fact that errors are easier cought in Perl, retransfers are a breathe in perl, where it is a pita in sh scripts.

Enjoy, Have FUN! H.Merijn

Re: Perl vs shell scripts for FTP

Scott Palmer_1 — Tue, 13 Apr 2004 15:16:14 GMT

Ben,

One of the other major benefits is that if you have a Windoz server set up properly, you can use the NetFTP module to automate ftp from windows to another platform, shell scripts aren't generally avaliable for windows OS. ( I know about the various Unix shell products... they dont count in this reply).

Scott

Re: Perl vs shell scripts for FTP

A. Clay Stephenson — Tue, 13 Apr 2004 15:33:02 GMT

If you want something that is at best ugly, do it in Shell but make sure that you put FTP in verbose mode. Perl's NET::FTP instantly and easily gives you error checking and nice, clean code. The transfer performance will be indistinguishable.

The attached ftpput.pl should give a good starting point. Invoke as ftpput.pl -u for full usage.

Re: Perl vs shell scripts for FTP

A. Clay Stephenson — Tue, 13 Apr 2004 15:33:03 GMT