Differences Between FTP clients on a Mainframe and Distributed Platforms

There are many differences between the FTP client on the mainframe and those on the distributed platforms, most of these being related to the environment. For example, the distributed platform does not have access to DCB information or space allocations. The MFFTP utility uses the catalog facilities to provide both the missing links between the application requirements of attributes such as DCB and a means to translate between mainframe dataset names and the actual filenames on the distributed platform. When a request is made to FTP to GET or PUT a mainframe dataset, this has to be translated to a native filename.

You can specify default values on the mainframe in one of two ways: hard-code the values in the FTP application or use the SYSFTPD DD statement to specify them. MFFTP supports both methods.

You can make changes at execution time with a LOCSITE statement. Use a LOCSTAT command to display the relevant values and where they came from, for example - SYSFTPD, LOCSITE, an environment variable or a default value.

MFFTP scans the FTP control cards and either checks them, acts upon them, or simply passes them through. The utility expects control cards to start in column 1.