
              README FILE FOR SENDFILE, GETFILE, AND MAKEHBFILE
                                April 9, 2001


This document contains the following sections:

INTRODUCTION
INSTALLATION AND STARTUP
COMPILING THE PROGRAMS
SENDFILE NOTES
GETFILE NOTES
MAKEHBFILE NOTES
DISCLAIMER


                                INTRODUCTION

The sendfile, getfile, and makehbfile programs are used to transfer files
between computers running Windows NT and/or Sun Solaris.  The programs run
continuously, so they are appropriate for real-time applications.

The sendfile program gets files from a "queue directory", transmits the files
via a socket connection, and deletes the files from the queue directory.  The
getfile program receives data files from sendfile via a socket connection and
saves them in specified directories.  The makehbfile program periodically places
a "heartbeat file" in the queue directory used by sendfile.

If the network connection between computers is down, for any reason, files will
accumulate in sendfile's queue directory until the network comes back up.  Then,
all files will be sent immediately.

One getfile process can accept files from any number of sendfile processes
running on different computers.

WARNING: The sendfile and getfile programs don't do any data "translation".  If
binary files are transferred, the data format and byte-order of the file may be
incompatible with the receiving computer.


                          INSTALLATION AND STARTUP

The distribution directory for each program contains executable files for
Windows and Solaris.  Windows executable files are named <progname>.exe, and
Solaris executable files are named <progname>.  To install the programs, simply
copy the executable files to any directory which is in the user's search path.
The programs can also be run by typing the full path name.  The name of the
program configuration file is specified on the command line, eg:

    sendfile sendfile.d     or    getfile getfile.d

On Solaris, the programs can be run in a window, or they can be started
automatically at boot time.

On Windows NT, the executable (or a shortcut to the executable) can be placed in
the users startup directory.  See Windows documentation for details.



                          COMPILING THE PROGRAMS

If it's necessary to recompile a program, change the working directory to the
program distribution directory.  On a Windows NT system, type:

    nmake /f makefile.win

On a Solaris system, type:

    make -f makefile.sol

The programs were compiled using Microsoft Visual C++ 6.0 on Windows NT, and
Sun C 4.2 on Solaris.  All user functions are included in the distribution
directories.


                             SENDFILE NOTES

The sendfile program requires a configuration file, typically named sendfile.d.
A sample configuration file is included in the distribution directory and is
shown below.  Any line which begins with the # sign is interpreted as a comment,
so feel free to add your own comment lines.

The output (queue) and log directories must exist before running the program.
They should be created manually using the mkdir command (or the equivalent
windows/file manager operation).  In Solaris, the user must have write
permission for these directories.

The TimeZone parameter is used only for timestamping entries in the log file.

#
# sendfile.d  -  Configuration file for the sendfile program
#
# ServerIP      = IP address of computer running getfile
# ServerPort    = Well known port of getfile program
# TimeOut       = Send/receive will time out after TimeOut seconds.
# RetryInterval = If an error occurs, retry after this many seconds
# OutDir        = Path of directory containing files to send to getfile
# LogFile       = If 0, don't log to screen or disk.
#                 If 1, log to screen only.
#                 If 2, log to disk only.
#                 If 3, log to screen and disk.
# TimeZone      = Timezone of computer system clock (ignored in Solaris)
# LogFileName   = Full path name of log files. The current date will
#                 be appended to log file names.
#
-ServerIP      130.118.43.31
-ServerPort    3456
-TimeOut       15
-RetryInterval 60
-LogFile       3
-TimeZone      GMT

# Solaris
# -------
-OutDir        /home/earthworm/outdir
-LogFileName   /home/earthworm/run/log/sendfile.log

# Windows
# -------
#-OutDir        c:\earthworm\outdir
#-LogFileName   c:\earthworm\run\log\sendfile.log

After the sendfile program is invoked, it patiently waits for files to appear in
output queue directory.  When it detects a file, it opens a socket connection to
getfile, sends the file, and then deletes the file from the queue directory.

Under Windows NT, if a file is copied or moved to the queue directory using the
"copy" or "move" command (recommended), sendfile will wait until the file is
completely transferred to the queue directory before it is sent to getfile.
This prevents a partial file from being sent.  The Windows version also uses
the _fsopen() system call which provides file locking.  Sendfile waits until
all other processes are done with a file before accessing it.

The Solaris version of sendfile works somewhat differently.  If a file is cp'd
to the queue directory, it's possible that sendfile might not transfer the whole
file.  So, I don't recommend using the cp command for this purpose.  The
preferred technique is to create a complete file in another directory in same
disk partition as the queue directory.  Then create a hard link to the queue
directory using the command:

    ln <file> <queue directory)

After the file has been transferred by sendfile, sendfile will remove the link,
which leaves the original file intact.

An alternative is to create the file on another directory on the same disk
partition and move it to the queue directory using the mv command.  After the
file has been transferred by sendfile, sendfile will erase the file.


                             GETFILE NOTES

The getfile program requires a configuration file, typically named getfile.d.  A
sample configuration file is included in the distribution directory and is shown
below.  Any line which begins with the # sign is interpreted as a comment, so
feel free to add your own comment lines.

The input, temporary, and log directories must exist before running the program.
They should be created manually using the mkdir command (or the equivalent
windows/file manager operation).  In Solaris, the user must have write
permission for these directories.

The TimeZone parameter is used only for timestamping entries in the log file.

#
#  getfile.d  -  Configuration file for the getfile program
#
# ServerIP      = IP address of this computer's host adapter
# ServerPort    = Well-known port used by this program
# TimeOut       = Send/receive will time out after TimeOut seconds.
# LogFile       = If 0, don't log to screen or disk.
#                 If 1, log to screen only.
#                 If 2, log to disk only.
#                 If 3, log to screen and disk.
# TimeZone      = Timezone of computer system clock (ignored in Solaris)
# LogFileName   = Full path name of log files. The current date will
#                 be appended to log file names.
# TempDir       = Full path name of directory to contain temporary files.
#                 This directory must be on the same partition as the
#                 client directories.
# Client        = IP address of trusted client, followed by the path of
#                 directory to contain files sent by this client.
#                 Connections from all other IP addresses are rejected.
#                 The client directories must be on the same disk
#                 partition as is TempDir.
#
-ServerIP    130.118.43.31
-ServerPort  3456
-TimeOut     15
-LogFile     3
-TimeZone    GMT
-LogFileName /home/earthworm/run/log/getfile.log
-TempDir     /home/earthworm/indir
-Client      130.118.43.36   /home/earthworm/indir/billy
-Client      130.118.43.38   /home/earthworm/indir/campbell


The getfile program accepts connections from any number of sendfile processes on
remote systems.  Only one socket connection at a time is allowed.  If a sendfile
process wants to connect while the getfile connection is busy, getfile will
queue the connection request.

Getfile writes data from the socket connection to a directory of temporary
files.  After the data transfer from the socket is complete, getfile moves the
file from the temporary directory to the client directories.  This ensures that
all files in the client directores are complete.


                              MAKEHBFILE NOTES

The makehbfile program makes heartbeat files and places them in a specified
directory.  The output directory should be the same as the sendfile queue
directory, and it must exist before running makehbfile.

The makehbfile program requires a configuration file, typically named
makehbfile.d.  A sample configuration file is included in the distribution
directory and is shown below.  Any line which begins with the # sign is
interpreted as a comment, so feel free to add your own comment lines.

#
# makehbfile.d  -  Configuration file for the makehbfile program
#
# Path     = Name of directory to contain heartbeat files.
# HbName   = Name of the heartbeat file (without path)
# Interval = Create a heartbeat file every "Interval" seconds
#
-HbName   hb.hollyhock
-Interval 60

# Solaris
-Path     /home/earthworm/outdir

# Windows
#-Path     c:\earthworm\outdir

All heartbeat files will be created with the same name, as specified in the
makehbfile configuration file.  If a heartbeat file already exists in the output
directory, it will be overwritten by the most recent heartbeat file.

All heartbeat files contain a sequence of ASCII characters representing the
computer system time, in seconds since midnight, Jan 1, 1970.


Please direct questions and bug reports to:

Will Kohler
U.S. Geological Survey
Mail Stop 977
345 Middlefield Rd
Menlo Park, CA  94025

phone:  (650) 329-4761
email:  kohler@usgs.gov

