I'm not sure of what you are asking? It sounds like you want to write a Perl
script that interfaces with an ftp server, or that is an ftp server itself.
If you are doing the former, there are modules that will let you do this
painlessly.
If you are doing the latter, I would suggest not. There are
plenty of ftp servers out there, and there is no need to write one in Perl!
(there probably already is one written in Perl!)
However you may be asking to transfer data between programs (perhaps both
in perl). If this is the case then you perhaps would like some socket
programming. Look at the man pages (available here or as part of your copy of
perl). They give excellent examples of how to use IO::Socket .
As for tips or tricks with the latter method: If you are communicating to
a remote machine, use INET sockets. If, instead, you are communicating to a
local machine you can get a speed up by using UNIX sockets.
Cheers,
Gryn
p.s. It would bring me peace of mind if you registered an account name here
if you have further questions. I like to know who it is I'm talking to! :) :)
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Unless you really know what you are doing, the easiest bet is to use existing
higher-level protocols instead of just "sockets".
For example, 10-15 lines of code with HTTP::Daemon will get
you a server waiting for a request, and another 5-10 lines of code will
let you use HTTP::Request::Common to POST your file
to be transferred, even passing some authentication to verify the source
of the transmission. Using raw sockets, you'd be hard-pressed to even
get the socket open in that few lines.
-- Randal L. Schwartz, Perl hacker | [reply] |
Chapter 17 of the "Perl Cookbook" (which should be part of every Perl monks' book shelf) has some good examples of socket programming. There are two main modules, the original (and lowest level) Socket, and a higher level IO::Socket. I think in most cases, IO::Socket will do everything people need, in a simple and easier to code manner.
But as others have suggested, you may find even higher level modules provide what you want. I have used socket programming for simple tasks, and it works like a breeze - just find a suitable example in the cookbook, and adapt that. A word of caution though, your server program will often run with quite a high level of authority. You should also check out any potential security holes, make use of the "taint" facility, and in general, make sure the server does only what you instruct it to.
Ken
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