Windows ftp corrupts MS Access databases......
Gordon
"Hello All,
I just wanted to let everyone know about this issue we encountered as
developers last week.
We had used the ftp functionality available from the command line in Windows
XP Pro to download source code and associated MS Access databases. We could
not use the database and kept receiving the error "Invalid database
format...".
We thought it may have been the version of Office so we upgraded to Office
2003. It didn't work. We found other information online regarding repair,
etc. Running MS Access repair didn't work.
Finally, we obtained FileZilla from the Mozilla website, downloaded the
files again and the databases worked fine.
The ftp download from Windows corrupted the files.
If anyone else experiences such behavior, try using another ftp application
first rather than last."
Good ole joined up thinking from MS again, situation sorted with OSS.......
--
Registered Linux User no 240308
Ubuntu 5.10
gordonDOTburgessparkerATgbpcomputingDOTcoDOTuk
to email me replace the obvious!
Roy Culley
<pan.2006.03.20....@localhost.localdomain>,
Gordon <gor...@localhost.localdomain> writes:
> Copied from a post on microsoft.public.windowsxp.general......
>
> "Hello All,
>
> I just wanted to let everyone know about this issue we encountered as
> developers last week.
>
> We had used the ftp functionality available from the command line in
> Windows XP Pro to download source code and associated MS Access
> databases. We could not use the database and kept receiving the
> error "Invalid database format...".
Normally this is because you didn't do the ftp transfer in binary
mode.
Gordon
It wasn't me that did it!
Larry Qualig
Gordon wrote:
> Copied from a post on microsoft.public.windowsxp.general......
>
> "Hello All,
>
> I just wanted to let everyone know about this issue we encountered as
> developers last week.
>
> We had used the ftp functionality available from the command line in Windows
> XP Pro to download source code and associated MS Access databases. We could
> not use the database and kept receiving the error "Invalid database
> format...".
>
> We thought it may have been the version of Office so we upgraded to Office
> 2003. It didn't work. We found other information online regarding repair,
> etc. Running MS Access repair didn't work.
>
> Finally, we obtained FileZilla from the Mozilla website, downloaded the
> files again and the databases worked fine.
>
> The ftp download from Windows corrupted the files.
>
> If anyone else experiences such behavior, try using another ftp application
> first rather than last."
>
> Good ole joined up thinking from MS again, situation sorted with OSS.......
I don't see how this is an MS/OSS issue, sounds more like operator
error to me.
Some FTP apps "auto-detect" whether the file being transferred is ascii
or binary and set the transfer-mode automatically. My guess is they
used ascii transfer mode with Windows FTP and corrupted the files. (Ftp
doesn't know or care if the files are Access database files or not. So
the title of your thread is completely misleading.)
Roy Culley
<pan.2006.03.20....@localhost.localdomain>,
Gordon <gor...@localhost.localdomain> writes:
> On Mon, 20 Mar 2006 19:13:53 +0100, Roy Culley wrote:
>
>> begin risky.vbs
>> <pan.2006.03.20....@localhost.localdomain>,
>> Gordon <gor...@localhost.localdomain> writes:
>>> Copied from a post on microsoft.public.windowsxp.general......
>>>
>>> "Hello All,
>>>
>>> I just wanted to let everyone know about this issue we encountered as
>>> developers last week.
>>>
>>> We had used the ftp functionality available from the command line in
>>> Windows XP Pro to download source code and associated MS Access
>>> databases. We could not use the database and kept receiving the
>>> error "Invalid database format...".
>>
>> Normally this is because you didn't do the ftp transfer in binary
>> mode.
>
> It wasn't me that did it!
Oops, sorry.
Ian Hilliard
> Copied from a post on microsoft.public.windowsxp.general......
>
> "Hello All,
>
> I just wanted to let everyone know about this issue we encountered as
> developers last week.
>
> We had used the ftp functionality available from the command line in Windows
> XP Pro to download source code and associated MS Access databases. We could
> not use the database and kept receiving the error "Invalid database
> format...".
>
> We thought it may have been the version of Office so we upgraded to Office
> 2003. It didn't work. We found other information online regarding repair,
> etc. Running MS Access repair didn't work.
>
> Finally, we obtained FileZilla from the Mozilla website, downloaded the
> files again and the databases worked fine.
>
> The ftp download from Windows corrupted the files.
>
> If anyone else experiences such behavior, try using another ftp application
> first rather than last."
>
> Good ole joined up thinking from MS again, situation sorted with OSS.......
This was a problem many years ago. I didn't know that it was still a
problem. The problem at least was that Microsoft's FTP client defaulted to
text transfer. In this mode, \n is converted to \n\r. This is of course a
serious problem for binaries.
To get the client to go into binary mode, you have to type binary at the
prompt. It should then be possible to do the transfer without any problems.
Ian
Sandman
Gordon <gor...@localhost.localdomain> wrote:
> Copied from a post on microsoft.public.windowsxp.general......
>
> "Hello All,
>
> I just wanted to let everyone know about this issue we encountered as
> developers last week.
>
> We had used the ftp functionality available from the command line in Windows
> XP Pro to download source code and associated MS Access databases. We could
> not use the database and kept receiving the error "Invalid database
> format...".
>
> We thought it may have been the version of Office so we upgraded to Office
> 2003. It didn't work. We found other information online regarding repair,
> etc. Running MS Access repair didn't work.
>
> Finally, we obtained FileZilla from the Mozilla website, downloaded the
> files again and the databases worked fine.
>
> The ftp download from Windows corrupted the files.
>
> If anyone else experiences such behavior, try using another ftp application
> first rather than last."
>
> Good ole joined up thinking from MS again, situation sorted with OSS.......
Or, I'm assuming, learning how to use the applications. Filezilla
decides transfer mode based on file extension. The built in FTP client
probably doesn't. If the user would have typed "binary" before the
transfer, the files would probably have ended up fine.
--
Sandman[.net]
Robert Newson
Something from M$[1] *NOT* using the extension to decide? You've got to be
joking...
[1] That presumes that they wrote it and didn't get it from somewhere.
> If the user would have typed "binary" before the
--
Outgoing mail certified virus free...
It has gone nowhere near a Windwos machine before my ISP.
rapskat
> The ftp download from Windows corrupted the files.
>
> If anyone else experiences such behavior, try using another ftp application
> first rather than last."
>
> Good ole joined up thinking from MS again, situation sorted with OSS.......
I'm certainly not one to defend M$ or their software, but in this case
chances are that the source of the problem was user error - in that the
files were probably downloaded in text instead of binary mode.
Windows et al has no shortcoming of valid issues without resorting to FUD.
--
rapskat - 14:21:06 up 5 days, 5:38, 2 users, load average: 0.27, 0.21, 0.13
"Silly hacker, root is for administrators."
-- Unknown
Peter Jensen
Hash: SHA1
Robert Newson wrote:
>> Or, I'm assuming, learning how to use the applications. Filezilla
>> decides transfer mode based on file extension. The built in FTP
>> client probably doesn't.
>
> Something from M$[1] *NOT* using the extension to decide? You've got
> to be joking...
>
> [1] That presumes that they wrote it and didn't get it from somewhere.
This is from my abandoned Windows 98SE partition:
$ strings -a /mnt/dos/windows/ftp.exe | grep Copyright
@(#) Copyright (c) 1983 The Regents of the University of California.
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.4.2.2 (GNU/Linux)
iD8DBQFEHwOEd1ZThqotgfgRAmhFAKCku2jea60Ak9/VlxP5JdhE7UrGJgCglfO5
DPyx/iLUNkaH6reNp/VVK+8=
=G7F0
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
--
PeKaJe
"Microsoft has done more for the fault tolerance industry than any
other company. They have made end-users very tolerant of faults".
Sandman
Robert Newson <Reap...@bullet3.fsnet.oc.ku> wrote:
> > Or, I'm assuming, learning how to use the applications. Filezilla
> > decides transfer mode based on file extension. The built in FTP client
> > probably doesn't.
>
> Something from M$[1] *NOT* using the extension to decide? You've got to be
> joking...
The 'ftp' binary in Windows isn't from MS, if I remember correctly.
It's an old Sun ftp binary if I remember correctly. Or, at least it
used to be in the Windows 95/98/Me days.
> [1] That presumes that they wrote it and didn't get it from somewhere.
Right. :)
--
Sandman[.net]
rapskat
>> [1] That presumes that they wrote it and didn't get it from somewhere.
>
> This is from my abandoned Windows 98SE partition:
>
> $ strings -a /mnt/dos/windows/ftp.exe | grep Copyright
> @(#) Copyright (c) 1983 The Regents of the University of California.
You gotta love that BSD License!
--
rapskat - 14:40:18 up 5 days, 5:57, 2 users, load average: 0.57, 0.36, 0.29
"There are those who do and those who hang on and you don't see
too many doers quoting their contemporaries."
-- Larry McVoy
Robert Newson
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> Hash: SHA1
>
> Robert Newson wrote:
>
>
>>>Or, I'm assuming, learning how to use the applications. Filezilla
>>>decides transfer mode based on file extension. The built in FTP
>>>client probably doesn't.
>>>
>>Something from M$[1] *NOT* using the extension to decide? You've got
>>to be joking...
>>
>>[1] That presumes that they wrote it and didn't get it from somewhere.
>
> This is from my abandoned Windows 98SE partition:
>
> $ strings -a /mnt/dos/windows/ftp.exe | grep Copyright
> @(#) Copyright (c) 1983 The Regents of the University of California.
hmmm...interesting...now I've had a look at it:
$ strings /win98/c/windows/ftp.exe
!This program cannot be run in DOS mode.
...
@(#) Copyright (c) 1983 The Regents of the University of California.
All rights reserved.
...
Not super user
...
Transfers files to and from a computer running an FTP server service
(sometimes called a daemon). Ftp can be used interactively.
FTP [-v] [-d] [-i] [-n] [-g] [-s:filename] [-a] [-w:windowsize] [-A] [host]
...
So it can't be run from DOS mode, but has [standard] command like switches!
(Ok I do know you can put them in .pif files so that they are passed to
the program).
But that doesn't explain why MS didn't extend it to spot extension and
default to binary mode when appropriate; or even to default to binary for
all transfers - after all you'd only be ftping to/from your Windwos machine
from/to another Windwos machine and so text EOL conversions wouldn't be
necessary...or is MS actually admitting that there are other OSed machines
out there...or MS programmers couldn't modify it...or, more likely, just
grabbed the BSD licenced code and used it?
Larry Qualig
You're all mixed up here. The ftp.exe app *IS* a console application
and needs to be run from the command line. The "Cannot be run in DOS
mode" is the 'stub' that gets printed out if someone tries to run it
outside of Windows.
So the command switches don't need to be used in any *.pif file. You
simply supply them on the command line when you start the app. But the
app needs to be run from within Windows, not from DOS.
Linønut
> Copied from a post on microsoft.public.windowsxp.general......
>
> "Hello All,
>
> I just wanted to let everyone know about this issue we encountered as
> developers last week.
>
> We had used the ftp functionality available from the command line in Windows
> XP Pro to download source code and associated MS Access databases. We could
> not use the database and kept receiving the error "Invalid database
> format...".
>
> We thought it may have been the version of Office so we upgraded to Office
> 2003. It didn't work. We found other information online regarding repair,
> etc. Running MS Access repair didn't work.
>
> Finally, we obtained FileZilla from the Mozilla website, downloaded the
> files again and the databases worked fine.
>
> The ftp download from Windows corrupted the files.
>
> If anyone else experiences such behavior, try using another ftp application
> first rather than last."
>
> Good ole joined up thinking from MS again, situation sorted with OSS.......
Maybe they used ASCII mode by accident?
--
Q: Why does a GNU/Linux user compile his kernel?
A: Because he can.
Larry Qualig
Gordon wrote:
> On Mon, 20 Mar 2006 19:13:53 +0100, Roy Culley wrote:
>
> > begin risky.vbs
> > <pan.2006.03.20....@localhost.localdomain>,
> > Gordon <gor...@localhost.localdomain> writes:
> >> Copied from a post on microsoft.public.windowsxp.general......
> >>
> >> "Hello All,
> >>
> >> I just wanted to let everyone know about this issue we encountered as
> >> developers last week.
> >>
> >> We had used the ftp functionality available from the command line in
> >> Windows XP Pro to download source code and associated MS Access
> >> databases. We could not use the database and kept receiving the
> >> error "Invalid database format...".
> >
> > Normally this is because you didn't do the ftp transfer in binary
> > mode.
>
> It wasn't me that did it!
But it was *you* who posted the story.
Grug
Gordon wrote:
> Copied from a post on microsoft.public.windowsxp.general......
>
> "Hello All,
>
> I just wanted to let everyone know about this issue we encountered as
> developers last week.
>
> We had used the ftp functionality available from the command line in Windows
> XP Pro to download source code and associated MS Access databases. We could
> not use the database and kept receiving the error "Invalid database
> format...".
>
> We thought it may have been the version of Office so we upgraded to Office
> 2003. It didn't work. We found other information online regarding repair,
> etc. Running MS Access repair didn't work.
>
> Finally, we obtained FileZilla from the Mozilla website, downloaded the
> files again and the databases worked fine.
>
> The ftp download from Windows corrupted the files.
#1 problem with command line FTP?
Forgetting to go to 'binary' or 'bi' mode... the default mode is
'ascii' - which means it can convert or 'corrupt' a binary file.
>
> If anyone else experiences such behavior, try using another ftp application
> first rather than last."
This should read: "If anyone else experiences such behavior, please
switch to binary transfer mode by typing 'bi' in FTP before 'GETting'
the file."
> Good ole joined up thinking from MS again, situation sorted with OSS.......
Obviously, you've never used FTP before lol... blame it on Microsoft as
always.
You realize you just made a major fool of yourself by showing that you
don't even know how to use FTP - and you say you are an OSS fan? LOL
Brad
> Windows ftp corrupts MS Access databases......
No, the user did it. As usual. Even Windews can do CLI ftp...so long as
the user knows how.
try typing man ftp in a windows C: prompt. ...hehehe
Brad
rapskat
> rapskat wrote:
>
>> On Mon, 20 Mar 2006 19:33:28 +0000, Peter Jensen wrote:
>
>>>> [1] That presumes that they wrote it and didn't get it from somewhere.
>
>>> This is from my abandoned Windows 98SE partition:
>
>>> $ strings -a /mnt/dos/windows/ftp.exe | grep Copyright
>>> @(#) Copyright (c) 1983 The Regents of the University of California.
>
>> You gotta love that BSD License!
>
> I much prefer it over the viral GPL.
Most leeches do, case in point...
--
rapskat - 23:31:37 up 5 days, 15:12, 1 user, load average: 0.06, 0.03, 0.13
"Silly clickwrap agreement, Kerberos is for everyone."
-- tla...@nogreencardlawyers.amug.org on Slashdot.
Linønut
> rapskat wrote:
>
>>> $ strings -a /mnt/dos/windows/ftp.exe | grep Copyright
>>> @(#) Copyright (c) 1983 The Regents of the University of California.
>
>> You gotta love that BSD License!
>
> I much prefer it over the viral GPL.
So does Microsoft.
Like any virus, if you don't want to catch it, don't use objects that
have it.
The GPL has preserved a pretty significant part of the intellectual
Commons.