Getting Packages

ExpeDat servers can be configured to send data using tar, gzip, zip, or other third-party utilities.  This allows you to download many files in a single archive.  See the servedat Packaging documentation for information on enabling server-side packaging.

Packaging is not enabled by default.  It must be configured both on the server and client sides.

To enable packaged gets, obtain a list of available package suffixes from the server administrator and enter these into the "Packaged Gets" settings.  Administrators may wish to embed this list using DropDat so that end-users do not need to do so themselves.

Once packaged gets are enabled, a "Pack" button will appear in the main window, between the Get/Send buttons and the Stop button.  To a folder as a package, select it in the Remote Browser, and click the "Pack" button.  If the server has been configured to support packaging, the entire contents of the entry you selected will be packaged and downloaded.

The client will send its list of package formats to the server, and the server will choose the first one it supports.  A typical list might be "zip,tgz,tar".

The file will be saved with a name ending in ".TMP" during the download.  Because packages are generated in real-time by the server, they cannot be resumed if interrupted and the progress bar will not display.  Once the package download is complete, the suffix will be changed from ".TMP" to the type chosen by the server.

When you begin a Pack operation, the local directory will be searched for files which might conflict with the new package.  If conflicting files are found, you will be asked whether the new file should overwrite any old one once the download completes.

Servers from ExpeDat 1.9 and higher also support inline compression of individual files.  See the "Compression" section for details.  Note that you cannot combine inline compression with packaging: you may only use one or the other.