file sharing

[earlrainer]

I was wondering how file sharing programs like Napster,Morpheus,Kazaa etc work?
Is it possible to develop a small program in delphi that does a similar kind of function i.e. if two guys are connected on the internet
is it possible to copy a file from one guys computer to another computer?
what are the components that are to be used?
will wininet help?
Can you point me to some resources on the net that will help me to make such a program.

Thanks

 

[beanso]

If you know Java, FreeNet is an open source file sharing program. This means you can download the source and have a look at it.

As to developing a similar program in Delphi I'm sure you can. Even ol' ftp enables you to transfer files if that's all you're after. This isn't the same as Napster though, I think, since they allow users to download from many other users but ftp lets many users download only from one server (i.e only one central computer). Depends on what you want.

 

[earlrainer]

hi,
This is what I want to do......
I have two computers connected to the internet.
I want to transfer some files from one computer to the other (so unlike Napster which allows download from multiple sources, I will always have only two computers which will share files )
Maybe FTP will help, but it is unknown territory to me.
by using FTP can I share files between two computers somehow?
Can you throw some light on the use of FTP in delphi

 

[fsquall]

First of all, I'll just say that I haven't tried making an ftp program before in any language. Maybe you could search for an ftp component. I think Indy is a major internet components package so it might have an ftp component. Having said that, I have developed a file transfer program in C with WinSock but that was using a simple protocol I made up myself.

FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol. As you can guess, it lets you transfer files from one computer to another. One computer acts as a server, and many others can be it's client. In your case, you might run the server (which waits to detect anyone trying to connect) and your friend might run an ftp client. Your friend would try and connect to your server, with passwords of course. Now, he can request files from your computer and download them. Of course, you can be the client and he can be the server, but they are two separate programs. There's also nothing to stop you from running a client and server at the same time so you both can download files from each other.

As for the protocol part it's basically just an agreement. I'm not familiar with the ftp protocol so I'll just give a generalised example. When you want to download a file, you might send the string 'get filename'. Now if there wasn't an agreement on what each string means, the server wouldn't understand your request. So the protocol might say that 'get filename' means that the client wants to download the filename file. So the protocol is basically just a formalised set of rules that enable clients and servers to understand each other. That's why there can be so many different ftp clients and servers. They're all different programs but because they use the same protocol, each can understand the other.

It's very similar to HTTP.

If you're still unsure on anything, don't hesitate to ask.

 

[earlrainer]

Hi,
I have got this excellent set of components developed by Francois Piette, which has got a FTP client and a server as well.
and I have used them to let users share files on a LAN,
but now I want to go a step further and give users the posibilty of sharing files over the internet.

what I want to know is...whether its possible to share files over the internet by just using FTP, without using some website ,which acts like a common login point.

something similar to what program like '

http://WWW file

share' at

http://www.wfshome.com/

can do.... (Try this great program, if you have'nt yet)


so just to sum up what I really want to do..I want to run a scheduled program everyday at night which will pick up some files from computer and copy it to my computer.

what is the easiest way to do that??