The extension is different for each ComOS:
pm3_3.5 (extension of "5")
pm3_3.7.1 (extension of "1")
pm3_3.7.2c3 (extension of "2c3")
Web Servers will send a Content-Type to the browser, but FTP won't. When an
FTP stream comes into a browser, (if it doesn't know the extension), it
samples the data received, and decides whether or not it is text or binary
data, and displays (or asks to download) accordingly.
I just checked a little further. PM3 images are uuencoded, so they display
as text in both browsers. PM2 images are binary, so Internet Explorer askes
if you want to open or save the file. Interestingly enough, Netscape just
displays the file. I guess Netscape assumes text data if it doesn't know
the extension. (This was checked in both Netscape 3 and 4.)
FTP servers just do what they're told to. If you use a text-based basic FTP
program, it defaults to type ASCII. If you downloaded a PM2 ComOS file (or
any binary file for that matter), it will be corrupt. This same thing is
happening with Netscape. It uses text for anything it doesn't know about,
corrupting the file. Internet Explorer is a little better, in that it
samples that data, and switches to a binary stream automatically if it
detects that the file is binary.
I think the final outcome on this is that you should be right-clicking and
selecting "Save As" for any file that you want to save that comes up in the
browser window. Otherwise you won't get the file correctly. The tools only
work correctly if you use them correctly. That means understanding the
limitations of accessing an FTP site through a browser.
(Of course, when Netscape starts giving out the source code, you could
always rewrite the FTP code to default to binary instead. <G>)
Jaime Bozza
Nucleus Communications, Inc.
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