Using the Plain-Text Client (PTC)

EFT Server comes with a built-in upload form, known as the Plain-Text Client (PTC). When HTTP or HTTPS transfers are enabled in the EFT Server administration interface and your users have permission to upload to EFT Server using HTTP or HTTPS, they can upload files to their home directory via a Web browser using the PTC. The PTC uses JavaScript; it does not require you to install the Java Runtime Environment (JRE). If your end users cannot or do not want to allow JavaScript, you must turn off JavaScript in the browser. With JavaScript disabled, many of the PTC features are disabled, including file delete, file rename, change password, new folder creation, and log out.

The size of file uploads is limited by the setting in the Settings Template or user account and the fact that you are using HTTP to upload files. Browser-based uploads are limited to a 2GB or less file size. EFT Server checks the size of the uploaded file and will close the connection if it exceeds the 2GB limit. The browser stops the transfer process upon the connection closing and informs the user of the broken connection. (The over-size-limit error message sent by EFT Server will not be received by the browser, just the information regarding the broken connection.)

  • Ensure the Windows Firewall on the EFT Server computer is not blocking Web access. In most Windows operating systems, the Windows Firewall is turned on by default.

  • If you are sending files with the Secure Ad Hoc Transfer (SAT) module and using Single-Click Authentication, SAT creates the Single-Click link and sends it to the user. When the user follows the link, the PTC appears.

  • If the Web Transfer Client (WTC) is installed, enabled, and has licenses available, you can transfer files with the WTC instead of the PTC. The WTC benefits include resume support, a transfer queue, sending multiple files concurrently (as opposed to sequentially), no file-size limit, drag-and-drop support, and integrity validation.

To access the PTC

  1. In a Web browser, type or paste the URL for EFT Server. If you are using an HTTP or HTTPS port other than the default, you also have to provide the port number in the URL. (For example, type:

    http://10.0.0.124:8080/

    The PTC appears.

To upload a file

  1. Click Upload. The Upload bar appears. (To close the Upload bar, click Upload again.)

  2. Click Browse. A standard Open dialog box (depending on your operating system) opens to your My Documents folder.

  3. Click a file to upload to EFT Server, then click Upload. The file is uploaded to EFT Server and appears in the file listing.

To download a file

  1. Do one of the following:

To rename a file or folder

  1. Select the check box next to the folder or filename, then click Rename. The Rename dialog box appears.

  2. Click in the New Name box, type a new name for the folder or file, then click OK. The folder or file is renamed.

To delete a file

  1. Select the check box next to the filename, then click Delete. A confirmation message appears.

  2. Click OK to delete the file or Cancel to keep the file.

To create a new folder

  1. Click New Folder. A dialog box appears in which you can type a name for the folder.

  2. Click OK. The folder appears in the tree.

To change your password

In version 6.1 and later, if the user account does not have Change Password at the server, the Change Password button is not available.

  1. Click Change Password. The Change Password dialog box appears.

  2. In the Old Password box, type the password that you used to log in to the Web Transfer Client.

  3. In the New Password box, type a new password.

  4. In the Confirm Password box, type the new password again.

  5. Click Change Password to verify the new password or Cancel to keep your current password.

  6. The login dialog box appears. Type your new password, then click OK to log back in to EFT Server.

To logout

  1. Click Logout. A message box appears explaining that you have been logged out of EFT Server, and reminds you that for extra security, you should close the browser.

  2. Click Exit. If a confirmation message appears, click OK. The browser closes.

Customizing the PTC

You can customize the PTC to suit your needs. For example, you can change the GlobalSCAPE logo to your logo. Be sure to change only the HTML between the <body> tags. Changing content within the <head> tags could make the PTC unusable.

The safest way to edit the form is to make a backup copy first, then make one change at a time so that you can more easily back out the changes you make, if necessary.

The files that make up the PTC are stored on the EFT Server computer in:

To replace the GlobalSCAPE logo with your logo

  1. Edit your company logo so that it is 320 x 63 pixels and save it in:

  1. Open EFTWebClientPlainText.htm in a text editor and find the image tag (e.g., <img alt="GlobalSCAPE Enhanced File Transfer" src="/EFTClient/EFTPlainTextClientRes/banner.png" style="width: 320px; height: 63px" />).

  2. Replace banner.png with the filename of your logo.

(Alternatively, just name your logo banner.png and replace the GlobalSCAPE banner.png. Be sure to save a backup copy of the logos in another location.)

You will not be able to see your changes in a WYSIWYG editor. You will have to copy the changes to the EFT Server installation folder, then refresh the browser to see the changes. (It is a good idea to save a copy of all original files so you can revert to it them if necessary.)