A Norton Commander-style dual-panel FTP client for MS-DOS running on any x86 machine. The left panel shows the local DOS filesystem; the right panel connects to an FTP server via the mTCP TCP/IP stack — fully keyboard-driven in 80×25 text mode.
Download latest release here: https://github.com/Projanglez/ftp4dos/releases/latest
- Two panels: local (DOS) and remote (FTP, passive mode)
- Navigate directories; view files with F3 (or Enter) — up to 32 KB displayed (remote view downloads temp file first)
- Edit local text files with F4 — minimal full-screen editor (~32 KB, local only)
- Compact size display for large files (M/G units); locale-aware number/date/time formatting from the DOS country setting
- Copy in both directions (F5), including recursive directory trees, with live transfer telemetry (current/average speed, per-file and batch ETA)
- Move (F6) and rename (Alt+F6); recursive move/copy/delete for whole directory trees
- Pause (P) and cancel (ESC) during a running transfer
- Create directories (F7) and recursive delete (F8); Copy/Move/Delete confirm with recursive file/directory counts and total size
- Multiple selection with the Ins key (Norton style) for copy/move/delete
- Configurable per-panel sorting (Alt+F3): by name, extension, size, date or time, ascending or descending — remembered across launches
- Swap the two panels left/right with Ctrl+U (remembered across launches)
- Search / jump-to-name (Alt+F7 or Ctrl+F): jump to the next entry whose name starts with the typed text, wrapping to the top
- Full-screen toggle (Alt+F8): give the active panel the full 80-column width so long remote names stay readable
- Site manager — save and load multiple named FTP connection profiles (host, port, user, password, start directory) in
FTP4DOS.SIT, reached from the [Manage...] button in the connect dialog - File checksums (Alt+F9): CRC32 + MD5 for local and remote files, optionally saved to a file
- Long remote file names kept in full (beyond the 8.3 / 40-column display) and used for transfers; Alt+F2 "Detail" shows the complete name and size
- Large remote directories — the default listing holds 512 entries (with a popup when there are more); start with
/EXMEMto store the remote list in extended (XMS) or expanded (EMS) memory and browse directories with several thousand files - Bilingual German/English UI (auto-detected from DOS country setting, or forced on the command line:
FTP4DOS /L:EN)
- Open Watcom C/C++ (wmake, wpp, wcc, wasm, wlink)
- Windows or DOS host for cross-compilation
- Target: 16-bit real-mode DOS, Large memory model, 8086+
mTCP is an external dependency and is not part of this repository.
This project builds against the official mTCP, version 2025-01-10.
Download the source archive from the official mTCP home page (there is no
official git repository) and extract it into the mtcp/ directory:
- mTCP home page: http://www.brutman.com/mTCP/mTCP.html
After extracting, the layout must be mtcp/TCPLIB/, mtcp/TCPINC/,
mtcp/INCLUDE/ and mtcp/APPS/FTP/. Always use the current official
release rather than a third-party mirror.
Then build with Open Watcom:
wmake # produces FTP4DOS.EXE
wmake clean # removes objects and build artifactsNote: mTCP is compiled with -0 (8086), and the application code likewise
uses -0 (compatible with 8086/286/386+). Details are in MAKEFILE and CLAUDE.md.
A packet driver for your network card and an valid mTCP configuration file are required, as well as a valid IP-adress (static or dynamic) via mTCP.
FTP4DOS.EXEFTP4DOS [/L:DE|EN] [/H:HOST] [/P:PORT] [/U:USER] [/W:PASS] [/D:DIR] [/S:ALL|NOPASS|OFF] [/EXMEM[:XMS|EMS]] [/Q] [/MONO|/COLOR] (or /?)
Both / and - are accepted as the flag prefix. Flags are case-insensitive;
values are passed through as-is (username and password are case-sensitive).
| Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
/L:DE / /L:EN |
Force German or English UI |
/H:HOST |
Connect to HOST automatically on startup |
/P:PORT |
Port (default 21) |
/U:USER |
Username (default anonymous) |
/W:PASS |
Password |
/D:DIR |
FTP start directory after connect (empty = root) |
/S:ALL |
Save connection including password to FTP4DOS.SAV (default) |
/S:NOPASS |
Save connection but not the password |
/S:OFF |
Do not save this connection |
/EXMEM |
Store large remote listings in extended/expanded memory (auto: XMS then EMS; force with /EXMEM:XMS or /EXMEM:EMS) |
/Q |
Skip the splash screen |
/MONO |
Force monochrome display (MDA/Hercules) |
/COLOR |
Force color display (default: auto-detect) |
/? |
Show brief help |
After a successful connection, host/port/username (and optionally the password)
plus the FTP start directory are stored in FTP4DOS.SAV next to the EXE and
pre-filled on the next launch. Use /S:ALL (default), /S:NOPASS, or /S:OFF
to control what gets saved; the connect dialog offers the same three choices
interactively.
For more than one server, the site manager ([Manage...] in the connect
dialog) keeps any number of named profiles in FTP4DOS.SIT.
Security note: Stored passwords are lightly obfuscated (XOR + hex), not encrypted — and FTP transmits passwords in plain text anyway.
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| Tab | Switch active panel |
| Ctrl+U | Swap panels left/right (remembered) |
| Ctrl+A | File details (same as Alt+F2) |
| Ctrl+F | Search / jump to name (same as Alt+F7) |
| Ctrl+R | Refresh active panel (same as F9) |
| Arrow keys / PgUp PgDn | Move selection |
| Home / End | Jump to first / last entry |
| Ins | Mark entry (for multi-file copy/delete) |
| * (numpad) | Invert selection |
| + (numpad) | Mark files missing or different in the other panel |
| Enter | Enter directory / view file (same as F3) |
| Backspace | Go to parent directory |
| F1 | Help |
| F2 | FTP connect / disconnect (with site manager) |
| Alt+F2 | Detail: full name + size of the selected entry |
| F3 | View file (local or remote; max 32 KB) |
| Alt+F3 | Sort the active panel (name/extension/size/date/time, asc/desc) |
| F4 | Edit local file (minimal editor, ~32 KB, no undo/search) |
| F5 | Copy (recursive for directories) |
| F6 | Move (copy then delete source; recursive) |
| Alt+F6 | Rename (in place) |
| F7 | Create directory |
| Alt+F7 | Search / jump to the next name with a prefix |
| F8 | Delete (recursive with confirmation) |
| Alt+F8 | Full-screen the active panel |
| F9 | Refresh the active panel |
| Alt+F1 | Switch local drive |
| Alt+F9 | Checksum (CRC32 + MD5) of the selected file, optionally saved to a file |
| F10 | Quit |
This project is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0
(see LICENSE). It statically links the mTCP library, which is
also licensed under the GPLv3.
mTCP © Michael B. Brutman — official home page: http://www.brutman.com/mTCP/mTCP.html
This project builds against the official mTCP, version 2025-01-10, unmodified, obtained from the mTCP home page above. That exact source, together with the source in this repository, constitutes the complete corresponding source for any distributed binary (GPLv3 §6). Published releases include a copy of those mTCP sources as an additional release asset.
Please download mTCP from the official home page to obtain the current version; always prefer the official release over any third-party mirror.
This software is provided without any warranty; use at your own risk. See LICENSE (GPLv3, §15–16).
This software was developed with the help of an AI coding assistant (Claude Code).