Fetch O Matic

Fetch-O-Matic (v 2.1) is a new approach to automated website maintenance via FTP. Fetch-O-Matic allows web authors to freely create and update files locally without needing to keep track of their work, and then automatically catalog the alterations and update the website. Fetch-O-Matic differs from other available synchronization and maintenance schemes in that it does not require any local machine to have a complete site copy. For example, one might decide to grab a few pages and change them (and/or add some new files) from a Powerbook. Later, the site copy on the primary machine can be quickly brought up-to-date with just two clicks - without having to remember what was changed or open the Powerbook. Fetch-O-Matic is extremely easy to use. Novice web authors in search of a simple way to update a personal web page won't be intimidated by its power. Experienced hands will find that previously dreaded operations such as multi-file search and replace, with the subsequent headache of tracking down and uploading scattered altered files, are rendered painless. Transfer errors such as uploading/downloading to the wrong directory are a thing of the past. If several people are maintaining a site they are protected from treading on each other's updates. Fetch-O-Matic was conceived and developed to fill a need in servicing a large site (http://www.filmscouts.com). Uploads and downloads of thousands of files at once have been performed with ease. But even on a site with just a few pages, Fetch-O-Matic will ease the updating chores. Fetch-O-Matic requires Dartmouth's FTP client "Fetch", AppleScript, the scripting addition Jon's Commands, and, optionally, Alessandro Levi Montalcini's "List Files" (providing a significant speed improvement for large sites), all of which are readily available online. Fetch-O-Matic runs on any Mac OS machine with reasonable (8mb+) RAM running System 7 or 8. It runs in the background. It is shareware with a single-user license fee of $20. There is a free 30-day trial period. The complete documentation is available online at the Fetch-O-Matic home page, http://www.filmscouts.com/software/fom.html