[Question] Program for uploading to FTP

[Martinco]

Does anybody know of a program that can detect a modified file in a specified folder and then upload that specific file to an FTP server ?

To be used for CCTV cameras as and when motion is detected to upload immediately.

A friend of mine has had 2 burglaries within as many months and on both occasions the thugs searched the premises until they found the recorder/PC and took off with that as well. So............no pictures !

I looked at Filezilla but this cannot detect a modified file automatically.

[daveob]

So you just want something to keep a list of the files in a folder, and if a new file appears, upload it to an ftp site using the ftp access details stored in an ini file ?

I would suggest posting this as a project on vworker.com and specify you want a stand alone app for Win XP or higher, that reads the ini file, reads a reference file ( list of already uploaded files ) and uploads any new files.

Would also suggest about a 10 second delay to avoid trying to upload a file that is still being created.

You'll also want a log file updated with the details ( upload the log file once appended to ).

Also specify that you want it to run using the virgin OS - so it is not reliant on having the .net framework or Java installed. Although if you're prepared to make sure you have Java, it might not be a bad idea to use this, as it is quite versatile and easy to ftp with it. Ask the person that bids on the project to specify the language to be used, etc.

You'll probably get some asian coder whip it up in less than a day for about $10.

[Dave A]

I like daveob's line of thinking, except I was thinking this is a synchronisation task.

[AndyD]

Does your security system keep modifying the existing video file every time movement is detected and a recording session takes place or does it save each session as an individual avi file? Reason I ask is if it's appending each time to an existing file this file could become enormous and to keep backing this up to an off-site ftp location will become a bandwidth and time issue with our internet speeds. Can't your friend set up a server in a secure area within the premises and network everything with cat5e off a gigabit ethernet switch?

[daveob]

I got the impression that this was still pictures ( like jpg ), and not video clips. I may be wrong.

[Martinco]

Thanks Dave, thanks Dave and Andy, yes we are looking at .jpg still fotos or at most very slow video at say 10 fpm and yes, loading to a new file every time.
I looked at FTP Rush and it seems as though there is a possibility of this working but it would need some script to be written into the "task" tab. This has me baffled as I know nothing about writing script.
Andy, Dave, you would not like to look at this application and see if you can figure it out ? http://www.wftpserver.com/ftprush.htm.

The affirmative shoppers ripped my friend of for +- 800K in the last 2-3 months and this is becoming a joke ! He runs a computer store, so it is quite easy to gather that amount of value in double quick time before any response or cops can arrive.
Must be inside help as they take the security cameras and file server every time, no matter where he hides it.

[AndyD]

I'll check it out in the morning when I have a few minutes and post back but from a first glance it looks like you'll need to write some incremental backup code to go with it. The other issue is that if someone breaks in and immediately goes for the monitoring equipment before that recording session has finished then it's doubtful that newest video file would be in the storage directory so even with event driven incremental backup or synchronization it wouldn't have been backed up to a remote FTP server.

I'm still favoring a solution that uses a network storage device that is physically secure and stored locally. It sounds like this would be easier set up, more workable and a far cheaper option. It would still be an event driven sync/backup but it wouldn't require the tricky integration and large bandwidth and also wouldn't be reliant on an internet connection.

[adrianh]

I am sure that there are IP cameras available that do this automatically. Many systems have remote backup and monitoring. Why doesn't he just stick the monitoring PC in a safe or in the ceiling. He can easily install decoy cameras and a decoy monitor / recorder PC. All he needs to do is to make it very obvious that the decoy is where its at - connect a decoy camera to a cctv screen sitting on top of an old pc and put in a removeable hard drive (with a hand grenade inside it). The cleva deeeek she will think itsa krismooos and taka the decoy drive. Then she puts thee drive inna the poket and 20 minutes lata the drive she goes kaboom!

[daveob]

or place the dummy PC in a lockable device. The kind of thing that you bolt to the wall and the PC fits inside it.

Then connect the electric fence or the stun gun to the cage and arm it each afternoon.

[Martinco]

I am sure that there are IP cameras available that do this automatically. Many systems have remote backup and monitoring.

Yes Adrian that is the answer but the guy is stuck with CCTV cams at this stage and we are trying to get those working.
Thanks Andy, I shall wait for you to check it out.

[irneb]

If you can't find a ftp client which allows this, you could always map a drive letter to a FTP / WebDav server. Then all you need is a BAT file which runs periodically (say every minute) from Task Scheduler, or some form of "backup" copy (in this case I'd rather go with a file Sync / Replcation proggy though). Apparently it is possible to map a drive letter to WebDav servers directly since XP, but if you don't want to be bothered with a difficult setup you could always look at something like this: http://www.webdrive.com/products/web...DAVClient.html

[AndyD]

Okay I had a closer look at the wftpserver site and it appears they're offering a remote location service for uploading your files to and also a client that runs on your local pc. The client doesn't look like it will do what you want out of the box but it looks like you can use a simple script to automate it.

There's a couple of ways you can go about it, firstly you can set the client to to synchronize to a remote server on a timed event basis. This is obviously a balancing act between using unnecessary resources if the time is short and risk missing sync if the event is too infrequent. You can probably also do it at OS level where the backup/sync is triggered by the creation of a new file. I'm not very well up on either system to be honest, I'm not sure if Windoze has the hooks built in for callback on file creation in a predetermined location in order to trigger the ftp client application.

The burning question in my mind is still if the skollies break in or enter the premises the cctv system is triggered to start capturing the camera feed but the pc is vandalised during the recording process. This means the video info most likely won't have been written as a readable file on the HDD, the info will still be in volatile memory or possibly on the drive in an unreadable format whilst still being handled by the capture application. The file for that recording session won't be created and stored until the session is finished so your remote back-up or sync won't happen. How are you going to get around this if the capture app doesn't have a setting to make it save in ten second chunks for example?

[irneb]

Just thinking. If you can have a mapped drive to the FTP folder - can't the camera save its captures direct to that drive? That way you need not fiddle with any timed scripts / creating a "special" program to check a folder for new file creations.

Apparently you don't need to install any special client for this either, it's possible through straigh-forward windows XP/Vista (probably 7 as well): http://cybernetnews.com/cybernotes-m...ve-in-windows/

You can have a script running say once a day to delete any old files on that ftp folder (say more than one day old or so).

[Martinco]

The burning question in my mind is still if the skollies break in or enter the premises the cctv system is triggered to start capturing the camera feed but the pc is vandalised during the recording process. This means the video info most likely won't have been written as a readable file on the HDD, the info will still be in volatile memory or possibly on the drive in an unreadable format whilst still being handled by the capture application. The file for that recording session won't be created and stored until the session is finished so your remote back-up or sync won't happen. How are you going to get around this if the capture app doesn't have a setting to make it save in ten second chunks for example?

Andy,

I think one can set the file size to a specific size and if the size has been reached a new file will be created. The "'just created" file can then be uploaded which eliminates the file still being in limbo while the skollies are looking for the PC.
The program I am using will send a .jpg snapshot file immediately after the snapshot but this is IP.
I am also not 100% in sinc with the CCTV programs, so it will be trial and error.

[AndyD]

I wish you luck, I think it might be a fiddly and time consuming task to get this to work effectively but looking on the bright side, it should keep you outa the pubs for a while :-)