Data transfer methods

Before you begin to transfer files, you must choose the appropriate file transfer type. You can use the default type, ASCII, or specify a different type such as EBDCIC or BINARY.

ASCII is the Internet standard for character encoding. EBCDIC is the standard for the IBM® i operating system. Select the appropriate type according to the following descriptions:

  • Use ASCII for transfers of files that only contain text ("text-only" files).
  • Use EBCDIC to transfer EBCDIC data between systems that both support EBCDIC. This will avoid the need to convert data between EBCDIC and ASCII on both systems.
  • Use BINARY for transfers of nontext files, such as binary numeric data, graphics files, and IBM i save files.

After you have chosen a file transfer format, you are ready to Transfer a file with FTP.