Editing files via windows ftp?

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Caporegime
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I have a mapped network location in Windows 7 pro giving me a root ftp connection to my server, I can create/delete/execute files and folders on the server through explorer but I don't seem to be able to edit files through it.

For example to modify a .txt file I have to open it locally save it locally and then copy to the directory, I can't save it to the directory directory because windows says I can't save it to that location.

How do I accomplish this basic task?
 
Scrap your FTP server and set up an SFTP server instead. For a start, it'll mean you're not sending passwords around in plain text like you are with FTP.

You can then use something like WinSCP to connect and edit files without having to save them to your local drive every time.
 
I can connect to my server using ftp, ftps or sftp and it provides multiple configuration files for common programs like filezilla. But I'd like to be able to do it within explorer if possible without requiring external programs.

asim18 said:
If you map it as a network drive you will be able to edit on the fly.

FTP is just a transfer protocol. Here's a list of things you can do via FTP: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_FTP_commands

If you map it as a Network Drive it will be like an actual local file system, and allow you manipulate files as if they were on your HDD.
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Can't map an ftp server address as a network drive.
 
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Is it a local server? If so, just use shared folders instead of ftp,much simpler..


If it's a remote server then either use a vpn or remote into it.
 
Remote server, it's part of my web hosting package. What do you mean by "remote" into it? A command line function? VPN does seem like a good solution though, I remember mapping my uni directory as a network drive that way "back in the day", I'll try that, thanks for that suggestion. :)

Out of interest though why is it not possible to edit files the way I tried? Windows, server or protocol limitation? I know that Notepad++ plugins allows editing remote files by using the simple workaround of opening and saving locally then copying to the ftp directory so there seems like a lot of demand for doing it.
 
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If it's shared hosting you'll be limited to FTP I'm afraid and FTP is limited to nothing more than transferring files. They definitely won't let you install any other servers/protocols. You'll have to go virtual/dedicated preferably with a Windows box, then share your public HTTP directory and mount it on your local machine to do live editing.
 
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The hosting package I'm using here is the £50 p/a "pro web hosting" package provided by tsohost.

Does not even the "ftps" or "sftp" protocols support live editing? I still would have expected windows to offer the same basic workaround that free programs like notepad++ offer to edit files over ftp if nothing else.
 
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Windows does offer a means of mounting remote folders as a local hard drive, it's just not done through FTP. Also, your web hosting is very likely not even running on a Windows box.

Shared hosting is literally shared hosting. They don't want you having a live "mounted folder" connection potentially 24 hours a day. This is why FTP connections time out if you just leave it connected for a while. This is why I suggested virtual/dedicated hosting. Because with shared hosting, you usually get some bandwidth and some disk space. But with virtual/dedicated, you also get CPU time allocated to you as well, so you can run more advanced things like mounting folders.

Windows treats FTP the way it's meant to be treated, as a means of merely transferring files across an IP network. If notepad++ has a button that syncs local files with the remote server, Windows itself has no inclination to be able to do this.

As suggested, you could use a 3rd party FTP client on which you can set up a sync partnership with a specific local and specific remote folder.

If you're using a WYSIWYG coder such as Dreamweaver, you can set up an FTP site from within the application itself. This will let you push any modified local files to the remote server at the push of a single button.
 
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notepad++ has an FTP plug-in (NppFTP which should let you live edit your files).

If you really want to be able to edit remote files how you want to you're best off with VPN instead of FTP (though good luck getting one on shared hosting).
 
Yeah it does have shell access and supports the ftps and sftp protocols.

Tsohost said I could use software like this to do what I want.

http://www.webdrive.com/products/webdrive/index.html

asim18 said:
Windows does offer a means of mounting remote folders as a local hard drive, it's just not done through FTP. Also, your web hosting is very likely not even running on a Windows box.

Shared hosting is literally shared hosting. They don't want you having a live "mounted folder" connection potentially 24 hours a day. This is why FTP connections time out if you just leave it connected for a while. This is why I suggested virtual/dedicated hosting. Because with shared hosting, you usually get some bandwidth and some disk space. But with virtual/dedicated, you also get CPU time allocated to you as well, so you can run more advanced things like mounting folders.
Click to expand...

Yeah I've used the map network drive feature before for my home network and also through vpn to my uni directory, the convenience is great which is why I wanted to be able to do it with this server.

I'm provided with the option of using windows as the server os if that makes any difference?

I can't really justify the expense of dedicated hosting I'm afraid, I host files on my personal computer if I critically need to do something that requires live editing.

On the cpanel php script selection this list comes up, don't know if these packages would be helpful for me nor not?

ownCloud
PHPfileNavigator
ProjectSend
AjaXplorer
Arfooo
eXtplorer
LetoDMS
eSyndiCat
OpenDocMan
 
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Winscp wins hands down here. Think about what you're doing... Think about the security.

I use winscp all day everyday. What I don't do is try to map folders on web servers for convenience... ;)
 
Actually it seems that webdrive allows SFTP servers to be mapped as well so I can treat it as if it were a local drive, which is exactly what I wanted to originally. Shame that it's ~£50 whereas winscp is free.
 
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So does anyone actually know why Windows lacks such a basic networking feature as sftp given how ubiquitous it is on the web? Especially considering this is the so called "professional" edition of Windows. Exactly the type of user most likely to require this sort of functionality.
 
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