Product ReviewsMultimedia software
Interarchy, in its various incarnations, is one of the Mac's longest established file-transfer applications. But its popularity has never quite matched its maturity. Ill-advised moves in past versions, most notably a fleeting dalliance with weird interface enhancements, led to simpler alternatives, such as Panic Software's excellent Transmit, gaining favour. Interarchy 8.5, released weeks after the program was bought out by its lead developer, goes some way to regaining lost ground. Interarchy is a file-transfer application that supports an impressively wide range of transfer protocols, stretching from FTP and SFTP, through WebDav, Apple's iDisk and HTTP, to Amazon's S3 remote disk format. Interarchy's interface will take some getting used to for anyone more familiar with the column view traditionally favoured by FTP applications. When you connect to a server for the first time, you're presented with an interface that looks and works more like Automator, Mac OS X's built-in automation program. Like Automator, a single window is divided into panes - in Interarchy's case, separating protocols, actions and steps. You select the protocol, then the action, and these steps are linked in the third pane. It's an unusual approach, but once you're used to it, it's easy to build connection instructions that can be stored as bookmarks for later re-use. This also means that the bookmarks aren't simply shortcuts to Internet locations. They can perform any actions, such as uploading or downloading files, creating a new file or mirroring a folder. Even better, bookmarks can be scheduled by adding them to a Queue window, so you can set up actions to be performed at a given time, or at recurring intervals. Once you've connected to a server, however, Interarchy works intuitively. Listings are clearly displayed in windows, with
Interarchy supports two-way mirroring, complete with a dry-run option to ensure the mirror doesn't destroy data when it goes live. But the program also lets you create Net disks, virtual volumes that you can manipulate locally on your desktop, with changes reflected online. Interarchy also offers full support for .Mac iDisks, although unlike rival Transmit, you can't sync bookmarks over .Mac. Version 8.5 is an incremental upgrade, but it does sport a few worthwhile new features - in particular, an Open in Terminal command, which allows you to run remote SSH sessions in the Terminal, and a Dock menu, which lets you launch bookmarks or connect to servers through the Dock and makes quickly connecting to servers much easier. Interarchy's performance was excellent - in our tests, it was either neck-and-neck with, or fractionally faster than, Transmit for FTP transfers. But raw transfer performance isn't the sole measure of speed, and Interarchy also includes a number of useful, if not unique, time-saving features. Mirroring a near-identical feature in Transmit, it offers a Droplet option - server connections can be stored as Finder icons, allowing for drag-and-drop uploading of files. But Interarchy also offers second-to-none scriptability, boosted further in this version. Even those who tend to shun AppleScript could benefit from its automation routines: the program can now record your actions from a new Script menu and turn them into scripts. In version 8.5, you can also run scripts from the Dock menu. But Interarchy isn't just a file-transfer client. It's also a network-administrator tool, supporting traceroute commands, port scanning for open ports, packet sniffing and a network traffic monitor. Web developers, too, will appreciate the ability to download entire websites and check link validity on chosen web pages or entire sites. This leads to our one main criticism of Interarchy: its range of features will inevitably be overkill for much of its target market, who simply want a reliable FTP application. But in practice, its different elements are well isolated and whatever task Interarchy is asked to perform, it does it remarkably well. By Tom Gorham |
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