run ftp -s:ftpscrpt.txt -A ftp.fec.gov

&& The ftp script we've already invoked

use dirlist

&& Opens the shell file we created earlier

append from text.txt type sdf

&& Appends the directory list into the .dbf file

replace all filenames with "get "+filenames

&& Adds an ftp "get" command before each file listing.

go top

&& Goes to the top

insert blank before

&& Inserts a blank row

replace filenames with "binary"

&& Adds an FTP "binary" command, critical for
&& downloading binary files such as .zips or .jpegs

replace filenames with "cd /FEC/electronic"

&& Adds an FTP change-directory command

go bottom

&& Goes to the bottom of the file

append blank

replace filenames with "quit"

&& Adds an FTP "quit" command

&& Suppose we didn't want all the files in the directory listings,
&& but only those produced after certain dates. This is easy with the FEC data
&& because the file naming conventions are date-based. You can use the file names
&& to eliminate from the script those files you're not interested in getting.
&& Suppose we don't want any files dated before March 25, 2000:

delete for filenames='get' and substr(filenames,21,8) < "20020325"

pack

copy to ftpscrp1.txt fields filenames type delimited with blank

&& Now we copy our work out of the .dbf file to a .txt file "delimited with blank" is necessary
&& to eliminate leading spaces from the text file.

&& Et, voila! We've now created a second FTP script that will go back to the
&& FTP site and retrieve the files we've specified.

close all
run ftp -s:ftpscrp1.txt -A ftp.fec.gov
&& We run the newly created script file, ftpscrp1.txt

run \pkzip\pkunzip *.zip
&& Then we unzip the files we've just created.