Upload or Download ?

Not that I want to start a war here but... :-)

In my mind, inside my head, I get cramps when I hear/read the following : "Then you download the hex-file to the controller".

In my mind you Upload _TO_ something and you download _FROM_ something. Am I the only one who have this (correct) opinion or are there anyone out there who can shed some light on why the two words are often randomly used with to/from ? (Got the question ?)

Any inputs are welcome

/RaceMouse

Reply to
RaceMouse
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I've come across two usages:

1) Downloading means "to me". Uploading means "from me".

2) Downloading means "sending data downwards", i.e. hierarchically, to something (presumably) smaller or further away from the top (whatever the "top" is - the Internet?).

The first one is the correct one (at least IMHO). Perhaps "download to the controller" is written from the point of view of the controller.

Steve

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Reply to
Steve at fivetrees

I would probably have said that (2) was the way I tend to think of it although I would say that (1) is the one that is techically correct, at least from an OO style computer science point of view. However, "me" becomes a bit more vague. I would say that "me" is the PC and therefore I can download to my target board only using definition 2 but I can also download from the internet using (1) and (2). However, if "me" is my embedded system then either definition works.

Of course what happens when you download your code to the target and then take back the logs from it. Do you download the logs from the target or do you upload them?

Reply to
Tom Lucas

"Tom Lucas" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@proxy01.news.clara.net...

Depends where the transfer is initiated from, maybe ;).

Steve

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Reply to
Steve at fivetrees

This comes from the old satellite days. Commands were (and still are) uploaded to the satellite. Data were (and still are) downloaded from the satellite.

In the case of your programmer, the hex file should be uploaded. During verification, the programmed data is downloaded.

Today, unfortunately, the term 'download' is misused to the point where it will probably eventually be synonymous with 'data transfer'.

HTH,

Noel

RaceMouse wrote:

--
Noel Henson
www.noels-lab.com       Chips, firmware and embedded solutions
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Reply to
Noel Henson

Nope.

You upload from an inferior device to a superior device in a hierarchy. You download from the superior device to the inferior. Whether either one is "to" or "from" depends on which side of the link you happen to be sitting on at the moment.

A controller is usually considered subordinate to the development system, and since you generally control the transfer from the development system side, you are indeed "downloading to" the device.

On the other hand, if you're sitting at a PC and fetching a file from an Internet server, the server is notionally the superior device, and you are "downloading from" it.

Sometimes, it isn't clear whether one device is superior to another, like in peer-to-peer networks. In that case, the terms "upload" and "download" are not appropriate. Say "transfer" instead.

-- Dave Tweed

Reply to
David Tweed

Using which definition? ;-)

Reply to
Tom Lucas

I tend to upload to and download from a device on the shelf, and download to and upload from the device under the desk. In either case the important word is "to" or "from". But then, I say tomato.

;o)

Cheers, Alf

Reply to
Alf Katz

2) is how it works in my head.
--
Grant Edwards                   grante             Yow!  Boy, am I glad it's
                                  at               only 1971...
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Reply to
Grant Edwards

"Tom Lucas" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@proxy01.news.clara.net...

Errrrrrrrrr....

Ok, I'll bite. Probably the first definition (upload == from me, download == to me). If I transfer from the PC to the target, while using the PC, I'm in principle uploading [1]. If I do the same while using the target, I'm downloading.

[1] Except I always say I'm downloading to the target - because of the second definition (download == to something smaller, lower down the hierarchy). In the same way, I upload to an FTP site (correct in both definitions).

My brain hurts.

Steve

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Reply to
Steve at fivetrees

I've always viewed is as a matter of perspective: in a given transfer the device sending data is uploading and the device receiving it is downloading. IOW both operations are carried out simultaneously, and which term to use depends on the machine being referred to.

The reason for the confusion when it comes to transferring data to a development board is because typically you are actively engaged with both both devices at the same time. Trying to devise a hierarchy of devices is nonsense if you think about it. Consider the case of an FTP mirror site - everyday usage suggests the mirror downloads from the master site, despite the fact that many mirrors mirror many sites and are consequently _huge_ - surely such a machine would be further up the hierarchy than a small master site. And what about transfers between two identical workstations?

--
Andrew Smallshaw
andrews@sdf.lonestar.org
Reply to
Andrew Smallshaw

Exactly my point. It makes no sense defining a hierarchy based on the size or function of the devices making the transfer. The geographical location of the devices also has nothing to do with it.

I've used a program from Agilent to transfer data from a data logger to a PC. In a menu it had an entry "Upload Data". It turned out that this upload of data actually transferred data from the logger to the PC. Thing like that is quite confusing.

If the definition is "Upload to" and "Download from" is true, then there can be no more confusement (is that a cromulent word ?)

/RaceMouse

Reply to
RaceMouse

I think the cromulins stopped using once the cringons took it up ;-)

Reply to
Tom Lucas

It is so completely clear that we have no agreement and will not agree about this. .. I have stopped using DL and UL in favor of 'transfer' because of this vexing problem. No wonder hu-mans can't get along.

And while we're at it is it just me that finds fault when somebody says they are going 'down' the road when the direction is north?

Chris

Reply to
Chris_99

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