File Transfer API

Question

Is there a generic File Transfer API out there somewhere? Here's what I'm after:
- Could be used to send a file to or receive a file from a remote computer.
- The implementation of the transport is encapsulated. Example transport implementations include FTP, RMI, direct socket, NFS reference.
I'm working on a transport method that aims to increase transfer performance over unreliable networks. If my app were programed to such an API, I would be able to easily substitute different transport strategies depending on network conditions.

Answer 1

Sorry, I didn't read the whole thing.
That is the easy part. Just use the proxy design pattern. I've done and seen this in practice many times. It is the standard solution when you need to dynamically pick and choose the transport layer.
interface FileTransferProxy {
  public void transferFile(String host, int port, File file) throws XYZ;
class FtpTransporter implements FileTransferProxy {
  // impl goes here.
// Set the transport impl to use.
TransferUtil.setFileTransferProxy(new FtpTransporter());
// or
TransferUtil.setFileTransferProxy(new RmiTransporter());
// basic usage ...
FileTransferProxy proxy = TransferUtil.getFileTransferProxy();
proxy.transferFile(host, port, file);