The Catalyst File Transfer product is a single ActiveX control which provides a simplified interface for downloading and uploading files. By providing a common interface for dealing with FTP and HTTP servers, the control allows a developer to concentrate on file transfer, and ignore protocol-specific issues. The control can transfer a file with a single method, simply by specifying a URL, as in a web browser, without the need to separately supply the protocol, host, port, file name, and account information. Alternatively, connection and access information may be supplied separately, to allow multiple file transfer operations to be performed in a single server session. In either case, the differences between the supported protocols are kept to a minimum. Advanced features such as support for proxy connections and secure, encrypted client sessions are easily implemented by simply setting a few properties.