Information for FTP Users

The Securities & Exchange Commission's File Transfer Protocol (FTP) server for EDGAR filings allows comprehensive access to the SEC's EDGAR (Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval system) filings by corporations, funds, and individuals. These filings are disseminated to the public through the EDGAR Dissemination Service, currently operated under contract to Keane Federal Systems, which markets data directly to subscribers.

After early testing in 1992-93, beginning with 450 voluntary filers, companies began filing through EDGAR in 1994-95 with various phase-in periods for different form types. See Electronic Filing and the EDGAR System: A Regulatory Overview for more historical details.

To use anonymous FTP to access the EDGAR FTP server, use your FTP software to connect to ftp://ftp.sec.gov and log in as user "anonymous," using your electronic mail address as the password.

To preserve equitable server access, we ask that bulk FTP transfer requests are performed between 9 PM and 6 AM Eastern time. Please use efficient scripting, downloading only what you need and space out requests to minimize server load.

Using the EDGAR Index Files

The EDGAR indices are a helpful resource for FTP retrieval, listing the following information for each filing: Company Name, Form Type, CIK, Date Filed, and File Name (including folder path).

Four types of indexes are available:

• company — sorted by company name
   
• form — sorted by form type
   
• master — sorted by CIK number
   
• XBRL — list of submissions containing XBRL financial files, sorted by CIK number; these include Voluntary Filer Program submissions

Indexes are located in the following folders according to time period indexed:

• /edgar/daily-index — daily index files through the current year; previous year folders are available through 1994Q3
   
• /edgar/full-index — year folders contain quarterly indexes. Full indexes offer a "bridge" between Quarterly and Daily indexes, compiling filings for the previous business day through the beginning of the current quarter.

The following archive formats are available:

• ZIP compatible — .zip extension (e.g., master.zip)
   
• Macintosh StuffIt — .sit extension (e.g., master.sit)
   
• UNIX compress — .Z extension (e.g., master.Z)

Notes on Directory Structure

Raw text filings can be accessed via the paths indicated in the indexes, for example:

/edgar/data/CIK/0123456789-AB-CDEFGH.txt

Post-EDGAR 7.0 filings (after May 26, 2000) are also accessible via an alternative symbolic path incorporating an intermediate folder named by the accession number without dashes. All the documents submitted for a given filing will be in this folder:

/edgar/data/CIK/0123456789ABCDEFGH/0123456789-AB-CDEFGH.txt

Other documents that may be of interest:

• /edgar/data/CIK/0123456789ABCDEFGH/0123456789-AB-CDEFGH-index.htm
   
  (The HTML version includes hyperlinked table of submitted documents.)
   
• /edgar/data/CIK/0123456789ABCDEFGH/0123456789-AB-CDEFGH.hdr.sgml
   
  (The SGML header contents)

Important Note re: Data folder — The /edgar/data folder will show as empty. There are so many (tens of thousands) folders and files in this directory that access is not allowed. You'll need to "leapfrog" over the /data folder to include the subsequent CIK folder(s) in the filing path (/edgar/data/CIK/).

Getting the Actual Text Files

The following instructions relate to command-line FTP retrieval. Many FTP users will use programs that have a graphical interface, but the approach is similar and leapfrogging over the /data folder may still require manual entry of a full folder path as indicated in the indexes. To start with the indexes indicated above:

ftp> cd edgar/full-index
ftp> get company.idx

If you are downloading compressed files, remember to use binary mode.

The indexes indicate the paths and names of the text files. For example, the index might contain the following file name and path:

/edgar/data/100334/0000100334-06-000121.txt

To retrive this file:

ftp> cd edgar
ftp> cd data/100334/
ftp> get 0000100334-06-000121.txt

Notes on Filings

Indexes are updated each evening for the current business day's filings. Filing submissions that begin after 5:30 pm Eastern Time (10 pm for Ownership forms 3, 4, 5), will be disseminated the next business day, showing up in the following business day's index.

Filings are sometimes removed or corrected for a variety of reasons at the filer's request including, but not limited to, the document was submitted for the wrong filer, the document was a duplicate of a previously filed document, the document in its current form was unreadable, or the document contained sensitive information. Corrections processed during a given business day will be incorporated in the index processed that evening. However, removals processed on subsequent business days will not be reflected in any previous indexes; hence a few filings will no longer be accessible at the locations indicated in these indexes.

Corrections are noted in the Feed directory.

Feed and Oldloads Folders

Feed — The Feed directory contains a tar and gzip archive file (e.g., 20061207.nc.tar.gz; nc stands for non-cooked) for each filing day. Each filing compressed in the tar is a separate filing submission.

Oldloads — The Oldloads files contain a single concatenated copy of all filing submissions for that day (e.g., 20061207.gz) complete with the filing header. Corrections to previous filings, including deletions, are included in the oldloads files. Note that EDGAR index files are not subsequently edited to reflect these deletions.

Paper Filings

For filings not available through EDGAR, paper versions are available through the SEC Office of Investor Education. See How to Request Public Documents for more information. If you need certified copies of records or documents, your request should be submitted to certified@sec.gov.

Documentation and Helpful Resources

• Current list of all CIKs matched with entity name (13 MB, text file) Note that this list includes funds and individuals and is historically cumulative for company names. Thus a given CIK may be associated with multiple names in the case of company or fund name changes, and the list contains some entities that no longer file with the SEC.
   
• Descriptions of EDGAR Form Types
   
• Content of specific forms
   
• Current EDGAR Filer Manual, XFDL and XML specs, and other materials for EDGAR filers
   
• XBRL Interactive Data initiative
   
• XSLT Stylesheets for HTML Rendering of EDGAR XML Filings
   
• Interactive Data Filings and RSS Feeds, including monthly archive

Troubleshooting

Common FTP access problems include:

• operating in active mode — the FTP requires passive mode (PASV)
   
• local firewall issues — check to make sure that you can access other FTP sites.

Contact Information

• webmaster@sec.gov — connection issues and general questions
   
• webtech@sec.gov — technical questions about EDGAR software or hardware issues.
   
• EDGAR Filer Support — for EDGAR Filer queries, call 202-551-8900
   
• EDGAR Dissemination System: Contact Information — for subscribing to the the EDGAR dissemination feed
   
• For general SEC Contact information, including electronic mailboxes, telephone numbers, and mailing addresses, see Contact Us.

http://www.sec.gov/edgar/searchedgar/ftpusers.htm