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FTP Quick Upload Action |
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FTP Quick Upload Action |
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FTP Quick Upload dialog (login tab) |
FTP Quick Upload dialog (files tab) |
Description
The FTP Quick Upload action encapsulates the FTP Login Step, FTP Upload, and FTP Logout all in one step. Use FTP Quick Upload to upload files through the Internet to a specific FTP (File Transfer Protocol) Server. A common use of this functionality would be to automatically upload the latest versions of certain files to a web site.
The "Quick" in "FTP Quick Upload" means that you do not need to specify a FTP Login step before using this action. Nor do you need to specify a FTP Logout step. All the required parameters are contained within this single step. However, because of this, this action is not useful for multi-step transactions in a single task.
Upon executing this step AutoMate™ will login to the server you have specified, upload the file and immediately log out. No further interaction with the FTP server is possible without using the FTP Login step or another quick upload/download.
Parameters (Login tab)
Host
Specifies the FTP server to connect to. This parameter may either be a valid host name (ftp.microsoft.com) or an IP address (555.555.555.555). Do not preface the entry with a protocol such as ftp:// or the step will fail.Username
Specifies the username to log into the FTP server with. The target FTP Server may either accept or refuse the connection based on this value. For anonymous FTP connections, use the username "Anonymous"Password
Specifies the password to log into the FTP server with. The target FTP Server may either accept or refuse the connection based on this value. For anonymous FTP connections, most FTP servers prefer that you use your e-mail address for the password.Port
Specifies the TCP/IP port that AutoMate should attempt to use when connecting to the FTP server. The default port for FTP is 21, unless the target server has been customized to use wait on a different port this value can usually be left at the default setting (21).
Use Compatibility Mode
Due to the wide variety or FTP Server platforms and their various implementations of the FTP protocol, it is not possible for AutoMate to support Wildcards (*.*) and subfolders for all platforms. By checking the "Use Compatibility Mode" option, certain FTP features are disabled and AutoMate is able to connect and work correctly with non standard FTP Server types. However, when this option is enabled, only single files can be uploaded and downloaded (no wildcard support). At the time of this writing, known servers that require compatibility mode include: AS/400 (OS/400), VAX, and OS/2 FTP Servers. Compatibility mode is not required for most Windows NT/2000, Linux and Unix FTP Server systems.
Parameters (Files tab)
Local File
Specifies the complete path and file name of the file(s) on the local system which is to be uploaded to the FTP Server. For example (exclude quotes):"c:\docs\budget.xls" (to upload a single file)
"c:\docs\*.*" (to upload all files in the docs folder. The remote file name should be specified the same as the local file if you want to retain the original filename except with UNIX-style forward slahes for example: "/foldername/*.*" (do not include quotes))
"c:\docs\*.xls" (to upload all file with the .XLS extension in the docs folder. The remote file name should be specified the same as the local file except with UNIX-style forward slashes for example: "/foldername/*.xls" (do not include quotes))
Remote File
Specifies the name the folder that the file(s) will be uploaded to and the filename(s) that it will be given once uploaded to the server. When using wildcards on the Local file to upload multiple files, be sure to inlude the same wildcard mask at the end of the remote file path if you want to retain the existing filenames and extensions (renaming is also supported by specifying an alternate filename/extension). Also remember that the slashes in the "Remote File" must be UNIX-style forward slashes (/) as opposed to the DOS/Windows style backslashes (\) used in the local file parameter. The following examples are valid entries for a remote file:"/test.txt" (the file that was upload will go into the root (top-level) folder of the server and will be named test.txt)
"/foldername/test.txt" (the file that was upload will go into the "foldername" folder of the server and will be named test.txt)
"/foldername/*.txt" (in this example the user specified a wildcard mask of *.txt in the local file -- the files will retain their names and go into the foldername folder on the FTP server)
Note that the root folder (/) should be included for relaibility and a fully qualified path and filename.
FTP Log File
Specifies a fully qualified DOS style path and filename where automate can log the transactions of the FTP Session. An example of a valid entry for this parameter is "c:\logs\ftplog.log"Overwrite
Specifies that the log file specified in the FTP Log File parameter should be overwriten if it already exists when a new FTP session is started.
Notes
Of course, this step will only work providing you have rights on the FTP server to perform it.
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