RE: Programming alternatives to the AS/400 FTP command.

Have you considered e-mailing the files?

 |  -----Original Message-----
 |  From: Alan Moulsdale [mailto:alan.moulsdale@virgin.net]
 |  Sent: Friday, October 13, 2000 05:07
 |  To: MIDRANGE-L@midrange.com
 |  Subject: Programming alternatives to the AS/400 FTP command.
 |  
 |  
 |  Hi guys,
 |  
 |  I am writing an AS/400 application for a client that needs 
 |  to place data
 |  (customers and products etc) on their ISP. This data will 
 |  then be downloaded
 |  from the ISP via a dialup connection to a database on a 
 |  laptop computer
 |  (using FTP on their laptop). The data will then be 
 |  processed on the laptop
 |  and another file (orders and changes) uploaded from the 
 |  laptop to the ISP
 |  (again using FTP) from where the AS/400 will collect and 
 |  process it. This
 |  will be done on many laptops.
 |  
 |  To avoid files being overwritten they will be in unique 
 |  batches, and to
 |  avoid the AS/400 downloading files while they are still 
 |  being written to,
 |  the PC will add a suffix to the batch after it has uploaded 
 |  it. The AS/400
 |  will only download batches with the correct suffix and then 
 |  delete batches
 |  it has processed. The AS/400 will also leave an 
 |  acknowledgement file so that
 |  the PC knows the batch has been process and can delete it itself.
 |  
 |  All in all quite a complicated comms handshake but it should be very
 |  effective.
 |  
 |  My problem occurs with the AS/400 FTP command. This is a 
 |  very clumsy way of
 |  doing things. At the moment my design is for the AS/400 to 
 |  write out the FTP
 |  commands required (open, user, put, get, close etc.) to a 
 |  source member at
 |  run time and then use this member as the input for the FTP 
 |  command. The FTP
 |  command will output to an error member which my program 
 |  will read after the
 |  completion of the FTP command. If there were any errors the 
 |  program can the
 |  write a new FTP member to retry them etc.
 |  
 |  What I want to know (finally!) is if there is a smarter way 
 |  of doing this?
 |  
 |  Can I, for instance, in ILE RPG open a connection to an ISP 
 |  and then put or
 |  get data, rename and delete files etc? This would hopefully give the
 |  feedback I require as each operation executes, so that I 
 |  don't for example,
 |  delete a file that I have failed to get.
 |  
 |  Any ideas? Any examples?
 |  
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