Hi Jerry
We presently use ftp to pick up our orders (on an order by order basis).
The format is "fixed" , and validation has to be done on each individual order, each individual record
Each file that is ftp-ed is an individual order, with the order number being part of the file name.
The file contains
one record for the bill-to data
one record for the ship-to data
one to many records for the items purchased
one to many records for any allowances
one to many records for any miscellaneous charges
one to many records for any comments
a trailer record to denote the end of the order
Probably not the way that I would have done it, but it works
Each record type has a particular format
With using ftp, I STRONGLY suggest encryption of the entire data (not just credit card info)
***NOTE*** I said that the format is "fixed" in the sense that the format has indeed changed over the years, but the side that creates the data, and the side that receives the data has to be ALLWAYS in sync
Alan Shore
Programmer/Analyst, Direct Response
E:AShore@xxxxxxxx
P:(631) 200-5019
C:(631) 880-8640
"If you're going through Hell, keep going" - Winston Churchill
-----Original Message-----
From: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Jerry C. Adams
Sent: Tuesday, November 15, 2011 9:59 AM
To: Midrange-L
Subject: FTP Format
We currently get some of our orders through a very convoluted process that we are trying to streamline. This requires some changes to the software that sits on our Point-of-Sales PCs.
The software vendor has suggested FTP of the orders to our system (FWIW, Model 250 running V5R1) directly into a file. The latter part (direct to a
file) is okay by me and even preferred. My question to the group is: Isn't FTP just a character-by-character transmission? That is, the item number may be 1-5 numbers (1-99999). If only '1' is transmitted, would not that mean that everything gets PUT into the wrong locations of an SQL DDL file on our system in that case?
My preference is for them to just use an ODBC connection and use SQL to INSERT the records into the file.
Jerry C. Adams
IBM i Programmer/Analyst
The scientific unit of beauty is the millihelen, defined as the amount of beauty to launch one ship. -EUI
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A&K Wholesale
Murfreesboro, TN
615-867-5070
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