RE: Need to automagically transfer AS/400 flat file to PC c: drive

I don't like using dos batch files if there's a more straight forward robust
alternative but, this is a technique we used to use to see if a Novell login
was successful.  Here's a batch file that checks to see if a file exists and
writes to a log file if the file doesn't exist:
****************************************************
if exist e:\dork.txt copy dork.txt dork.cpy
                            
if not exist e:\dork.txt echo "copy failed" > copy.log
****************************************************     
What we did for the Novell login was to look for a known file that only
existed on a network drive.  You can also use ">>" to append to a log file.

There are also horrible things you can do with the error levels returned
from commands.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Dan Bale [mailto:dbale@genfast.com]
> Sent: Tuesday, August 31, 1999 11:35 AM
> To: MIDRANGE-L@midrange.com
> Subject: Need to automagically transfer AS/400 flat file to 
> PC c: drive
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Currently, we have an application which includes a batch file 
> (running in a
> Win95 DOS window) that copies a file from the AS/400 shared 
> folder to the user's
> C: drive.  I have been asked to "bulletproof" this thing.  
> More than a few
> times, we have been called to determine and correct problems 
> where this batch
> file has failed.  The file in the AS/400 shared folder gets there via:
>      CPYTOPCD   FROMFILE(GFCHECK) TOFLR(APCHECKS) +
>                   TODOC(GFCHECK.DDT) REPLACE(*YES)
> 
> FROMFILE(GFCHECK) is a "flat" file; normal EBCDIC-to-ASCII 
> translation occurs.
> 
> Currently, the one-line batch file reads:
>       copy e:apchecks.ddt c:\pam\apchecks.chk
> where e: is the drive that maps to the AS/400 shared folder 
> containing the file.
> 
> When any number of possible errors occurs with this batch 
> file, the DOS window
> closes up and disappears, without giving a hint of the problem.  To my
> knowledge, the problems that have caused this batch program 
> to bomb are:
>   1.  Drive E: is not mapped to the AS/400
>   2.  Drive E: is mapped to the AS/400, but not pointing to 
> the correct folder
>   3.  The apchecks.ddt file does not exist on the E: drive
> 
> FWIW, our environment is: OS/400 V4R2, Client Access V3R1M3, 
> Novell Netware,
> Windows 95.  The shared folder that contains the apchecks.ddt 
> file is "normally"
> mapped automatically at bootup, but, occasionally, has 
> somehow become un-mapped
> (the user has made no confessions regarding this).
> 
> Regarding problem 1, is it possible to determine, in a DOS 
> batch file, whether
> the AS/400 is mapped to a given drive letter?  Is it possible 
> to determine if it
> is matched to _any_ drive letter?  If it is _not_ currently 
> mapped, is it
> possible to map the AS/400 to a drive letter to an open drive 
> letter?  BTW, I
> can also use WinBatch (a great shareware utility), if someone 
> has used that to
> do something like this.
> 
> And maybe there's a better way than using DOS altogether?  
> I've been out of file
> transfers long enough to forget if there's been any 
> improvements to do this type
> of thing.  Is there a way, with either one click of an icon 
> or using one AS/400
> menu option, to copy the AS/400 flat file to the user's C: drive?  We
> occasionally use FTP to transfer files between the AS/400 and 
> the PC, but this
> has to be transparent to the user (i.e., no user/password 
> entry, none of the FTP
> command entry stuff).
> 
> Thanks,
> Dan Bale
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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