Connection Information

Host

Enter the hostname or IP address of the remote host. If a connection cannot be established to this host, the Additional Hosts specified in the Advanced tab, are tried.

Username

Enter the username for the remote host account.

Password

Enter the associated password. 

Transfer Type

Select the data transfer type to be used during file retrieval.

• Binary - agent uses binary transfer type. Default setting.

• ASCII - agent uses ASCII transfer type.

Collection Retries

Enable

Select this check box to enable repetitive connection attempts.

When this option is selected, the agent will attempt to connect to the host as many times as is stated in the Max Retries field. If the connection fails, a new attempt will be made after the number of seconds entered in the Retry Interval (s) field.

Retry Interval(s)

Enter the time interval in seconds, between retries.

If a connection problem occurs, the actual time interval before the first attempt to reconnect will be the time set in the Timeout field in the Advanced tab plus the time set in the Retry Interval(s) field. For the remaining attempts, the actual time interval will be the number of seconds entered.

Max Intervals

Enter the maximum number of trial intervals. 

Restart Retries Settings

Enable

Select this check box to enable the agent to send a RESTART command if the connection is lost during a file transfer. The RESTART command contains the necessary interrupt information and will continue from that spot. 

Before selecting this option, ensure that the target FTP server supports the RESTART command.

When this option is selected, the agent will attempt to re-establish the connection, and resume the file transfer from the point in the file stated in the RESTART command, as many times as is entered in the Max Restarts field. When a connection has been re-established, a RESTART command will be sent after the number of seconds entered in the Retry Restarts Interval(s) field.

For further information about the RESTART command, see http://www.w3.org/Protocols/rfc959/.

Retry Restarts Interval(s)

Enter the time interval, in seconds, you want to wait before initiating a restart. This time interval will be applied for all restart retries.

If a connection issue occurs, the actual time interval before the first attempt to send a RESTART command will be the time set in the Timeout field in the Advanced tab plus the time set in the Retry Interval(s) field. For the remaining attempts, the actual time interval will be the specified number of seconds.

Max Restarts

Enter the maximum number of restarts per file you want to allow.

If more than one attempt to send the RESTART command has been made, the number of used retries will be reset as soon as a file transfer is completed successfully.

Collection Strategy

If there is more than one collection strategy available, a Collection Strategy drop-down menu list will be made visible. For further information about collection strategies, see Appendix 4 - Collection Strategies.

File Information 

Directory

Enter the absolute path to the source directory where the source files reside. If the FTP server is of UNIX type, the path name must be specified as relative to the home directory of the account.

Include Subfolders

Select this check box if you have subfolders in the collection source directory.

If you select Enable Sort Order in the Sort Order tab, the sort order selected will also apply to subfolders.

Filename

Enter the name of the source files on the remote host. Regular expressions according to Java syntax apply. For further information, see http://docs.oracle.com/javase/8/docs/api/java/util/regex/Pattern.html.

Compression

Select the compression type. This option determines if the agent will decompress the files before passing them to the workflow.

• No Compression - the agent will not decompress the files.

• Gzip - the agent will decompress the files using Gzip.

Before Collection

Move to Temporary Directory

If this option is enabled, the source files will be moved to a subdirectory called DR_TMP_DIR in the source directory, before collection. This option supports safe collection when source files repeatedly use the same name.

Append Suffix to Filename

Enter the suffix that you want to be added to the file name prior to collection.

Inactive Source Warning (h)

If enabled, when the configured number of hours have passed without any file being available for collection, a warning message (event) will appear in the System Log and Event Area:

^{The source has been idle for more than <n> hours, the last inserted file is <file>.}

After Collection

Move to

If enabled, the source files will be moved from the source directory (or from the directory DR_TMP_DIR if using Move to Temporary Directory) to the directory specified in the Destination field, after collection.

Rename Options

Rename

If this option is enabled, the source files will be renamed after the collection, and remain (or moved back from the directory DR_TMP_DIR if using Move to Temporary Directory) in the source directory.

Remove

If enabled, the source files will be removed from the directory (or from the directory DR_TMP_DIR, if using the Move to Temporary Directory option, after collection.

Ignore

If enabled, the source files will remain in the source directory after the collection. This field is not available if the Move to Temporary Directory option is enabled.

Destination

Enter the full pathname to the directory on the remote host into which the source files will be moved after the collection. This field is only available if Move to is enabled.

Prefix and Suffix

Prefix and/or suffix that will be appended to the beginning and the end of the name of the source files, respectively, after the collection. These fields are only available if Move to or Rename is enabled.

Search and Replace

Select either the Move or Rename option.

• Search: Enter the part of the filename that you want to replace.

• Replace: Enter the replacement text.

Search and Replace operate on your entries in a way that is similar to the Unix sed utility. The identified filenames are modified and forwarded to the target agent in the workflow.

This functionality enables you to perform advanced filename modifications, as well:

Use regular expression in the Search entry to specify the part of the filename that you want to extract.

• Enter Replace with characters and meta characters that define the pattern and content of the replacement text

Keep (days)

Enter the number of days to keep moved or renamed source files on the remote host after collection. In order to delete the source files, the workflow has to be executed (scheduled or manually) again, after the configured number of days.

UDR Type Section

Route FileReferenceUDR

Select this check box if you want to forward the data to an SQL Loader agent. For more information, see  SQL Loader Agent.

Command Port

Enter the port number of the remote FTP server.

Timeout (s)

Enter The maximum time, in seconds, to wait for a server response. A value of 0 will result in an indefinite wait.

Passive Mode (PASV)

This option must be enabled if FTP passive mode is used for the data connection.

In passive mode, the channel for data transfer between the client and server is initiated by the client instead of the server. This is used when firewalls block standard FTP connections.

Disable File Detail Parsing

Disables parsing of file detail information received from the FTP server. This enhances the compatibility with unusual FTP servers but disables some functionality.

If file detail parsing is disabled, file modification timestamps will not be available to the collector. The collector does not have the ability to distinguish between directories and simple files, sub directories in the input directory must for that reason not match the filename's regular expression. The agent assumes that a file named DR_TMP_DIR is a directory because a directory named DR_TMP_DIR is used when Move to Temporary Directory under the Source tab is activated. Therefore, it is not allowed to name a regular file in the collection directory DR_TMP_DIR.

Additional Hosts

Here you can enter additional host names or IP addresses that can access the source directory for file collection. These hosts are tried, in sequence from top to bottom.

Use the Add, Edit, Remove, Up, and Down buttons to configure the order of the hosts in the list.