Distribute files

Uploads files from a local folder of the environment data folder to a remote server over FTP, FTPS or SFTP. Either scans the whole local file group (e.g. on a Timer) or uploads the single file it receives as ViaFileInfo. Optionally deletes or moves the local file afterwards. The counterpart of Collect files.

Pins

Pin	Kind	Types	Description
Input	input	NoInputData, Viaducta.TypeSystem.Metadata.ViaFileInfo	NoInputData (e.g. Timer): uploads every matching file of LocalFileGroup. ViaFileInfo (e.g. from Collect files): uploads only the file at FilePath.
Continue	continue	NoInputData	Called once after the upload finished, also when no file matched. Always sends NoInputData, also when the input was a ViaFileInfo.

Configuration

Field	Type	Default	Description
TransferProtocol	dropdown: 1 FTP, 2 SFTP, 3 FTPS	2	Protocol.
RemoteHost	string	localhost	Required. Host name or IP of the server.
Port	integer	0	0 = default port (21 for FTP/FTPS, 22 for SFTP).
UserName	string (max 256)		Login user.
Password	password (max 256)		Login password. For SFTP password authentication is used only when set.
ClientCredentials	string		Optional files on the Viaducta server, separated by ;. SFTP: private key files (without passphrase). FTP/FTPS: client certificate files.
RemotePath	string		Remote directory to upload to, e.g. /incoming/orders. For FTP/FTPS it must start with / (empty = /). For SFTP empty = login directory.
CreateRemotePath	boolean	false	Create RemotePath (including parent folders) when it doesn't exist.
LocalFileGroup	folder (FolderExplorer)		Required. Local folder relative to the environment data folder, e.g. /outbound/orders. Created if missing.
FileNamePattern	string	*	File name mask with * and ? wildcards (*.csv, ORD_*.xml). Only used when scanning.
OlderThanHours	integer	0	Scan only files not modified for at least this many hours. 0 = all files.
OrderBy	dropdown: 0 CreateTime, 1 FileName	0	Upload order when scanning.
TempNameTemplate	string	.%FILENAME%.tmp	Remote name used while uploading; the file is renamed to its real name when complete. Must contain %FILENAME%. Empty = upload directly under the real name.
ExistingRemoteFile	dropdown: 1 Skip, 2 Overwrite, 3 Fail	1	What to do when a file with the same name already exists remotely.
PostProcessing	dropdown: 1 None, 2 Delete, 3 MoveToGroup, 4 MoveToArchive	1	What to do with the local file after it was uploaded.
PostProcessFileGroup	folder (FolderExplorer)		Required for 3 / 4. Target folder relative to the data folder (MoveToGroup) or to the archive folder (MoveToArchive).
ParallelUploadCount	integer (1-16)	1	Number of files uploaded at the same time, each upload uses its own connection.
LogFileInfo	boolean	false	Log name and size of every uploaded file.

Behaviour

• On NoInputData the top level of LocalFileGroup is scanned (no subfolders). Files whose name starts with . are skipped, so partially written files (e.g. Collect files' .name.tmp) are never uploaded. If a scan is still running, a new scan request is ignored.
• On ViaFileInfo only that file is uploaded; it may be in any folder. A missing file raises an error.
• For each file:
  1. The remote file with the same name is checked: Skip leaves the local file untouched (it is checked again on the next run), Fail stops the run with an error, Overwrite continues.
  2. The file is uploaded to TempNameTemplate and then renamed to its own name (an existing remote file is deleted first with Overwrite). If the rename fails, the temporary remote file is removed.
  3. PostProcessing is applied, only to files that were actually uploaded. MoveToArchive stores the file in <archive>/<PostProcessFileGroup>/yyyyMMdd/. An existing file with the same name in the target gets the suffix _yyyyMMdd_HHmmss.
• The existence check and the upload are retried up to 3 times (1 s, 2 s delay), the connection is reopened when needed.
• The first file that cannot be uploaded stops the run (also the other parallel uploads) with DistributeFilesException; Continue is not called. The remaining files are uploaded on the next run.
• A summary (uploaded / skipped count) is logged after every run.
• Progress: a folder scan (NoInputData) shows done/total files while uploading and N/M files distributed at the end; a single ViaFileInfo upload shows no progress.

Notes

• With PostProcessing = None the files stay in LocalFileGroup and are uploaded again on every scan. Use Skip (default) to upload each name only once per remote folder, or a move / delete post-processing.
• The remote file name is always the local file name; files from different local folders with the same name end up as one remote file.
• FTPS accepts any server certificate, SFTP accepts any host key (no verification). Use expression settings (=Secrets.SftpPassword) for secrets.
• With ParallelUploadCount > 1 the upload order is not guaranteed.

Example

{ "TransferProtocol": 2, "RemoteHost": "sftp.partner.com", "UserName": "viaducta", "Password": "=Secrets.SftpPassword",
  "RemotePath": "/incoming", "CreateRemotePath": true, "LocalFileGroup": "/outbound/partner", "FileNamePattern": "*.csv",
  "PostProcessing": 4, "PostProcessFileGroup": "/outbound/partner" }

Timer → Distribute files → ...

Collect files → Distribute files (Input, ViaFileInfo) → ... (forwards every collected file)