openFT offers four types of follow-up processing requests:
Follow-up processing in the local system after successful file transfer
Follow-up processing in the remote system after successful file transfer
Follow-up processing in the local system after unsuccessful file transfer
Follow-up processing in the remote system after unsuccessful file transfer
The conventions of the system on which the follow-up processing is to be performed are decisive for the syntax and processing of the statements and commands. A command sequence can only be processed in the remote system if an FT that supports this function is used in the remote system.
Variables for follow-up processing
You may specify variables within the command or command sequence for follow-up processing, e.g. for the partner name oder the file name. These are substituted at the start of follow-up processing in the particular system using the values obtained from the file transfer requests.
Details on the allowed variables can be found in the corresponding openFT manual "Command Interface".
Maximum length for follow-up processing
You may specify data for follow-up processing both for the local and for the remote system, depending on the of openFT version used. In each case, no more than 1000 characters may be used. The number of characters evaluated depends on the operating system and is stated in the relevant FT description. Please observe that
the limit length applies after any necessary translation of variables.
as of openFT V12, follow-up processing commands in Windows systems are converted into the UTF-8 character code and that therefore characters that are not present in the ISO646 character set occupy more than one byte in memory.
The limit of up to 1000 characters can be bypassed by calling a procedure, a shell script or a program from within the follow-up processing. A procedure may contain the command sequence which is to be executed on success or failure of file transfer.
Follow-up processing with FTP or FTAM partners
Restrictions apply to transfers with FTP or FTAM partners, since the FTP or FTAM protocol does not permit transfer of follow-up processing data. Follow-up processing in the FTP or FTAM partner system is possible only if it is stipulated there in an FTAC admission profile. It is always possible to initiate follow-up processing in the local system.
Deleting the send or receive file following the file transfer
The special form of follow-up processing, *DELETE, is available for requests on which the send file is to be deleted following successful transmission. On the local system, this function is available for all partners. On the remote system, this function is only available for openFT and FTAM partners.
To avoid undefined file fragments in the event of unsuccessful file transfer, it is useful to delete the receive file via follow-up processing in such cases.