Maximum length
The total number of entries for local follow-up processing, i.e. for -ls and -lf, may not exceed 1000 characters.
The total number of characters for remote follow-up processing, i.e. for -rs and -rf, may not exceed 1000 characters, but this maximum value may be lower if a FT version < V10 is used in the remote system.
This maximum length applies to the representation in UTF-8, see also section “Entering commands”.
Syntax rules
Unix systems
The entries for follow-up processing must be enclosed in single quotes (') or double quotes ("). If the entry for follow-up processing also contains single quotes (') such as the single quotes in a BS2000 password, the entire entry must be enclosed in double quotes (").
Windows systems
The entries for follow-up processing must be enclosed in double quotes ("). If the followup processing specification contains quotes or backslashes, these must be escaped with a backslash (\).
Variables
When starting follow-up processing in the remote system, the specified variables are first substituted, and the follow-up processing commands are then executed. The following variables are permitted:
%FILENAME
File name in the relevant system. The entry is automatically taken from the command. If you specified the variable %UNIQUE (or %unique) for the remote file name during transfer, the %FILENAME variable contains the already converted (i.e. unique) file name.
%PARTNER
Name or address of the partner system in long form, i.e. with dynamic partners, all address components are taken (protocol prefix, port number, selectors, ...). %PARTNER is substituted by the name of the initiator system (with the name as known in the partner system).
%PARTNERAT
Name or address of the partner system in short form, i.e. with dynamic partners, only the host address component is taken, see section “Specifying partner addresses”. In addition, each character is replaced by a '@' if it is neither a letter nor a digit or a period.
%RESULT
Message number of the request, as required by the system concerned. If, for example, a send request is successfully executed, the value of %RESULT in the local system contains the message number 0 (in openFT V10 and higher).
If the partner is an openFT on a BS2000 system, you may also use the variables %ELEMNAME, %ELEMVERS and %ELEMTYP.
Follow-up processing in a Unix system does not involve execution of the sequence of commands stored in the .profile file. Only the default values of the $HOME, $LOGNAME, $PATH and $USER shell variables are available, as well as the shell variables LANG and TZ as they were set by ftstart in the remote system. The shell or called programs may set further environment variables.
When follow-up processing is processed on a Windows system, only the system environment variables are available, not the user variables. In addition, the userspecific Registry entries are not loaded before follow-up processing is executed.
Which commands can be entered?
You can enter all commands of the corresponding operating system.
You can enter openFT commands, since the search path (PATH variable) for follow-up processing commands is preceded by the directory which contains the openFT commands of the respective instance, e.g. /var/openFT/instance/openFT/bin in Unix systems, where instance means the name of the corresponding instance.
When specifying BS2000 commands, remember to insert a slash (/) at the beginning of the command.
Special considerations in Windows systems:
Any program can be started, e.g. a shell command, a program (.exe or .com) or a batch procedure (.bat or .cmd). If the command requires a path specification, then use the absolute path.
Before calling the follow-up processing, it is also possible to switch to another directory as follows:
cd path-name;command
path-name is then used as the current directory. There must not be a blank between the semicolon and the command. path-name must not be a directory which is addressed using a UNC name.
Exception: The UNC checking is deactivated on the system on which the command is to be executed. To do this, the registry value described under
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/156276/de has to be generated.If the HOME directory is a network drive then cmd.exe may issue a warning and command execution may not take place on the network drive but at another directory.
If you wish to execute shell-internal Windows commands (e.g. move or copy), remember that you must specify the command processor cmd.exe /c at the start of the command.
Impacts on the FT request
If a prefix or suffix was defined in the profile, the character set available for specifying followup processing in the FT request is restricted to:
alphanumeric characters (letters (including blanks) and digits)
the special characters + = / ! - , @ _ " $ ' (all systems) and \ : # (only Windows systems)
a period (.) between alphanumeric characters
Follow-up-processing for FTAM and FTP
With requests for FTAM and FTP partners, the follow-up processing function is not available in the remote system (exception: -rs='*DELETE' for FTAM receive requests to delete the send file after successful processing). If FTAC is used in the remote system, this restriction can be avoided by creating an FT profile in the remote system and defining follow-up processing for it.