1. Orchestrator Guide for Studio Version 8 and Prior
  2. Configuring a Connector to Transfer Files Using File Transfer Protocol (FTP)

Configuring a Connector to Transfer Files Using File Transfer Protocol (FTP)

You can configure a connector to transfer files using FTP or secure file transfer protocol (SFTP). With this type of connector, referred to as an FTP connector, you can:

  • Transfer the output of a report service request to an FTP server.

    The connector can transfer the output of a standard EnterpriseOne report or an embedded Oracle BI Publisher report.

  • Transfer other types of files from an FTP server to a temporary directory on the AIS Server.

    An administrator must define the temporary directory in the basic configuration settings for the AIS Server. For more information, see Set Up a Temporary Directory on the AIS Server for File Transfers.

  • Transfer files in the temporary directory on the AIS Server to an FTP server.

  • (Orchestrator Studio 7.0.0.0) Retrieve data from a CSV file. The data is imported as an array, which gives you the option to map the data in the array to a subsequent orchestration step.

Note: You can also use a REST connector to transfer a report or file to an external location. See Configuring a REST Connector to Transfer Files to a REST Service

An FTP connector uses a secure connection created through a soft coding record to receive and send a file from an FTP server.

An FTP connector can transfer only one file at a time.

Configure an FTP Connector to Transfer the Output of a Report Service Request

  1. Create and name the connector service request as described in Creating Service Requests.

  2. On the Connector design page, click the Connection field and select a connection under the FTP category.

    If there are no connections available for an FTP connector, ask your system administrator to create one. See Creating a Soft Coding Record for an FTP Server Connection (Orchestrator Studio 6.1.0).

  3. Click the Report option and complete these fields:

    • Job Number. By default, this field contains a variable. When you add this connector to an orchestration, you can map the job number of a report returned from a report service request to this variable. You can modify the variable name if desired. Or you can delete the variable (including the special characters) and replace it with an actual job number.

    • Execution Server. Enter the server where the report was generated. By default, this field contains a variable. When you add this connector to an orchestration, you can map the name of this server from the report service request, which returns the name of this server. You can modify the variable name if desired. Or you can delete the variable (including the special characters) and replace it with a server name.

    • File Type. Select the type of file that the FTP connector will transfer. The default is PDF for standard EnterpriseOne reports. If transferring an embedded BI Publisher report, then select one of the BI Publisher file types.

    • Path Extension. Enter the name of the sub-directory on the third-party FTP server where you want the report output sent. The FTP Connection already contains information for the base folder.

  4. Click Save.

Configure an FTP Connector to Transfer a File from an FTP Server to the AIS Server

  1. Create and name the connector service request as described in Creating Service Requests.

  2. On the Connector design page, click the Connection field and under the FTP category, select a connection to the server from which you want to transfer a file.

    If there are no FTP connections available, ask your system administrator to create one. See Creating a Soft Coding Record for an FTP Server Connection (Orchestrator Studio 6.1.0).

  3. Select the File option.

  4. Click the Type drop-down list and select Receive.

  5. In the Source File Name field, enter the name of the file that you want to retrieve.

  6. In the Target File Name field, enter the name of the target file if you want it to be saved with a different name then the source file when saved to the temporary directory on the AIS Server.

  7. Click the Use Temporary File Location check box to save the file to the temporary directory on the AIS Server.

  8. Enable or disable the Remove File toggle. Enabled by default, this removes the file from the temporary location on the AIS Server after it is transferred.

  9. Click Save.

Configure an FTP Connector to Transfer a File from the AIS Server to an External Server

  1. Create and name the connector service request as described in Creating Service Requests.

  2. On the Connector design page, click the Connection field and under the FTP category, select a connection to the server to which you want to transfer the file.

    If there are no FTP connections available, ask your system administrator to create one. See Creating a Soft Coding Record for an FTP Server Connection (Orchestrator Studio 6.1.0).

  3. Select the File option.

  4. Click the Type drop-down list and select Send.

  5. In the Source File Name field, enter the name of the file that you want to transfer.

  6. Click the Use Temporary File Location check box to save the file to the temporary directory on the AIS Server.

  7. In the Target File Name field, enter the name of the target file if you want it to be saved with a different name than the source file when saved to the AIS Server directory.

  8. Enable or disable the Remove File toggle. Enabled by default, this removes the file from the temporary location on the AIS Server after it is transferred to an external server.

  9. Click Save.

Configuring an FTP Connector to Import Data from a CSV File (Orchestrator Studio 7.0.0.0)

Use an FTP connector to retrieve data from a CSV file on an FTP server. The data is imported as an array, which gives you the option to map the data set in the array to a subsequent orchestration step. See Passing a Data Set to a Subsequent Orchestration Step for more information.

  1. Create and name the connector service request as described in Creating Service Requests.

  2. On the Connector design page, click the Connection field and under the FTP category, select a connection to the FTP server where the CSV file is located.

    If there are no FTP connections available, ask your system administrator to create one. See Creating a Soft Coding Record for an FTP Server Connection (Orchestrator Studio 6.1.0).

  3. Select the File option.

  4. Click the Type drop-down list and select Receive.

  5. Click the Import CSV as Array check box,

    The Orchestrator Studio displays additional fields to configure the importing of data from a CSV file.

  6. If the CSV file has a header row, click the CSV Has Headers check box to exclude the header row.

    This ensures that at runtime, the Orchestrator will not import the column headers as data in the array.

  7. Complete the following fields:

    • Delimiter. Enter the delimiter used in the CSV file to separate values.

    • Source File Name. Enter the name of the CSV file.

    • Path Extension. Enter the name of the sub-directory on the third-party FTP server that contains the CSV file. The FTP connection already contains information for the base folder.

    • Data Set Variable Name. Enter a name for the data set or array in which the data from the CSV file will be imported.

      Later, you can reference this data set variable name to map data in the data set to a subsequent orchestration step.

  8. Enable or disable the Remove File toggle. Enabled by default, this removes the file from the temporary location on the AIS Server after the data is imported.

  9. In the Model CSV File section, select a model CSV file to define the columns in the CSV file that you want to import.

    The CSV file should be a copy of the CSV file from which the FTP connector will import data, or you can use a different CSV file as long as it has the same column names.

    1. Click Browse to select a file and then click Ok.

      If the CSV Has Headers check box is selected, the grid displays the column names from the CSV file in Member Name and Variable Name columns. Otherwise, the grid displays column 1, column 2, and so forth.

    2. In the grid, you can change the member names or variable names, and you can use the X button at the end of the rows to remove any columns from the import.

      The variable names are used to represent the values imported into the array. If you map these values to a subsequent orchestration step, you will select these variable names for the mappings.

      Caution: When importing the CSV data into an array, the order of the columns, not the names of the columns, is respected. If the CSV has 10 columns and you only specify eight in this grid, the array will contain the first eight columns from the CSV. If column headers are present, the third column in the CSV file will be mapped to the third row of this table, regardless if the column and member names match.

  10. Click Save.