THE INFORMATION IN THIS ARTICLE APPLIES TO:

• EFT Server, all versions

QUESTION

I am configuring EFT Server to send files received in a user's folder to our back end system where they will be processed. The files are ASCII data files and the back end system is a Solaris server. Therefore I need to be able to specify that the file transfer is an ASCII file transfer.

How can I do this?

ANSWER

In EFT Server version 6 and later, you can specify the file types to transfer in ASCII mode in the Advanced Options dialog box of the Copy/Move Action and the Download Action.

In version 4 only:

As a rule, ASCII files are simply those that are plain text and as a result, may require some translation of the different End Of Line characters. First, try it with the default configuration and only worry about changing to ASCII if you find that the file is unreadable or the back end system cannot process the file correctly.

EFT Server's Copy/Move functionality, when connected using FTP/S (neither SFTP nor HTTP/S have ASCII or Binary modes), will transfer all files using Binary mode by default except for a list of specific file name extensions which will be transferred in ASCII mode. If a file being transferred has a file name extension that matches one of the file name extensions in the list, it will be transfered in ASCII mode. Otherwise the default Binary mode is used. The default list of ASCII file name extensions includes the following entries:

If the file to be transferred has any other extension, it will be transferred in Binary mode. This list is stored in the registry as a binary value for the ASCIIFileExts entry at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\GlobalSCAPE Inc.\TED 6\Settings\FileTypes.

Unfortunately, EFT Server v4 does not have a configuration option that will let you edit this list. If you need to make changes, then the easiest way is to use CuteFTP Pro to create a list of file name extensions that will be stored in the registry and then copy that registry subkey to the correct EFT Server registry key. Follow these steps to make the changes:

Caution: The following steps involve editing the Windows registry on the server computer. Incorrectly editing the registry may severely damage your system. These instructions are intended for the advanced user who is prepared to both edit and restore the registry. We recommend that you backup the registry on the server computer before proceeding.

1. Start CuteFTP Professional.
2. On the Tools menu, click Global Options.
3. Expand Transfer and then click ASCII Types.
4. Edit the list of ASCII file name extensions as needed. (Note: This process does not append to the existing list of file name extensions in the registry. The list you create here should contain all of the file name extensions shown above as well as the entries you want to add to the list.)
5. Click OK and then close CuteFTP Professional.
6. In Windows, click Start and then click Run.
7. Type regedit and click OK to start Registry Editor.
8. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\GlobalSCAPE\CuteFTP 7 Professional\Settings.
9. Expand Settings, right-click FileTypes and then click Export.
10. Type a file name and save it to a convenient location as a .reg file.
11. Close Registry Editor.
12. In Windows Explorer, right-click on the file name exported in step 10 above and click Edit.
13. Replace the existing subkey path (shown between brackets) with:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\GlobalSCAPE Inc.\TED 6\Settings\FileTypes

14. Save the file and close the editor.
15. In Windows Explorer, double-click the newly created .reg file saved above and add the information to the registry.
16. Stop and then restart the GlobalSCAPE EFT Server service to make the changes effective.

When finished, EFT Server will use the new ASCII file name extension list.