How do I automate a transfer of files with WS_FTP Pro where the only files I want are ones with the current date and/or time stamp specified in the name?
Would like to get the files with yesterday's date from remote site

This KB article will explain how to create a batch file that does several things to accomplish a transfer of files from a location that contains several files where the only ones desired are ones with the current date/time stamp in the name of the file. There are only two utilities within WS_FTP Pro that can accommodate such syntax. They are the Script Utility (ftpscrpt.com) and the Command Line Utility (wsftppro.exe).

NOTE: Progress does not support the creation or diagnosing the operation of batch files. There may be many other methods via which this task may be accomplished.

This batch file will:

1. Pull the current date and time from the local OS.
2. Set variables for several aspects of the date/time for use further on in the batch.
3. Combine those variables, if desired, into one variable which may be inserted into a file name for a WS_FTP transfer command.
4. Publish the desired syntax to a .scp (WS_FTP Pro Script) or .tmp (WS_FTP Pro Command Line) file for use with the appropriate Pro utility.
5. The batch can also be used to call the WS_FTP Pro utilities to run upon completing the creation of the utility configuration file.
 
Let’s look at section 1 of the batch file and the syntax required there. This syntax should work for Windows XP and newer Desktop and Server 2003 and newer Server OS's.

@echo off
for /f "tokens=2 delims==" %%a in ('wmic OS Get localdatetime /value') do set "dt=%%a"
 
This portion of the batch is doing several things, most importantly, gathering the local date/time from the OS. We then set that as a "master" variable named 'dt'. The %dt% variable, and any other variable you set, will remain a constant through your batch for any particular run.
 
The Date/Time supplied from the OS, which was subsequently set as the master variable of %dt%, supplies a string that looks like this: 20160225134605.309000-300 

We will use this same output for the rest of the article.


In the second section of the batch file we're pulling information from the master variable 'dt' and breaking it apart into sub-variables that can be used individually or recombined in any number of ways.
 
set "YY=%dt:~2,2%" & set "YYYY=%dt:~0,4%" & set "MM=%dt:~4,2%" & set "DD=%dt:~6,2%"
set "HH=%dt:~8,2%" & set "Min=%dt:~10,2%" & set "Sec=%dt:~12,2%"
 
See that we first 'set' then specify the information we want within the quotations. In the first one we're setting a two-date year variable called: %YY%. The values specified after the dt: (~2,2) indicate the start point in places from left and how many digits to include or 'select' from this point.
 
See %dt% starts with the four-digit Year of 2016. If we move two digits to the right from the beginning (left) and select out the next two, we pull the value of '16'. We have then SET the value for %YY% to equal 16. If we were to use the variable of %YY% in the batch following this point we would insert the value of 16 in place of that variable in any output. In a like manner each of the variables are set using this methodology.
 
The examples in this batch set variables for the following:
%YY% - two digit Year
%YYYY% - four digit Year
%MM% - two digit Month
%DD% - two digit Day
%HH% - two digit Hour
%Min% - two digit Minutes
%Sec% - two digit Seconds
 

In the third section of the batch we're combining several of these variables into one variable. This will make it easier to create cleaner looking batch file content further on. The order of the variables and any separation characters will be wholly dependent on the name of the files you are trying to move. The names of these variables can be anything you want, they simply must be consistent in every part of the batch file.
 
In our first example we're creating two variables called 'datestamp' and 'timestamp'. They would be specified elsewhere in the batch by using the syntax of %datestamp% or %timestamp%.
 
set "datestamp=%YYYY%%MM%%DD%" & set "timestamp=%HH%%Min%%Sec%"
 
For %datestamp% see that we're combining the four digit Year, Month, Day into one string. The way these are specified indicates the output will be one continuous string of digits. The output should look like: 20160225
 
For %timestamp% we're doing a similar combination but only with the Hours, Minutes and Seconds. The output would look like: 134605
 
The next example we'll combine several variables and show how to add separation characters between them. This variable will be called %fullstamp%.
 
set "fullstamp=%YYYY%-%MM%-%DD%_%HH%-%Min%-%Sec%"
 
From this example we would get: 2016-02-25_13-46-05
 
If we wanted to check the output from any of our variables at this point we would use syntax like what is shown below and run the batch from the command prompt. It will publish the text preceding the variable as shown and insert the values for each variable in the window. This does not need to be included in the production batch file.
 
echo localdatetime: %dt%
echo datestamp: "%datestamp%"
echo timestamp: "%timestamp%"
echo fullstamp: "%fullstamp%"
PAUSE
 
NOTE: With the exception of the %dt% variable, it is only necessary to set the variables required to fulfill the file name that is going to transfer.
 

The next step in the batch is the creation of the configuration file that our WS_FTP utility needs in order to pull the desired files.
 
For a WS_FTP Pro Script file enter something similar to this:
 
(
    echo CONNECT "2008 R2 VM"
    echo LCD C:\Test_Dest\
    echo GET BravoFoxtrot%datestamp%TangoUniform.txt
    echo CLOSE
) >C:\Conf_File\timescript.scp
 
This takes the text enclosed in the parenthesis and writes it to a file called timescript.scp
 
In that file see the content of:
 
CONNECT "2008 R2 VM"
LCD C:\Test_Dest\
GET BravoFoxtrot20160225TangoUniform.txt
CLOSE
 
This is a very basic script file where we call the Site profile, set a local target directory, specify the file name to retrieve and then disconnect.
 
To create content for a Command Line transfer it would need syntax like:
 
(
    echo -s "2008 R2 VM:/users/alan/BravoFoxtrot%datestamp%TangoUniform.txt" -d "local:C:\Test_Dest\"
) >C:\Conf_File\timescript.tmp
 
This takes the text enclosed in the parenthesis and writes it to a file called timescript.tmp
 
In that file see the content of:
 -s "2008 R2 VM:/user/alan/BravoFoxtrot20160225TangoUniform.txt" -d "local:C:\Test_Dest\"
 
In both examples we are using the %datestamp% to fill in a portion of the file name. See in the output it has inserted the expected combination of  numbers for Year, Month, Day shown earlier on in this article.

The output method specified in the batch (>) indicates that the timescript.scp or .tmp file output to the C:\Conf_File\ location will be overwritten every time the batch file is run. Allowing the ability to schedule the run of the Script or Command Line Utility through Windows Scheduler as normal and it will only run the content in the file at that time.
 
 
If we combine the various sections of the batch together it should look something like this:
 
WS_FTP Script:
 
@echo off
for /f "tokens=2 delims==" %%a in ('wmic OS Get localdatetime /value') do set "dt=%%a"
set "YY=%dt:~2,2%" & set "YYYY=%dt:~0,4%" & set "MM=%dt:~4,2%" & set "DD=%dt:~6,2%"
set "HH=%dt:~8,2%" & set "Min=%dt:~10,2%" & set "Sec=%dt:~12,2%"
 
set "datestamp=%YYYY%%MM%%DD%" & set "timestamp=%HH%%Min%%Sec%"
set "fullstamp=%YYYY%-%MM%-%DD%_%HH%-%Min%-%Sec%"
 
(
    echo CONNECT "2008 R2 VM"
    echo LCD C:\Test_Dest\
    echo GET BravoFoxtrot%datestamp%TangoUniform.txt
    echo CLOSE
) >C:\Conf_File\timescript.scp
 
 
WS_FTP Command Line:
 
@echo off
for /f "tokens=2 delims==" %%a in ('wmic OS Get localdatetime /value') do set "dt=%%a"
set "YY=%dt:~2,2%" & set "YYYY=%dt:~0,4%" & set "MM=%dt:~4,2%" & set "DD=%dt:~6,2%"
set "HH=%dt:~8,2%" & set "Min=%dt:~10,2%" & set "Sec=%dt:~12,2%"
 
set "datestamp=%YYYY%%MM%%DD%" & set "timestamp=%HH%%Min%%Sec%"
set "fullstamp=%YYYY%-%MM%-%DD%_%HH%-%Min%-%Sec%"
 
(
    echo -s "2008 R2 VM:/users/alan/BravoFoxtrot%datestamp%TangoUniform.txt" -d "local:C:\Test_Dest\"
) >C:\Conf_File\timescript.tmp
 
 
Currently, the way the batch file is designed it will require the scheduling of separate runs of the batch file (should be run first) and the WS_FTP utility (after the batch has created the config file content).
 
It is possible to schedule just the batch file and have it call the appropriate utility to run after it has created the new content in the config file.
 
For the Script Utility we would add a line at the end like:
 
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Ipswitch\WS_FTP 12\ftpscrpt.com" -f "C:\Conf_File\timescript.scp"
 
For the Command Line we would add a line at the end like:
 
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Ipswitch\WS_FTP 12\wsftppro.exe" -m "C:\Conf_File\timescript.tmp"
 
In this case it would only need to create a scheduled task in Windows to call the batch file to run.
 
NOTE: Keep in mind the user context sensitivity WS_FTP Pro has when scheduling tasks. Site Profiles in WS_FTP Pro are stored under the Windows user account profile you are logged onto the machine with and are configuring Pro under. If calling Site Profiles in either Scripts or Command Line transfers schedule the task to run as that same Windows user account. Otherwise, the Pro Utilities will fail to load the Site Profile and files will not be moved.