Configuring an FTP Site as the Input Source or Output Destination

When you are configuring an input file parameter, you can select an FTP site as the source from which the input file is read before the component executes. Similarly, when you are configuring an output file parameter, you can select an FTP site as the destination to which the output file is written after the component executes.

  1. From the File Parameter Wizard or Files tab, select FTP Site as the input file parameter source or the output file parameter destination.

    Note: An output file parameter that is saved in a fixed location is not safe for parallel execution because multiple instances of the component overwrite each other’s data.

  2. Enter information about the FTP site from which you want this file parameter to get its data:

    Option Description
    Server Enter the host name of the computer where the FTP site is located.
    Directory If desired, enter the directory relative to the FTP base directory of the User Name specified below. This directory is often different from the user’s home directory.
    File Enter the name of the file that you to retrieve or store.
    User Name Enter the user name used to log onto the FTP server. Alternatively, you can develop an Isight extension to automatically handle the user credentials. For details, see Secure Credentials Access in the Isight Development Guide.
    Password Enter the password for the user name used to log onto the FTP server. Alternatively, you can develop an Isight extension to automatically handle the user credentials. For details, see Secure Credentials Access in the Isight Development Guide.
    Timeout (seconds, 0 for no timeout). Enter the amount of time to wait for a response from the FTP server before timing out.
    Port If desired, enter the port number used by the FTP server. The default is 21.

    Any of these fields can contain a variable substitution. Type {var NAME} to substitute the value of the input parameter name into the field at run time. For input file parameters, at run time before the component executes, Isight contacts the FTP server and retrieves the file. If the FTP access fails, the component fails without running. For output file parameters, Isight contacts the server after the component executes. For more information, see About Variable Substitutions.

    You can develop Isight extensions that can automatically handle secure user credentials (user name and password) from external applications or resources such as an ftp server. Isight must be run through the SIMULIA Execution Engine to use the secure credentials capability. For details, see the Isight Development Guide (Secure Credentials Access chapter).

    To use the secure logon credentials for an FTP file parameter, the credentials for logging onto the FTP server must match exactly. If a domain is required for the FTP username but is not used for logging onto the SIMULIA Execution Engine, this option cannot be used and you must supply the logon credentials separately. In other words, if the FTP server credentials include the domain prepended to the user name (e.g., domain\username) but the SIMULIA Execution Engine logon is only the user name, a mismatch occurs when the SIMULIA Execution Engine attempts to pass credentials to the FTP server.