Running WinSCP with REBOL
I just found WinSCP last week and I love it. It solved a big problem for me involving sending files securely and automatically. The method I chose to control the operation is a scripting language called REBOL. It is not a popular language, so I thought that in the interest of spreading knowledge, I would post the program I wrote so locate all folders in a specified folder, send each folder to a secure ftp site, and delete the folder after sending it. It shows the technique of generating a command line to run WinSCP. The script below is a bit long, but it is written in a plodding manner that should make it easy to understand. Thank you. I apologize if this comes through as a mess.
REBOL [
Title: "Securely send folders by sftp"
Purpose: {Get the names of all the folders in a special transfer
area. Send them to a secure server and remove them.}
]
;; [---------------------------------------------------------------------------]
;; [ The purpose of this program is to identify all the files in the ]
;; [ source folder, transmit them to a destination, and then delete them. ]
;; [ We will send them with a secure ftp program that can be scripted. ]
;; [ It appears that REBOL can't do sftp. ]
;; [ The scriptable sftp program we use is at: https://winscp.net ]
;; [ ]
;; [ The program uses the REBOL "call" function to call WinSCP (the sriptable ]
;; [ sftp client) to send the files, and Powershell to remove the files. ]
;; [ The reason it uses WinSCP is that REBOL can't do secure ftp, and the ]
;; [ reason it uses Powershell to delete files is that it seems REBOL can't ]
;; [ delete a folder without first deleting everything in it, and ]
;; [ Powershell can simply with the "recurse" option. ]
;; [ It appears that the "call/wait" function does indeed wait until the ]
;; [ called program is done, so there is no danger of trying to remove a ]
;; [ folder before it has been sent. ]
;; [ ]
;; [ In the original use scenario for this program, the data to be sent ]
;; [ was in folders, and each folder was to be sent, recursively. ]
;; [ WinSCP handles this very nicely. The same syntax works for individual ]
;; [ files, so while this program originally was used to send folders, ]
;; [ it would work as-is (or maybe with some minor change) for individual ]
;; [ files. ]
;; [---------------------------------------------------------------------------]
;; [---------------------------------------------------------------------------]
;; [ Change the following items for your own installation. ]
;; [---------------------------------------------------------------------------]
SOURCE-DIR: %/C/OUTBOX/ ;; Folder of folders to be sent
SFTP-SERVER: "sft.servername.com" ;; Destination server
USERID: "UserID" ;; Account on above server
PASSWORD: "Password" ;; Password for above account
LOG-FILE-ID: %SendFolders.log ;; Log what we do for auditing
LOG-FOLDER: %/SERVERNAME/TaskLogs/ ;; Send log here
;; [---------------------------------------------------------------------------]
;; [ HOME-DIR Our starting folder because we will have to move. ]
;; [ SENT-ITEM-LOCAL: The local-fomat name of the item we are going to send. ]
;; [ BAT-FILE: A generated DOS batch file to run WinSCP. ]
;; [ PS1-FILE: A generated Powershell script to remove folders. ]
;; [ FILE-LIST: A list of all the items we are about to send. ]
;; [---------------------------------------------------------------------------]
HOME-DIR: what-dir
SENT-ITEM-LOCAL: none
BAT-FILE: ""
PS1-FILE: ""
FILE-LIST: []
;; [---------------------------------------------------------------------------]
;; [ Using a file/folder name from the list, generate its full name in ]
;; [ a format suitable for the computer on which this program is running, ]
;; [ which has to be a Windows computer since WinSCP runs on Windows. ]
;; [---------------------------------------------------------------------------]
GENERATE-FILE-NAMES: func [
SINGLE-FILE-ID
] [
SENT-ITEM-LOCAL: to-local-file rejoin [
to-string SOURCE-DIR
to-string SINGLE-FILE-ID
]
]
;; [---------------------------------------------------------------------------]
;; [ After the local file name is generated, generate the batch file ]
;; [ command that will run WinSCP. ]
;; [---------------------------------------------------------------------------]
GENERATE-BATCH-FILE: does [
BAT-FILE: copy ""
BAT-FILE: rejoin [
{winscp.com /command }
{"open } USERID {:} PASSWORD {@} SFTP-SERVER {" }
{"put } SENT-ITEM-LOCAL {" }
{"close" }
{"exit"}
]
]
;; [---------------------------------------------------------------------------]
;; [ After the local file name is generated, generate a Powershell command ]
;; [ to remove the folder after it has been sent. ]
;; [---------------------------------------------------------------------------]
GENERATE-REMOVE-FILE: does [
PS1-FILE: copy ""
PS1-FILE: rejoin [
{powershell -command }
{"Remove-Item } SENT-ITEM-LOCAL { -recurse" }
]
]
;; [---------------------------------------------------------------------------]
;; [ Log a line of text with a date stamp. ]
;; [---------------------------------------------------------------------------]
LOG-EVENT: func [
LOG-LINE
] [
write/append to-file rejoin [HOME-DIR LOG-FILE-ID] rejoin [
now
" "
LOG-LINE
newline
]
]
;; [---------------------------------------------------------------------------]
;; [ Go to the folder where we expect to find the folders to send. ]
;; [ Get a list of all folder names currently in the source directory. ]
;; [---------------------------------------------------------------------------]
LOG-EVENT "BOJ SendCaseFiles"
change-dir SOURCE-DIR
FILE-LIST: read %.
if equal? 0 length? FILE-LIST [
LOG-EVENT "No items found to send."
]
;; [---------------------------------------------------------------------------]
;; [ For each item on the list, ]
;; [ 1. Generate the full name of the item in Windows format. ]
;; [ 2. Generate the DOS command to send the item. ]
;; [ 3. Generate the Powershell command to delete the item. ]
;; [ 4. Send the item using the generated command. ]
;; [ 5. Delete the item using the generated command. ]
;; [ Log the steps as we do them. ]
;; [---------------------------------------------------------------------------]
foreach FILE-ID FILE-LIST [
GENERATE-FILE-NAMES FILE-ID
GENERATE-BATCH-FILE
GENERATE-REMOVE-FILE
LOG-EVENT replace copy BAT-FILE PASSWORD "???????"
call/wait BAT-FILE
LOG-EVENT rejoin [FILE-ID " sent."]
LOG-EVENT PS1-FILE
call/wait PS1-FILE
LOG-EVENT rejoin [FILE-ID " removed."]
]
;; [---------------------------------------------------------------------------]
;; [ Finish the log for this run, and then send the log to a different ]
;; [ area for viewing. (Originally, this program was run on a secure server.) ]
;; [---------------------------------------------------------------------------]
LOG-EVENT "EOJ SendCaseFiles"
write to-file rejoin [LOG-FOLDER LOG-FILE-ID]
read to-file rejoin [HOME-DIR LOG-FILE-ID]
;;Uncomment the "halt" for debugging.
;halt