Managing Actions

Types of webMethods.io MFT actions

There are two types of actions in webMethods.io MFT:

Post-Processing actions.
These actions allow webMethods.io MFT to execute specific tasks or a series of tasks when a user uploads, downloads, or deletes a file. When configuring post-processing actions, any changes made, apply to all active user sessions.

Scheduled actions.
With scheduled actions, webMethods.io MFT performs a defined set of tasks at a specified date and time. This feature enables automated execution of tasks based on predetermined schedules.

Adding a Post-Processing Action

Define a post-processing action for execution when a user uploads, downloads, or deletes a file.

To add a post-processing action

1. Go to Actions > Post-Processing and do one of the following:

   • If you want to create a new action, click .
   • If you want to create a copy of an action that already exists, select an existing action, and click .

2. To define the conditions that trigger the action, specify the following details:

   Field	Description
   Action name	Type a unique name for the post-processing action.
   Description	Type a brief description for the post-processing action.
   Active	Click the toggle button to activate or deactivate the action.

3. Click    and configure the following criteria based on which webMethods.io MFT will execute tasks, and click Ok.

   Field	Description
   Execute the tasks below when a user performs the file operation	Select the file operation from the list. Note: Delete: If you specify an action based on the deletion of a file, ensure that any subsequent tasks you define for the action do not rely on the presence of the deleted file. Upload: Post-processing actions configured for upload operation get executed for both upload and rename of a file. If you want to execute this action only on rename operation, select the Rename task. Rename: This action gets executed when a file is renamed.
   Virtual folder	To specify a folder, select Any folder. To specify a specific folder, select Specific folder. For Specific folder, type a specific folder name in the box. Use wildcard characters in the folder name box (for example, *baseName). By default, webMethods.io MFT considers file activity in any folder structure when evaluating action criteria.
   File transfer status	To specify a file transfer status, select Success or Failure, Success, or Failure.
   Task execution by	To execute the action for file operations performed by particular users, groups, or roles, select Any user or Specific users and click , then select the users, and click OK.
   Execute tasks	To specify whether to execute the tasks immediately, after the user exits all sessions, or after the user is idle for a few seconds, select Immediately, After the user exists all sessions, or After the user is idle for and type the number of seconds to wait before executing the action in the box.

4. Select one or more of the following tasks, and define configurations for each of the tasks in the Properties section accordingly:

   • Find Task Configuration
     
   • Copy Task Configuration
     
   • Move Task Configuration
     
   • Delete Task Configuration
     
   • Rename Task Configuration
     
   • Encrypt Task Configuration
     
   • Decrypt Task Configuration
     
   • Zip Task Configuration
     
   • Unzip Task Configuration
     
   • Send Email Task Configuration
     
   • Jump Task Configuration
     
   • Exclude Task Configuration
     
   • Error Task Configuration
   
   For descriptions of fields for task configurations, see Task Configuration Definitions.

   Tip:

   • Click to disable a task.
   • Click to enable a task
   • Click to delete a task
   • Click to copy a task.

5. Specify the following details for Parallel processing:

   Field	Description
   Enable parallel processing	Select this option if you want to enable parallel processing of files in multiple threads.
   Start parallel processing for files after	Select the task after which webMethods.io MFT must start parallel processing of files in multiple threads from the list. webMethods.io MFT first executes the task you select here, and any other tasks before it, sequentially.
   Maximum number of parallel processes	Type the maximum number (between one and 999) of parallel threads that webMethods.io MFT can create to simultaneously process the files.

6. Click Add. The new post-processing action appears in the post-processing actions list.

Adding a Scheduled Action

Define a scheduled action for execution at a specific date and time.

To add a scheduled action

1. Go to Actions > Scheduled and do one of the following:

   • If you want to create a new action, click .
   • If you want to create a copy of an action that already exists, select an existing action, and click .
   
   

2. To define the conditions that trigger the action, specify the following details:

   Field	Description
   Action name	Type a unique name for the scheduled action.
   Description	Type a brief description for the scheduled action.
   Active	Click the toggle button to activate or deactivate the action.
   Schedule settings	Click . In the Configure criteria dialog box, select one of the following options from the list to specify how often webMethods.io MFT should execute the tasks associated with an action, and click OK: Run once. Specify the Date and Time to execute the task. Click the calendar icon to select a date from the calendar. Yearly. Specify a date range, the months, the days within the month, and the time interval you want to execute the task each year. Monthly. Specify a date range, the days within the month, and the time interval you want to execute the task each month. Weekly. Specify a date range, the days of the week, and the time interval you want to execute the task each week. Daily. Specify a date range and the time interval you want to execute the task each day. Hourly. Specify a date range and the time interval you want to execute the task each hour. Fixed interval. Specify a date range and the time interval before executing the next task for a scheduled action.
   Tasks	Select one or more of the following tasks, and define configurations for each of the tasks in the Properties section: Find Task Configuration Copy Task Configuration Move Task Configuration Delete Task Configuration Rename Task Configuration Encrypt Task Configuration Decrypt Task Configuration Zip Task Configuration Unzip Task Configuration Send Email Task Configuration Jump Task Configuration Exclude Task Configuration Error Task Configuration For descriptions of fields for task configurations, see Task Configuration Definitions. Tip: Click to disable a task. Click to enable a task. Click to delete a task. Click to copy a task.
   Enable parallel processing	Select this option if you want to enable parallel processing of files in multiple threads.
   Start parallel processing for files after	Select the task after which webMethods.io MFT must start parallel processing of files in multiple threads from the list. webMethods.io MFT first executes the task you select here, and any other tasks before it, sequentially.
   Maximum number of parallel processes	Type the maximum number (between one and 999) of parallel threads that webMethods.io MFT can create to simultaneously process files.

3. Click Add. The new scheduled action appears in the scheduled actions list.

Task Configuration Definitions

Once you have added an action and defined the triggering conditions, specify one or more tasks to be executed when the action is triggered. To activate a post-processing or scheduled action after defining the tasks, see Activating or Deactivating Actions.

A post-processing action is triggered individually for each file based on the configured criteria within the action. This action is triggered when a file is uploaded, downloaded, or deleted. It processes one file at a time and in case an error occurs during the action, the file processing is stopped after processing the files in the current task.

For a scheduled action, the initial task you need to define is the Find task, which is set as the default. Failure to define this task will result in the scheduled action failing. The files listed by the find task serve as the input source for the action. If the Find task returns multiple files, subsequent tasks will operate on all of them. Each task configured within the action will perform operations on the entire file list and pass the set of files to the next task.

In the event that an Error task is configured within the action, one Error task will be executed for each file transaction that encounters an error. If the Find task returns an empty list, subsequent tasks will be executed with 0 files as input.

Find Task Configuration

Configure the following properties for the Find file operation task:

A find task retrieves a list of files from a specified location. The files listed by a find task are passed on to the subsequent task for processing. If there are multiple find tasks for an action, the files found by each “find” task are added to the list passed on to it from the previous task.

For example, consider the following sequence of tasks and the webMethods.io MFT behavior for each task:

Copy Task Configuration

Configure the following properties for the Copy file operation task:

A copy task copies all the files passed on from the previous task to the location specified in Destination location. However, the files copied to the specified destination will not be available to the subsequent task for processing. The list of files in the source location is passed on to the subsequent task.

Move Task Configuration

Configure the following properties for the Move file operation task:

A move task moves all the files passed on from the previous task to the location specified in Destination location. The files are removed from the source folder. The list of files in the destination location is passed on to the subsequent task.

For example, an action configured with the following tasks:

• Find task. Find files in Source location = `.
• Encrypt task. Encrypt the files.
• Move task. Moves the files to the Destination location = `.

The action results in the following:

• Find task lists all the files in the `.
• Encrypt task encrypts all the files listed by the find task.
• Move task moves the files that are encrypted by the encrypt task to the `.

Delete Task Configuration

Configure the following properties for the Delete file operation task:

A Delete task deletes the files that are passed on from the previous task. The deleted files are not passed on to the subsequent task. If a file filter is configured in the task, then the files that do not match the file filter are passed on to the next task.

Rename Task Configuration

Configure the following properties for the Rename file operation task:

A rename task renames the files passed on from the previous task. The files that are renamed are not passed on to the next task.

See Date/Time Variables.

Encrypt Task Configuration

Configure the following properties for the Encrypt file operation task:

An encrypt task encrypts files passed on from the previous task configured. webMethods.io MFT supports only PGP-based file encryption. The encrypted file is saved with the name Original-filename.PGP. After the successful execution of an encrypt task, the source folder location contains both, the original files and the corresponding encrypted files, but only the encrypted files are passed on to the subsequent task for processing. If you select Delete original file, the original files are deleted. If you configure a move task after an encrypt task, the move task moves the encrypted file and not the original file.

Decrypt Task Configuration

Configure the following properties for the Decrypt file operation task:

A decrypt task decrypts files passed on from the previous task and creates decrypted files without the .PGP extension. The source folder location contains both, the original files and the corresponding decrypted files. If you select Delete original file, the original files are deleted. For example, you have configured a post-processing action which is triggered by a file uploaded to a folder (for example, a folder named incoming) that points to a physical location. You have also configured the following tasks in the action:

• Move task. To move a file that matches the filter, invoice.PGP from the incoming folder to the working folder.
• Decrypt task. To decrypt the file with the Delete original file option.

After the action is executed successfully, the decrypted file (without the PGP extension) is available in the working folder, and deletes the original encrypted file. If you want to make the files from the incoming folder available to a task that is configured to execute after the decrypt task, ensure that you do the following:

• Do not select Delete original file for the decrypt task.
• Configure a find task to find the original files from the incoming folder in the incoming folder.

Zip Task Configuration

Configure the following properties for the Zip file operation task:

The zip task compresses a specified file or a set of files and copies the compressed file to the location specified in Destination location. After the successful execution of the zip task, the original source files and the target zip file are available to the subsequent task. If the input path is that of a folder, webMethods.io MFT does not compress the files/contents of the specified folder.

In single-thread, sequential processing, each action results in a single zip file. However, if the zip task occurs after parallel processing starts, each thread results in a separate zip file.

Unzip Task Configuration

Configure the following properties for the Unzip file operation task:

The unzip task decompresses the specified zip file. After a successful unzip task, both the original zip file and the extracted files are passed on to the subsequent task. If the “unzip” task occurs after parallel processing starts, all files resulting from the “unzip” task are treated as part of a single thread. Therefore, in the Activities section of the Action Log page, webMethods.io MFT maintains the File Seq No of the original zip file for the particular thread until the action execution is completed.

Send Email Task Configuration

Configure the following properties for the Send email task:

Based on the name of files specified in the source filter, the send email task sends emails to the recipients configured in a file task. Transfer of the specified files triggers the send email task.

In single-thread, sequential processing, webMethods.io MFT runs the send email task only once for all files of an action, and includes the information for all files in a single, consolidated email. Therefore, each action results in one email. However, if the send email task occurs after parallel processing of files starts in an action, the number of emails sent depends on the number of threads in the action. Let us consider the example of an action having three parallel threads for processing. When the action execution is completed, webMethods.io MFT sends one email for each thread, resulting in a total of three emails for the action.

Jump Task Configuration

Define a Jump task in webMethods.io MFT that makes it skip one or more tasks and executes a designated task in the action. By default, a Jump task is unconditional. Also, define a jump condition that determines which Jump task is executed. webMethods.io MFT executes the tasks defined in an action sequentially until it comes across a Jump task. If any file in the list meets the jump condition, the Jump task is triggered.

Configure the following properties for the Jump task:

The Jump task changes the sequence in which the tasks are executed. The task specified in the “Jump” task is executed instead of the next task in the sequence. The “Jump” task however does not modify the list of files that are passed on from the task prior to the Jump task to the task that is triggered by the Jump task.

Exclude Task Configuration

Exclude files from a task or a set of tasks by defining an Exclude task prior to these tasks. The Exclude task uses a File filter to exclude files from all the tasks in the action that follow the Exclude task. The files that match the exclude criteria are not passed on to the next task.

Configure the following properties for the Exclude task:

Error Task Configuration

Configure an Error task in webMethods.io MFT to execute if any of the configured tasks for a post-processing, scheduled, or monitor folder action fail. Choose any of the tasks offered by webMethods.io MFT as the error task. For example, if a file copy task fails, you can use the send email task to notify an administrator of the failure.

The following conditions apply to the error task:

• Create only one error task per action.
• To execute the error task, configure a task and select the Execute error task option.
• For post-processing or scheduled actions, the error task should be configured in a similar manner as any other task.

webMethods.io Integration Flow service Task Configuration

Configure the following properties for the webMethods.io Integration Flow service task:

Prerequisite: You need webMethods.io Integration 10.15 to execute this task on webMethods.io MFT.

Field	Description
Task name	Type a unique name for the task.
File filter	When you define a File filter for a task, the task acts only on files that are filtered out. For example, type *.zip to trigger the action only when ZIP files are uploaded or downloaded. To trigger an action based on a name string in the ZIP files, use the name string in the File filter box, preceded and followed by wildcard characters. For example, type *invoice*.zip to trigger the action based on the file URLs, when ZIP files containing the character string invoice in their file names are uploaded or downloaded. Note: Use wildcard characters to filter the file names. If you want to use a regular expression, specify a valid regular expression in the File filter and select the Use regular expression option. Example: (.(?!purchaseorder))*: Excludes files with the file URL containing purchaseorder. */out/.*: Include files with the file URL containing the folder out. ^abc(.*)123$: Includes anything that starts with abc and ends with 123. Matches abc123, abcxyz123, but not abcxyz123def. NEW-((*.doc)⏐| (*_backup_*)): Includes anything starting with NEW- that either ends in .doc, or is followed by the string _backup_.
Flow service	Click Browse to select the Flow service you want to execute from the list. Note: Services configured for an HTTP/HTTPs endpoint can be invoked from actions and only these services are displayed.
Include file content as stream	Select the option to pass the contents of the file to a Flow service on webMethods.io Integration. When importing the actions containing the Flow service tasks to another environment, ensure that you import the actions to the connected instance of webMethods.io Integration as well. If a failure occurs during the import, the output parameters are not passed on to the next task. The errors in the input and output pipelines appear in the event log. Note: The maximum file size for this task is 20 MB. When selecting Include file content as stream in webMethods.io Integration Flow service from webMethods.io MFT, ensure that the input field name is stream and field type is object in the Flow service, to get the content in the service. The object can be parsed as InputStream.
Flow service input	Only ‘String’ values can be applied to the service.
Extract flow service output	Click to add the variables with Variable name that you want to assign to the output parameters of the service and the Variable path of the output parameter. Example: You invoke a Flow service by having two output fields, output1 and output2. Configure the following in the Extract flow service output section. Variable Name Variable Output myVar1 /output1 myVar2 /output2 With this configuration, myVar1 and myVar2 are available as server variables. Use the values returned by the service execution in the format {myVar1} and {myVar2}.
Execute task even if there are no files	Select this option, if you want the operation to be executed if no files are found.
Execute task only once	Select this option, if you want the operation to be executed once.

Activating or Deactivating Actions

By default, a newly created post-processing or scheduled action is inactive. This enables you to work on configuring an action without any concern that the partially configured action is running. After you fully configure the action, activate it to associate it with a service. Also activate or deactivate more than one action at a time.

To activate or deactivate an action

1. Go to Actions, and on the Post-Processing actions or Scheduled actions page, select one or more actions, and do one of the following:
   

Tip: Each page of the actions list displays a maximum of 50 actions. Only select the actions visible on a single page.

• Click to activate the selected actions. Ensure that you define the execution Criteria for all the scheduled actions you want to activate. webMethods.io MFT ignores any scheduled action that has no execution Criteria defined.
• Click to deactivate the selected actions.

The selected actions are activated or deactivated based on your selection.
If you have more actions to select in the additional pages of the actions list, click Next or the required page number, and repeat the process.

Modifying a Post-Processing or Scheduled Action

Edit the configuration settings of an existing post-processing, scheduled, or monitor folder action.

To modify an action

1. Go to Actions, and on the Post-Processing actions or Scheduled actions page, click on an action that you want to edit.

2. Modify the required configuration settings for the action and click Save.
   The action is updated with the modified settings.

Searching for a Post-Processing or Scheduled Action

Search the post-processing or scheduled actions list to locate an action based on the action name and status.

To search for an action

1. Go to Actions, and on the Post-Processing actions or Scheduled actions page, specify all or one of the following search criteria:

   Field	Description
   Action name	Type the name of the action you want to view.
   Status	Select either Active or Inactive to filter the actions based on active or inactive actions respectively.

2. Click Apply for the changes to take effect or Reset to reset values.
   The actions list is populated with the actions matching your search criteria.

Server Variables

With server variables, pass values to post-processing and scheduled actions dynamically at run time. For example, when you configure a copy action for a post-processing event, specify the destination URL as {parent_path} and the “rename file to” parameter as {name}_processed. When the event is triggered, webMethods.io MFT copies the file to the parent directory and appends “_processed” to the end of the file name.

webMethods.io MFT supports the following:

• General variables that handle special characters and error messages.
• Variables that pertain to file references.
• Variables that pertain to date and time formats.
• User variables that pertain to the content of emails that are sent to users.

Note: The variables are case-sensitive.

General Variables

File Reference Variables

Note: In event actions such as Send Email which process multiple files, use the variables as per the following example:

<LINE>{stem}{ext}
</LINE>

This syntax ensures that all the files in the list are processed by these actions instead of just the first file.

Date/Time Variables

Precede any of the date/time variables with the following symbols:

• Preceding a variable with a dot (.) results in replacing the variable with the current value. For example, {.dd} results in the current day, and {.hh} results in the current hour.
• Preceding a variable with an underscore (_) results in replacing the variable with the file’s ending transfer time. For example, if a file was downloaded on Monday, and if the event triggered a “file rename” action with a value of Report_{EEE} provided for the new file name, webMethods.io MFT renames the downloaded file to Report_Mon.

User Variables

Post-process actions triggered as a result of file operations can make use of these variables.