File Transfer Advice String (FTADV)

When using a third-party Secure Shell client for transferring files to and from Tectia Server for IBM z/OS, it is necessary to relay information about the transfer format, code sets and file characteristics. Since the SFTP server decodes the name for the data set, the file name in the request can be used to convey this information.

Instructions for using file transfer advice string, as well as a complete description of the available advice string names, are provided in File Transfer Advice String / Site Command.

Example Advice Strings

The following examples demonstrate file transfer advice string usage in various situations.

Example 1

Below is an example of a file name that requests the transfer of a PDS member with the line transfer format and code set conversion from EBCDIC to an ASCII code set.

/ftadv:D=IBM-1047,C=ISO8859-1,F=line/__personal.cntl/idlist

Example 2

The following example requests the transfer of a data set with the line transfer format and code set conversion using the translate table USR1.SFTP.TCPXLBIN, if it exists, or TCPIP.SFTP.TCPXLBIN. Different combinations of underscore and slash ("__", "_/", "/_", or "//") in front of the file name indicate that the file is an MVS data set.

/ftadv:F=line,E=SFTP,A=___USR1.%T.TCPXLBIN+___TCPIP.%T.TCPXLBIN/__DATA1.FILE1

Example 3

The example below names an HFS file to be transferred without changes. Transfer mode is set to binary (X=bin) to avoid conversion and to override any defaults set in the matching file transfer profiles or environment files.

/ftadv:X=bin,T=HFS,F=stream/profcopy

Example 4

The next example uses the named file transfer profile myprofile. The advice string also sets the data set code set to ISO8859-15. This value overwrites the value specified in the profile.

/ftadv:P=myprofile,D=iso8859-15/testfile

Note

Advice strings can also be used with directory names in file transfer GUIs. With advice strings, file transfer can be controlled in the GUI. For example in the Windows GUI, if you use the directory /ftadv:P=WIN/_path/to/current/directory/, all file transfers to and from the directory /path/to/current/directory use the advice string /ftadv:P=WIN/. This means that all file transfers use the named profile WIN (see File Transfer Profiles).

	Note
	Advice string parameters are case-insensitive, with the exception of file transfer profile names. For example, `P=win` and `P=WIN` point to different profiles.

Example 5

This example uses the LIKE attribute when creating an MVS PS data set with the name "userid.TEST.CPY1". The server copies RECFM, LRECL, and BLKSIZE from the PDS "COMP.DATA.CNTL".

/ftadv:like=___COMP.DATA.CNTL,T=PS/__TEST.CPY1

This example uses the LIKE attribute when creating a PDSE, "COMP.CODE". The record characteristics are copied from a PDS, "COMP.SOURCE". The PDSE is created when adding the first member, PRG1. The new PDS is estimated to need 15 MB space.

/ftadv:like=___COMP.SOURCE,T=POE,size=15000000/____COMP.CODE(PRG1)