Compression - Compress

Declaration

<AMCOMPRESSION SOURCE="text" ARCHIVEFILE="text" TYPE="text (options)" COMPRESSION="text (options)" APPEND="YES/NO" PASSWORD="text (encrypted)" OVERWRITE="YES/NO" ISNEWER="YES/NO" SUBFOLDERS="YES/NO" KEEPFOLDERSTRUCT="YES/NO" ARCHIVETURNOFF="YES/NO" EXCLUDE="text" RE="YES/NO" ISNEWERTHAN="text (date expression)" ISOLDERTHAN="text (date expressoin)"  ATTRFILTER="+r+a-s-h-c-e" />

Related Topics    

Overview

Compresses one or more files using the specified compression algorithm into a destination file. To compress more than one file, use wildcard characters (for example, * or ?). To specify multiple files or wildcard masks, separate them with the pipe character (|). For example, c:\temp\*.txt|c:\backup\*.bak. See File Masks & Wildcards for more information.

Practical usage

Generally used to compress files before backing them up or transferring them over the Internet using FTP - Upload or Email - Send message activities. Shrinking the overall size of one file instead of dozens or hundreds of smaller files can speed up transfers and alleviate bottlenecks.

Parameters

General

Property Type Required Default Markup Description
Files to compress Text Yes (Empty)
  • SOURCE="c:\folder1\file.txt"
  • SOURCE="c:\folder1\*.txt"
  • SOURCE="file.txt"
 The path and file name of the file. This can be a fully qualified path and file name (preferred) or a single file (requires use of the File System - Change folder activity). You can use wildcard characters (for example, * or ?) to specify all files matching a certain mask. You can specify multiple files and file masks by separating each entry with a pipe (|). For example, c:\temp\*.txt|c:\backup\*.bak. See File Masks & Wildcards for more information.
NOTE: Files with invalid paths are ignored at runtime.
Destination file Text Yes (Empty)
  • ARCHIVEFILE="c:\folder\file.zip"
  • ARCHIVEFILE="c:\folder\*.zip"
  • ARCHIVEFILE="filename.zip"
 File compression combines all of the specified files into a single compressed file. This parameter specifies a fully qualified path and file name of the archive file to create.
NOTE: Folders that do not exist are automatically created at runtime.
Compression type Text (options) Yes ZIP
  • TYPE="zip"
  • TYPE="jar"
  • TYPE="gzip"
  • TYPE="tar"
  • TYPE="bzip2"
  • TYPE="cab"
  • TYPE="7zip"
 The compression algorithm that this activity uses to compress files. Several open and proprietary compression algorithms can be used to compress files, which is why many different compressed file types exist. Automate Desktop supports the following compression types:
  • ZIP (Default) - Zipped file
  • JAR - Jar file
  • GZIP - Gnu zipped file
  • TAR - TAR archive
  • BZIP2 - Bzip2 compressed file
  • TAR + GZIP - Bzip2 compressed archive
  • CAB - Cab archive
  • 7ZIP - 7-Zip compressed file
Adjust Text (options) Yes 2 COMPRESSION="3" The level of compression (0 = none up to 4 = highest) to apply to the files. Move the slider to the desired value or enter the value in the text box. The higher the compression level, the smaller the destination file, and the slower the operation. The available options are:
  • 0 - No compression - Fastest operation, however, no compression is applied. Useful for combining files into a package quickly when size is not a concern.
  • 1 - Fast compression - Less compression and slightly larger target file.
  • 2 - Normal compression - Uses a standard compression algorithm that offers a good balance of speed and file size.
  • 3 - High compression - High compression level resulting in a smaller file size but slower operation.
  • 4 - Max compression - The highest level of compression, resulting in the smallest file size but the slowest operation.
Password protect files Text No (Empty) PASSWORD="text (encrypted)" If selected, the compressed file is password-protected using the password specified in the text box. Upon extraction, the user is prompted to enter the password specified in this parameter. This parameter is disabled by default.

File Options

Property Type Required Default Markup Description
Exclude Mask Text No (Empty)
  • EXCLUDE="*.txt"
  • EXCLUDE="*.txt|*.bak
  • EXCLUDE="c:\foldename"
 Omits compressing source files matching the specified masks. You can use wildcard masks (for example, * or ?). You can also specify multiple entries by separating them with a pipe (|). For example, *.txt|*.bak. See File Masks & Wildcards for more details.
Regular expression Yes/No No No RE="YES" If selected, indicates that any value entered in the Exclude mask parameter is treated as a regular expression. If disabled (default) the value is treated as normal, readable text.
Only if newer than Date No (Empty) ISNEWERTHAN="%DateSerial(2001,10,12) + TimeSerial(00,00,00)%" Only compresses source files with modified dates/times newer than the specified date/time. If this parameter is left blank or not included, modified dates of source files are ignored. Click Custom to select from a list of pre-defined date/time values. Select Expression to allow entry of a date/time expression.    
Only if older than Date No (Empty) ISOLDERTHAN="%DateSerial(2001,10,12) + TimeSerial(00,00,00)%" Only compresses source files with modified dates/times older than the specified date/time. If this parameter is left blank or not included, modified dates are ignored. Click Custom to select from a list of pre-defined date/time values. Select Expression to allow entry of a date/time expression.        
Overwrite if exists Yes/No No No OVERWRITE="YES" If selected, indicates that, if files with matching names already exist in the compressed file, they are overwritten. If disabled, files with matching names are not overwritten, however, an error occurs. The default value is NO.
Only if newer Yes/No No No

ISNEWER="YES"

If selected, specifies that only files with matching names that are newer than those in the compressed file are overwritten. Valid only if the Overwrite if exists parameter is selected. The default value is NO.
Append Yes/No No No APPEND="YES" If selected, adds files specified in the Files to compress parameter to the Destination file if they already exist by renaming the duplicate files with a consecutive integer, starting with 1 . or example, file.txt, file1.txt, file2.txt.
Include subfolders Yes/No No Yes SUBFOLDERS="YES" If selected, specifies that, if present, subfolders are searched for files matching the mask specified in the Files to compress parameter. If disabled, subfolders are ignored. The default value is selected.
Preserve folder structure Text No Relative KEEPFOLDERSTRUCT="YES" If selected, specifies that the complete folder structure (absolute path) is stored in the compressed file, including folders above the current source folder. For example, if compressing c:\documents\folder\*.*, the full path of \documents\folder\ is stored in the file. If set to NO, folder information is not preserved.  This parameter is active only if the Include subfolders parameter is selected.
Turn archive attribute off Yes/No No No ARCHIVETURNOFF="YES" If selected, denotes that the archive attribute of the source files should be OFF. The Windows archive attribute is generally used to track whether a file is backed up. By turning the source file archive attribute off, it indicates to many backup programs that the file is already backed up. The default value is disabled.

File Attributes

Property Type Required Default Markup Description
Attributes Text Options No (Empty) ATTRFILTER="+R+A-H"(compress read-only & archive files but not hidden files) Filters compressed files based on the attribute settings of the source files. In visual mode, a group of controls are provided to assist in the selection of this parameter. In markup mode, a single text item must be specified that contains the attributes of the files you want to compress. The available options are:
  • Read-only attribute is - Specifying On or +R includes files with this attribute turned on. Specifying Off or -R includes files with this attribute turned off. Specifying Doesn't matter (default) or excluding the letter ignores this attribute.
  • Archive attribute is - Specifying On or +A includes files with this attribute turned on. Specifying Off or -A includes files with this attribute turned off. Specifying Doesn't matter (default) or excluding the letter ignores this attribute.
  • System attribute is - Specifying On or +S includes files with this attribute turned on. Specifying Off or -S includes files with this attribute turned off. Specifying Doesn't matter (default) or excluding the letter ignores this attribute.
  • Hidden attribute is- Specifying On or +H includes files with this attribute turned on. Specifying Off or -H includes files with this attribute turned off. Specifying Doesn't matter (default) or excluding the letter ignores this attribute.
  • Compression attribute is - Specifying On or +C includes files with this attribute turned on. Specifying Off or -C includes files with this attribute turned off. Specifying Doesn't matter (default) or excluding the letter ignores this attribute.
  • Encrypted attribute is - Specifying On or +E includes files with this attribute turned on. Specifying Off or -E includes files with this attribute turned off. Specifying Doesn't matter (default) or excluding the letter ignores this attribute.

Description

Error Causes

On Error

Example

NOTE:
  • Copy and paste the sample AML code below directly into the Task Builder Steps Panel.
  • To successfully run the sample code, update parameters containing user credentials, files, file paths, or other information specific to the task to match your environment.

Description

The following sample task compresses files from a folder into a .zip file (Zip compression) using fast compression (1), overwrites any existing files, and excludes the file masks *.txt: 

Copy 
<AMCOMPRESSION SOURCE="c:\sourcefolder\*.*" ARCHIVEFILE="c:\targetfolder\targetfilename.zip" COMPRESSION="1" OVERWRITE="YES" EXCLUDE="*.txt" />