File System

File System - Copy

Declaration

Description:

Copies one or more files or folders from one directory to another. To specify more than one file/folder, use wildcard characters (e.g.,* or ?). To specify multiple files or wildcard masks, separate them with a pipe character (e.g.,c:\*.txt|c:\*.bak). When copying a single file (omitting wildcards), you can rename the file at the same time as copying it by specifying a different path/filename as its destination.

Practical Usage

Commonly used to back-up files or complete folder structures. Could also be used as a batch copying tool. For example, you can set this activity to copy PDF files to a shared folder on the network where they can be accessed by the community.

Parameters

General

Property	Type	Required	Default	Markup	Description
File/Folder	Text (Options)	Yes	File	MODE="folder"	Indicates the type of item(s) to copy. Parameters located in the File options section vary depending on which option is selected. The available options are: File (default) - This activity will copy one or more files. Folder - This activity will copy one or more folders.
Source	Text	Yes	(Empty)	SOURCE="c:\folder\file.txt" SOURCE="c:\folder\*.txt" SOURCE="c:\folder1\\|c:\folder2 SOURCE="c:\folder\subfolder	The path and filename to copy. This can be a fully qualified path and filename (preferred) or a filename only (requires use of the Change folder activity). Wildcard characters (* or ?) may be used to copy folders/files matching a certain mask. Multiple files/folders or file masks may be entered by separating each entry with a pipe symbol (e.g., c:\.txt\|c:\.bak).
Destination	Text	Yes	(Empty)	DEST="c:\destfolder\file.txt" DEST="c:\destfolder\.txt DEST="c:\destfolder\.*" DEST="c:\destfolder	The destination folder (and optionally, filename) that the source should be copied to. This can be a fully qualified path or folder/file name only. Folders that do not exist will be automatically created at runtime. When copying a single file or folder (omitting wildcards), this activity can rename the file/folder to be copied by specifying a different path and file/folder name in this parameter.
Create and populate dataset with results (optional)	Text	No	(Empty)	RESULTDATASET="DatasetName"	The name of the dataset to create and populate with the results of this operation. More information about the individual fields that this dataset creates are entered below under Datasets.

File Options

Property	Type	Required	Default	Markup	Description
Include subfolders	Yes/No	No	No	SUBFOLDERS="YES"	If set to YES, denotes that, if present, subfolders should be searched for files matching the mask specified in the Source parameter. If set to NO (default), subfolders are ignored. Only files that exist in the root of the source folder will be searched. This parameter is active only if this activity is configured to copy files (not folders).
Preserve folder structure	Yes/No	No	No	KEEPFOLDERSTRUCT="NO"	If set to YES, subfolders found in the source folder will be created in the destination folder and source files will be copied into their respective folders. If set to NO (default), subfolders will not be created in the destination. Instead, source files that exist in these subfolders will be copied into the root of the destination folder. This parameter is active only if the Include subfolders parameter is set to YES.
Merge if folder exists	Yes/No	No	No	MERGEFOLDER="YES"	If set to YES, indicates that, if subfolders with matching names already exists in the destination, contents contained in the source folder, such as files and subfolders, will be merged into their respective destination folders. If set to NO (default), files will not be merged, however, a runtime error will occur as a result. This parameter is active only if this activity is configured to copy folders (not files).
Only folder structure	Yes/No	No	No	ONLYFOLDERSTRUCT="YES"	If set to YES, subfolders found in the source folder will be created in the destination folder but files that reside in these subfolders will not be copied. If set to NO (default), files that reside in the source folder will be copied as well. This parameter is active only if this activity is configured to copy folders (not files). NOTE: Setting this option to YES causes all other folder-specific parameters to be ignored.
Overwrite if exists	Yes/No	No	No	OVERWRITE="YES"	If set to YES, indicates that, if files/subfolders with matching names already exists in the destination, they will be overwritten. If set to NO (default), files/subfolders with matching names will not be overwritten, however, an error will occur during runtime stating a file with the same name already exists.
Only if newer	Yes/No	No	No	ISNEWER="YES"	If set to YES, only source files that are newer than those that match in the destination are to be overwritten folder will overwrite existing files. If set to NO (default), all matching files found in the destination folder will be overwritten regardless of their date properties. This parameter is active only if the Overwrite if Exists parameter is set to YES.
Only if exists in destination	Yes/No	No	No	ONLYIFEXIST="YES"	If set to YES, only files that already exist in the destination folder will be copied from the source folder. All other files, regardless of whether they match the mask or other parameter settings will be bypassed. This parameter is set to NO by default and becomes active only if the Overwrite if Exist parameter is set to YES.
Overwrite read-only files	Yes/No	No	No	OVERWRITEREADONLY="YES"	If set to YES, matching files found in the destination folder will be overwritten even if they are marked with the read-only attribute. If set to NO (default), read-only files are not overwritten. This parameter is active only if the Overwrite if Exist parameter is set to YES.
Overwrite hidden files	Yes/No	No	No	OVERWRITEHIDDEN="YES"	If set to YES, matching files found in the destination folder will be overwritten even if they are marked with the hidden attribute. If set to NO (default), hidden files are not overwritten. This parameter is active only if the Overwrite if Exist parameter is set to YES.
Exclude mask	Text	No	(Empty)	EXCLUDE=".txt" EXCLUDE=".txt\|*.bak EXCLUDE="c:\foldename"	Causes this action to omit files matching the mask(s) specified. File names or wildcard masks may be used. Multiple entries may be specified by separating them with a pipe symbol (\|), for example: .txt\|.bak
Regular expression	Yes/No	No	No	RE="yes"	If set to YES, indicates that the value entered in the Exclude mask parameter will be interpreted as a regular expression. If set to NO (default) the value will be interpreted as normal readable text.
Only if newer than	Date	No	(Empty)	ISNEWERTHAN= "%DateSerial(2001,10,12) + TimeSerial(00,00,00)%"	If enabled, causes this action to only act on files that are newer than the date/time specified. If this parameter is left blank or disabled (default), file dates are ignored. Click the Custom button to select from a list of pre-defined date parameters. Enable the Expression option to allow entry of a date/time expression.
Only if older than	Date	No	(Empty)	ISOLDERTHAN= "%DateSerial(2001,10,12) + TimeSerial(00,00,00)%"	If enabled, causes this action to only act on files that are older than the date/time specified. If this parameter is left blank or disabled (default), file dates are ignored. Click the Custom button to select from a list of pre-defined date parameters. Enable the Expression option to allow entry of a date/time expression.

File Filter

Property

Type

Required

Default

Markup

Description

Attributes

Text (Options)

(Empty)

ATTRFILTER="+R+A-H" (copy read-only & archive files but not hidden files)

This group of settings causes the action to filter which files are affected by the attribute change based on the original attribute settings of the source files.

In visual mode, a group of controls are provided to assist in the selection of this parameter. In AML mode, a single text item must be specified that contains the original attribute mask of the files you wish to affect. Available options are:

R—Read-only: Specifying "+R" causes files with this attribute turned on to be included, "-R" causes files with this attribute turned off to be included, not specifying the letter (default) causes this attribute to be ignored.
A—Archive: Specifying "+A" causes files with this attribute turned on to be included, "-A" causes files with this attribute turned off to be included, not specifying the letter (default) causes this attribute to be ignored.
S—System: Specifying "+S" causes files with this attribute turned on to be included, "-S" causes files with this attribute turned off to be included, not specifying the letter (default) causes this attribute to be ignored.
H—Hidden: Specifying "+R" causes files with this attribute turned on to be included, "-H" causes files with this attribute turned off to be included, not specifying the letter (default) causes this attribute to be ignored.
C—Compression: Specifying "+C" causes files with this attribute turned on to be included, "-C" causes files with this attribute turned off to be included, not specifying the letter (default) causes this attribute to be ignored.

Description

Error Causes

On Error

Datasets

A dataset is a multiple column, multiple row container object. This activity creates and populates a dataset containing a specific set of fields. The table below describes these fields (assuming the dataset name assigned was theDataset).

Name	Type	Return Value
theDataset.Source	Text	The path and file name of the source folder/ file.
theDataset.Size	Number	The size of the folder/file (in kb).
theDataset.Destination	Text	The path and file name of the destination file.
theDataset.Result	True/False	Returns TRUE if result of activity is a success, otherwise, returns a FALSE.
theDataset.Message	Text	The textual information associated to the result.

Example

NOTE: The sample AML code below can be copied and pasted directly into the Steps panel of the Task Builder.

Description: This sample task performs a copy operation and saves results to a dataset. A Loop Dataset action then loops through the dataset and displays information about the copied files in a message box.

<AMSHOWDIALOG WINDOWTITLE="Results of copy file operation.">Source - %FileCopyDataset.Source%

Destination - %FileCopyDataset.Destination%

Result - %FileCopyDataset.Result%

Message - %FileCopyDataset.Message%</AMSHOWDIALOG>

</AMLOOP>

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Last modified: 28-Jun-19 at 14:01:08