Use Tasks to Manipulate, Translate, Convert and Transfer Files

GoAnywhere MFT includes over 60 built-in tasks for performing a wide variety of business processes. This includes tasks to retrieve and distribute files, transform data, encrypt/decrypt files, compress/decompress files and interact with databases. Other tasks can be used to call native commands, execute programs, send emails, search and replace file contents and more.

You can also build your own custom tasks to use within Projects. This is especially helpful if you need to perform special processing or connect to ERP systems and other applications using proprietary interfaces.

Multiple tasks can be "chained" together within a Project to perform a series of steps. For instance, a Project could be defined with a task to retrieve an XML file from a trading partner, then another task to parse the XML and finally a task to import the data into a database table.

Listed below is a summary of the built-in tasks:

COMPRESSION

Zip

Compresses, packages and optionally encrypts files using the ZIP standard.

UnZip

Decompresses ZIP files.

GZip

Compresses files using the GZIP standard.

GUnzip

Decompresses GZIP files.

Tar

Packages several files together using the TAR standard.

Untar

Unpackages a TAR file.

DATABASE

SQL

Runs any SQL statement supported by the database server (i.e. SELECT, UPDATE, INSERT, CREATE, DELETE, CALL, etc). This task is especially useful for extracting data from database tables, which could then be converted to various file formats and transmitted. It is also useful for importing data from files that may have been retrieved from trading partners.

DATA TRANSLATION

Read CSV

Reads a CSV file and produces an output that can be used in another task (for instance, to import into a database).

Write CSV

Converts a set of records to a CSV (delimited text) formatted file.

Read Excel

Reads an Excel file and produces an output that can be used in a different task (for instance, to convert to CSV format). Supports reading from Microsoft Excel 95, 97, 2000, XP, 2003, 2007, 2010 and 2013 workbooks.

Write Excel

Converts a set of records to Microsoft Excel file format. Supports Microsoft Excel 95, 97, 2000, XP, 2003, 2007, 2010 and 2013 file types.

Password Protect Excel

Encrypts Microsoft Excel .xlsx documents for password protection

Read Fixed-Width

Reads a fixed-width formatted file and produces an output that can be used in another task (for instance, to convert to XML format).

Write Fixed-Width

Converts a set of records to a fixed-width (e.g. fixed length) formatted file.

Read Flat File

Reads a flat file and produces an output that can be used in another task.

Read XML

Reads data from a XML document (with or without Schema and DTD validation) and produces one or more outputs that can be used in another task (for instance, to import into a database).

Write XML

Converts records to an XML document. Accepts multiple inputs to produce complex XML structures with optional Schema and DTD validation. For example, order header and order detail records can be combined within a single XML document.

Read JSON

Reads data from a JSON document and produces one or more outputs that can be used in another task (for instance, to import into a database).

Write JSON

Converts records to a JSON document. Accepts multiple inputs to produce complex JSON structures. For example, order header and order detail records can be combined within a single JSON document.

Count RowSet

Counts the number of rows and columns in a RowSet variable.

Modify RowSet

Modifies the contents of rows or records.

Validate RowSet

Validates the contents of rows or records.

EMAIL & SMS

Retrieve Email

Retrieves E-Mail messages from POP3 and IMAP servers (with or without S/MIME encryption).

Send Email

Sends E-Mail messages through a SMTP server (with or without S/MIME encryption). Supports file attachments.

Send SMS Message

Sends SMS text messages through a SMS gateway.

FILE SYSTEM

Checksum

Create a hash value for a file using MD5, SHA-1, SHA-224, SHA-256, SHA-384, or SHA-512 algorithms.

Copy

Copies files and directories on local file systems, as well as network shares.

Move

Moves files and directories.

Delete

Deletes files and directories.

Rename

Renames one or more files in a directory .

Make Directory

Creates a new directory on the file system.

Search and Replace

Searches for a string in a file and replaces it with a new value.

Merge Files

Merges multiple into a single file.

Create File List

Builds a list of files based on filter criteria (e.g. wildcards, size, date). This "file list" can then be used in other tasks.

FILE TRANSFER

AS2

Send and receive messages using Applicability Statement 2.

AS3

Send and receive messages using Applicability Statement 3.

AS4

Send and receive messages using Applicability Statement 4.

FTP

Connects to a FTP server for performing file transfer (gets, puts) and other FTP commands.

FTPS

Connects to a FTPS server for transferring files over SSL/TLS.

GoAnywhere HTTPS

Posts and Gets data from HTTPS Server in the GoAnywhere MFT product.

GoDrive Upload

Upload files to GoDrive User accounts.

HTTP

Transfers files or calls web services using HTTP Protocol.

HTTPS

Transfer files or calls web services using HTTPS (HTTPS over SSL).

SCP

Connects to a SCP- Compliant server for transferring files over SSH,

SFTP

Connects to a SFTP server for transferring files over SSH.

Close Session

Closes an open FTP or FTPS session.

INTEGRATION

Execute IBM i Commands and Programs

Executes (calls) a command or program on a IBM i (iSeries) machine.

Execute Native Command

Executes a command (e.g. executable, script, etc.) on the system that is locally accessible by GoAnywhere MFT.

Execute SSH Commands

Connects to a remote server using SSH to execute commands.

ICAP

Send files to an ICAP- enabled server which can perform Anti-Virus and DLP functions.

SNMP Trap

Send Traps to SNMP servers.

JOB CONTROL

Call Module

Routes control to another Module within the Project.

Call Project

Executes a Project on the same installation of GoAnywhere MFT.

Call Remote Project

Executes another Project on a different installation of GoAnywhere MFT.

Delay

The Delay task can be used to a pause a project for a specified amount of time.

If / Else

Evaluate conditions and make processing flow decisions accordingly.

Exit Module

Exits the Module when a condition is true.

Exit Project

Exits a Project at he specified location if a condition is true.

Raise Error

Generates an error in the Project, which can used to abort the job or route control to another module.

LOOPS

Do- While Loop

A Do-While loop is similar to a While Loop, however a Do-While loop checks the condition at the end of the loop. Therefore the tasks in a Do-While loop will execute at least once.

Exit Loop

The Exit Loop is a special component used to exit (or leave) the loop when a certain conditions is met.

For Loop

A For Loop executes one or more tasks for a specified number of times.

For- Each Loop

For- Each Loop are used to iterate over a collection of items such as a list of files contained in a File List or a collection of data in a RowSet.

Iterate Loop

The Iterate Loop is a special component for advancing the loop to the next iteration without running the remaining items in the loop.

While Loop

The While Loop checks a specified condition before executing the tasks contained within the loop. If the conditions is met, the tasks within the Loop will execute one iteration.

MISCELLANEOUS

Base64 Decode

Decodes a Base64 encoded input file and produces an output file with the decoded binary content.

Base64 Encode

Encodes the binary content of an input file and produces a Base64 encoded ASCII output file.

Close RowSet

Allows manual closing of a RowSet rather than relying on the project to handle this when finished.

Close Session

Closes an open SFTP, SCP, or SSH session.

Deny Trigger Event

Called by a 'Before Trigger' event. Will stop a file from being accepted or delivered, which is useful when scanning files for viruses or performing DLP.

Print

Writes user-specified text into the job log.

Secure Form Response

The Secure Form Response task is used to provide custom success or failure messages when a user submits a Secure Form.

Set Variable

Assigns a new value to a Variable.

Timestamp

Makes the current date and time availabe to various tasks in the project. Custom formats can be defined to indicate how the date and/or time should be formatted.