Hey Sysadmin, Do you like Scripts? 101% Flexibility!

A lot of our customers are Sysadmins, and they love to create little scripts to make their work a little easier.

All our programs have the option to run batch files, (power) shell scripts and real programs. Maybe that tells you something about our background in computing.

File Viking - The Drag & Drop File Processor

Our new program, File Viking, has a Run Action that can run programs or scripts. Every file you drop on a File Viking basket will be passed as an Environment Variable to your bat script or program.

A subdirectory, called SampleScripts, of File Viking's install directory has a few bat files to get you started. Convert pictures to PDF or PNG, Resize Pictures or UNRAR files.

Remember, you can get File Viking at a 25% discount in August! See this blogpost.

WatchDirectory - Monitor Directories for Changes

Our very first released program (2003). Currently, WatchDirectory can do a lot of things when it detects new files in your Windows directory. When we first released WD (version 1.0) it could only run batch files and obviously it still can.

There are lots of example scripts on this blog. Most scripts can be used, with minor changes, for our other programs as well.

WatchFTP - Monitor your FTP Server for new Files

When WatchFTP downloads a file it can run a script on that file. For example to import the file into your database or copy it somewhere else.

Your customers upload files, WatchFTP downloads them to your computer.

WxRemote - Remote Control of your WatchDirectory & WatchFTP tasks

Our WxRemote program is a different animal. If you have multiple WatchDirectory or WatchFTP installs it allows you to start and stop tasks from another computer. It also allows you to run Remote Scripts for selected WatchDirectory or WatchFTP tasks. A future version (free upgrade) will have an HTML interface as well! Control your tasks from your phone!

This is a program you really want if you manage multiple WatchDirectory and/or WatchFTP installs. In August use the discount code WXAUGUST to buy WxRemote with a 25% discount.

File Viking Released

A few days ago we released our new program File Viking, The Drag & Drop File Processor.

With File Viking you can automate your repetitive file handling tasks. Create several "baskets" (icons floating above your desktop) and configure what File Viking should do with files you drop on those baskets. For example, ZIP the files and upload the ZIP to your FTP server.
Alternatively, instead of using Drag & Drop, use the right-click context menu in Windows Explorer to add the selected files to a basket.

Several other "Actions" are available and we expect to add a lot more in the near future. All version 1.x releases will be free updates.

File Viking is currently available in 3 languages: English , German and Spanish.
We expect to release a French version soon.

Introduction Offer

If you buy File Viking in August, use the discount code FVAUGUST in our webshop to get File Viking with a 25% discount.

Send a Task Backup to Support

Q&A

When you contact us about an issue with a WatchDirectory task we may ask you to send us the settings and history for us to look at. We may also ask you to enable "Debug" for your task before you send us the backup.

This posts has all the tiny little details.

Enable Debug Info

On the "Other Settings" window enable the option "[X] Write Debug Info". Now run the task. After a while, when you know the problem has occurred again, stop the task and create the backup for us (see further down below).

The FTP (Upload) Task

If the task is an FTP (Upload) Task, there is an extra "debug" setting you need to enable, "[X] Write FTP Conversation to History". This will output all FTP commands and responses to the history database.

Just before you backup this FTP task, you may want to edit it again to temporarily change the username/password. The encrypted password is stored inside the backup.

Create the Backup

• Stop the task
• Right-click the task, a context menu opens.
• Select the option "Backup selected task(s)

This will create a ZIP file of your task settings and its history for us to look at.

Task History

If you want to look into the history info yourself and you are not familiar with WD's History Viewer, please read the post How Task History Works first.

Control your Tasks from other Computers

Remote Control of your WatchDirectory and WatchFTP tasks

We just released version 1.0 of Wx Remote, a set of tools to start, stop and view your tasks running on other computers.

Read all about it!

Early Bird Discount

Early adopters receive a 25% Discount (valid until July 1st) so why not give it a try.

Some major improvements are planned (Web interface) which will be free upgrades!

La nouvelle beta version de watchDirectory est disponible

Nope, I didn't learn French this afternoon ;-) But read on if you are interested.

WatchDirectory 4.6.3 beta 1

• Fixed: The Copy task ignored your "Remove Directory" setting when "Implement as Move" was selected.
• Fixed: The Email task will now write a warning if it can not attach a detected file on the network.
• Fixed: When emails were combined only the first email's @@@filename@@@ was processed.
• Fixed: The Upload task did not create new directories when you used Dynamic Naming.

WatchDirectory 4.6.3 beta 2

This beta has one new fix for the Upload task: renaming files on Microsoft FTP servers failed when the new file already existed.

For the download link, please see this forum post.

And..... French language version

WatchDirectory has been partly translated into French! The user interface is still mostly English or German, depending on which language you select, but if you select French during install, all helpfiles and parts of the quick-help will now be in French.

Note that several links in the French helpfiles currently point to non-existent internet pages. Those missing pages will be created soon.

Jacob will provide French language support by email and on our new French forum.

An update - File Viking

Oh boy, we are never going to release this great program. Every single time I think we are ready to release, a new "perfect" idea comes up. Surely, we can not release without *this killer feature*.

Just one more

Last beta - one or two weeks from now. Yes, there are hundreds of little (and big) ideas we can implement, they will have to wait until version 1.1 (which will be a free upgrade).

So, what's new?

Lots!

We have concentrated on usability for this last (really!) beta. Make File Viking easier to use. The little things.... (do you know how much work goes into "easy"?)

• All input fields that support {tags} (for example to use the current date as a directory name) have a little "{tag}" button next to them so you can easily select the tag you want (see picture below)
• Keyboard navigation improvements for the "Enter Values" window.
• A new tag, {subfolder}, which prompts you to select a subfolder of a directory.
• For some systems the installer did not create the proper registry entries. The "right-click context menu" in explorer did not show the "File Viking -> add to basket..." menu.
• 300 other small things

WatchDirectory Tasks as a Windows Service

Q&A

Here are a few tips if you have trouble running a WatchDirectory task as a Windows Service.

Make sure it works at all

As a first step, please make sure the task works properly when you manually start it (Not as a Windows Service). Set How to Run to Manually. When you have the task working properly "Manually", read on.

Network Directories

If your task only works on "local directories" (typically C:\ or D:\), you can skip this. If your task accesses drives on other computers ("The Network"), read on.

The Windows Service created by WatchDirectory runs as the user "Local System". Notice the word "Local"? The task can not access any network resources. Only directories on the computer where this task runs are accessible. So if you have a task that reads (monitors) or writes to network directories, you need to change the user that runs this task to someone who has access to those directories, see Change the User (last paragraphs of this post).

P:\

Are you accessing Mapped Network Drives? Please note that drive mappings (typically something like P:\ or X:\) are set by Windows based on the logged in user. Also, depending on the Windows version, those mappings are not available to Services even if you Change the User of the Service. Always use UNC naming for network drives (\\Server\Sharename\Directory instead of P:\Directory).

Network Share Permissions

When you share a directory on the network, older Windows versions by default gave Full Control (read, write, delete...) to anyone who is allowed to access the share. Current Windows releases default to read-only access. If your task needs to write to a network share, please check if the User running the task has proper privileges.

Batch Files

All the network issues above also apply to bat/cmd files you write. Please access network drives using their UNC name (\\server\share\directory\file.txt).

PATH
Please note the Windows PATH, where Windows can find executables to run, depends on the logged in user (the user that "runs" the WD task). If your script depends on programs that should be on your PATH, you may need to change the PATH in your bat script:

SET PATH=C:\My Binaries;%PATH%

Use Full Paths for files
If you currently have commands like

DoIt.exe "%WD_FILE%"

in your script, assuming DoIt.exe is in the current directory or your PATH, please change it to

"C:\Program Files\Do It Incorporated\DoIt.exe" "%WD_FILE%"

Note: %WD_FILE% contains the full path to the detected file, see Environment Variables.

Do not depend on the Working Directory
You should consider the "Current" (or "Working") directory to be RANDOM when your script is started. So, if you need a specific working directory, your script should set it itself.

Printing

Just like mapped drives, printers are maintained by Windows separately for each user account. Please see the last paragraph of this blogpost: Printing from a Windows Service.

Change the User for the WatchDirectory Service

Currently you can not change the user that runs the Windows Service inside the WatchDirectory Control Center. You must change it on the Windows Control Panel Applet "Windows Services":

• Inside the WatchDirectory Control Center, select the menu "Tools -> Windows Services"
• Open the settings for the service called watchDirectory:TheNameOfYourWatchDirectoryTask
• Change the user/password for the Service

A future WatchDirectory version will make changing this user/password easier, from inside the WD Control Center.

Perhaps it is a good idea to create a new (domain) user called WatchDirectory specifically for your WD tasks. One important aspect of this user is to let its password "never expire". If you set it up so the password does expire, you will need to change the password for all WatchDirectory tasks every month...

Blog auf Deutsch lesen

Reminder - 25% discount - help a little boy

For more info, see this English or this German post.

Did YOU donate for little Andrej? A few Euro, dollars, pounds... It can really Help!

Some of my customers really surprise me, in a GOOD way.

I emailed one of my favorite customers, Lori:

"Hello Lori,

I know you are a good person.
Please see http://watchdirftp.blogspot.com/2010/02/do-you-want-to-help-little-boy-with.html
and http://www.datalandsoftware.com/blog/2010/02/28/please-help-little-andrew-and-get-a-free-license/"

I should have a couple of checks in by tomorrow or Saturday. I'll make sure and donate then. More than that though, I will add Andrej to my prayer list. My 9-year-old daughter and I have a prayer list every night. If you could hear her pray, it would warm your heart. Please know she and I will pray for Andrej.

A few days later she donated $100.

Another customer donated $40 and ordered 2 extra licenses without any discount, asking for the promised discount to go to Andrej.
(Thank you Charles).

Good people do exist in this world!

Yes, there are a lot of you who donated who I did not mention. THANKS!

For more info, see this English or this German post.

Did YOU donate for little Andrej?

About File Viking

We are getting closer to the last beta-release of File Viking. This new beta will be released somewhere this or next week. ~1 month after that, version 1.0 is expected.

Among other things (lots and lots of small fixes, tons of little usability improvements), we added a few new Actions ("Uncompress" and "Upload to FTP").

If you want to join this last round of beta testing and receive a free license in exchange for your comments, let me know: support @ FileViking . com.

WatchDirectory 4.6.2 released

New in version 4.6.2

• New: Print PDF files Automatically with Foxit Reader.
  Foxit can print to "Any" printer, is faster and more reliable than Acrobat.
• New: WD_FILE_SIZE_MB and WD_FILE_SIZE_GB variables.
• New: Email Task: When you use a file with email addresses (see Advanced Addressing) you can also set the subject and message body there.
• Fixed: The new "Only One QUIET Event" option wasn't working properly.
• Fixed: The FTP plugin did not shutdown properly.

This new release is a free upgrade for all "version 4.x customers", just install the current evaluation version "on top" of your current install. That way you will keep your settings and tasks.

Holland Combinatie - a WatchDirectory Customer

WatchDirectory... it rocks!

In 2004 Holland Combinatie (Dutch) decided to take production to a new level by implementing a complete new production system. This production system was based on different modules with some integration, but not optimal.

Therefore it was necessary that connection where made through all kind of different scripts, bat-files etc. It was quite a mess to controlling this stuff.

A search on the Internet showed the solution for this all: WatchDirectory. All our scripts, bat-file, copy and renaming moves are now been taking care of through WD.

The system has never been so stable on all mentioned actions since the migration to WD. Support by the developers is great. You just have to send an email or post on the forum and any issue is taken care of almost immediately.

The only problem with WD (if you can speak of a problem anyway) is that WD is so flexible and multitasking that I have to keep a low profile on making up jobs which can be dealt by WD ;-)

I can put in into one slogan:
 WatchDirectory... it rocks!

D. Hoogenboom
Informatiemanager Grafisch/Technische Systemen
Holland Combinatie BV
The Netherlands

Batch Job Scheduling

Q&A

When we receive multiple requests from customers, in a short period of time, asking for a solution to the same issue, it is time to write a blogpost about it.

Automatically Run New Bat or CMD files

The question asked was

I want WatchDirectory to detect new Batch Scripts, *.cmd or *.bat, in a directory and automatically run them. I tried the Automatically Run Bat Files task, but it wants me to enter the name of the bat file to run. How can I do this?

The answer:

Yes, you need the "Run Bat Files" task, you just need to create a "static" batch file that will run the newly detected bat or cmd file. A simple RunTheNewScript.bat like this will do:

@echo off
rem the variable %WD_FILE% has the complete path to the newly detected script
Call "%WD_FILE%"
rem delete the script after it has run? Remove the "REM" on the next line
REM DEL "%WD_FILE%"

It is probably best to also Setup a Filter so this new task will only run when it detects a CMD or BAT file, see the picture below.

This is a low cost alternative to products such as Camellia Batch Job Server. Obviously, as a specialized program, Camellia BJS offers more/other functionality, but if all you need is to run dynamically created batch scripts automatically, you can do it with WatchDirectory.