Import or transfer files to an FTP server

This article describes how to import files to an FTP server.

Create FTP imports

1. From the Tools menu, click Flow builder > Add destination/lookup.
       – or –
   From the Resources menu, click Imports > + Create import.
2. From the Application list, select FTP.
3. Create or select an FTP connection.
4. If asked, click Transfer files into destination application and create a transfer or use an existing transfer.

Edit FTP import or transfer details

Create import panel

Create transfer panel

Name (required): Provide a clear and distinguishable name. You will have the option to choose this import throughout integrator.io, and a unique identifier will prove helpful later when selecting among a list of imports that you’ve created.

Description (optional): Describe your resource so that you and others can quickly understand its purpose. Be sure to highlight any nuances that you or a another user should be aware of before using this import in a flow. As you make changes to the resource, be sure to keep this description up to date.

Connection (required): The FTP connection to use for your import. You can create your connections in the Resources menu → Connections or click the + icon to create a new connection. Each connection contains credentials and other related information needed to access your FTP server.

One to many (required): Choose Yes if you have a single record that will create multiple records. You would use this setting if, for example, your parent record contains child records you need to process. This setting cannot be used when importing a CSV file.

Generate files from record (transfer only): Choose Yes to build a new CSV, XML, JSON, or another file. Choose No to transfer raw files as-is (PDF, JPG, etc.).

How would you like to generate files?

File type (required): Choose the type of file that you want to generate. For example, choose CSV if you are importing a flat, delimited text file, or XLSX for a binary Microsoft Excel file. The file name you specify can include a file extension, but it does not affect this setting. You can then choose a sample file to define the record structure. For example, if you are importing CSV files (i.e. files containing Comma Separated Value data), choose CSV. Each file type includes additional settings to customize your import. Acceptable file types include:

• CSV (or any delimited text file) - See CSV generator helper.
• JSON
• XLSX
• XML
• EDI X12
  • Get more information on FTP EDI imports.
• FIXED WIDTH
• EDIFACT

Sample file (that would be generated): If you have a sample file that represents the record structure of the files to transfer, you can upload the sample file here. We will use the sample file to auto-set various fields (where possible), and also help you map data in a subsequent step. The sample file that you provide does not need to be overly large (at max 5 records), but it should contain all the fields that you want to work with, and also be in the same format that the transfer will need to generate when running in a production capacity.

Where would you like the files transferred?

Directory path (required): Specify the directory path FTP folder where you want to transfer your files. For example, if you set this to 'MySite/Items' integrator.io will first look for a parent folder 'MySite', and then for a child folder 'Items', and then transfer all files into this child folder 'Items'.

File name (required): Specify how the files uploaded to the FTP site should be named. You can type '{{{' to include a predefined timestamp or unique file identifier in your file name. For example,
FileXYZ-{{{timestamp "YY-MM-DD" "America/Los_Angeles"}}}.txt
will upload files with the following pattern:
FileXYZ-16-06-30.txt in America/Los_Angeles time. Or, FileXYZ-{UUID}.txt
will upload files with the following pattern:
FileXYZ-69368e91d9a440f79165b73afd46859d.txt
using the unique ID (UUID) of the file. You can also include whatever file extension you like, and the file extension will never change the type of data generated.

Advanced

Encrypt files (optional): Use this cryptographic system to encrypt generated files. This option is enabled only when you have configured at least one cryptographic system in the connection. If it is unchecked, then encryption will not be performed on generated files.

Use temp file while upload in progress: Check this box if the destination folder where your file is being generated is also being watched by another service. If checked, integrator.io will "hide" the file being generated by integrator.io until it completes.

Enter a temporary file name in the In progress file name field. integrator.io writes the file to the file name you specify while the write operation is in progress. Upon completion, integrator.io renames this file to the intended filename defined in the File name field.

Batch size (optional): Enter the maximum number of files (from 1 to 1000) that can be processed in a single batch request. This setting doesn’t limit the total number of files that you can process in a flow; instead, it allows you to optimize for really big files where bigger batches might cause network timeout errors. If you are importing very small files, increasing the batch size to include several files at a time will improve flow performance.

Backup files path (optional): Specify the directory path of the FTP folder where files will be backed up after a successful transfer.

File encoding (optional): The file encoding indicates how the individual characters in your data are represented on the file system. Leave this blank if you do not know what the encoding format is. The default encoding is UTF-8 and the other supported format is: UTF-8, Windows-1252 and UTF-16LE

Skip aggregation: By default, integrator․io will aggregate all pages of data generated by an export into one (possibly large) file. Check Skip aggregation to instead generate multiple files (one file per page of data). 

Important: To generate one file per record, set the export page size to one record per page of data. However, if your page size is set to one record per page and you are using a one to many import, skip aggregation will generate one file per parent record, not one file per child record.

Compress files (optional): Compresses your imported data as a .zip file.

Invoke (uneditable): For use with the integrator.io API, this resource can be invoked via an HTTP request to this unique URL.

Save your import

When you’ve tested your import and it’s ready to go, click Save.