GETNEXTFILE - Get file or folder names on local PC

Syntax:	GETNEXTFILE	[ file name ] [ /options ]
Arguments:	[ file name ]	Variable or string defining a file or path name to look for; wildcard characters allowed; if no path is defined Robo-FTP’s working folder is used.
Options:	/incldirs	Return local folder name(s) as they are found. (Formerly this was the /subdirs option.)
	/newest	Get the newest file in the folder.
	/next	Get the next file or folder name in a local folder; omit this option to obtain the first file from a given local folder; if you wish to obtain subsequent files from this same folder, use this option until you find the desired file or no more files are found (see Important below). This option cannot be combined with the /timeout option.
	/oldest	Get the oldest file in the folder.
	/timeout=nn	Time-out in seconds to wait for presence of the file, if the time elapses before the file is found $ERROR_WAIT_TIMED_OUT is returned. If this option is omitted Robo-FTP looks for the file and immediately returns $ERROR_NO_FILE_FOUND if no match is found. This option cannot be combined with the /next option.

This script command checks for (and optionally waits for) the existence of a local file defined by the [ file name ] argument. If a matching file is detected, its file name is saved in the %nextfile variable and its full path name is saved in the %nextpath variable. The date and time of the file are also saved in the %nextfiledate, %nextfiledatetime, and %nextfiletime variables. The size of the file (excluding a folder), in bytes, is saved in the %nextfilesize variable. Files with the "hidden" or "system" attribute are ignored.

This command can be used to implement the hot send behavior whereby Robo-FTP automatically sends files when they are placed in a specified location.

If a file is open by another application, it will not be ‘seen’ by this command. Furthermore, the same file will be returned on subsequent iterations of this command unless it is deleted or renamed.

The /next option allows the entire contents, both files and folder names, of local folders to be traversed and saved in variables for use in script processing. Without this option, the first file found in the specified folder will always be returned. Use of this option with the /timeout option is not supported.

For most reliable operation, use the /next option only on static local folders (i.e., where no new files are being added and none are being deleted) since each successive /next skips one file as Robo-FTP scans through a given folder. When /next is omitted, this command always returns the first file that appears in the folder (files are returned in unsorted folder order).

Consider the following example where Robo-FTP waits indefinitely for any file with a .txt extension to be created in its working folder.

Once such a file exists, its name is saved in the %nextfile variable, its path and name is saved in the %nextpath variable, and script execution resumes.

Consider the following example where all the files in the specified folder are sent to an FTP site.

Consider the following example in which the file and folder names in the current local folder are identified and displayed by using the /next option.

The /newest and /oldest options are normally used with a wildcard [ file name ] to obtain the name of the newest or oldest file present. Use of these options with the /next option is not supported. Consider the following example where all files are sent to an FTP site beginning with the newest.

The /incldirs option may be used if you wish local folder names to be returned along with regular file names as they are found. When a folder is found, it is saved in the %nextfolder variable and the %nextfile variable is set to an empty string. The /oldest and /newest options have no affect on the folder names returned by the GETNEXTFILE command. Consider the following example that shows how folder files are distinguished from other files.

The date and time of the file obtained with the command is saved to three internal variables named %nextfiledate, %nextfiledatetime, and %nextfiletime. This permits you to directly compare the file’s date and time to values of your choosing. Consider the following example that shows how a file newer than a specified date may be found.

When connected to HTTP/HTTPS sites you may encounter situations where the name of a resource on the remote site contains characters that are reserved, unsafe, or otherwise unprintable. In these situations, web servers allow you to "percent encode" the required character by replacing it with a percent sign and the two digit hexadecimal representation of the character's position in the ASCII character set.