open a file from an ftp site

Question

I'm having a little trouble opening a file from an ftp site.  Can anyone help?  I thought treating it like a regular http site would work, but it does not.  I'm just using the regular open command, like:

Open ( "ftp://ftp.nasdaqtrader.com/symboldirectory/nasdaqlisted.txt");

But that doesn't work.  I've tried using delimiters, stripquotes, and all sorts of stuff.  I can save it to my hard drive and import just fine that way.  But when I try to nab it from the ftp site it doesn't work.  Any ideas?  Socket connection maybe?  Datafeed()?  Or does anyone know if it's possible to access the File>Internet Open feature found in the File menu bar?

Thanks in advance for posting.

Message was edited by: shwaZmoto

unknown · Answer

Thanks Matt!

I forgot to check "source > edit" on the data table after opening it manually from the internet.

mattf · Answer

Hi:

/File, Internet Open 
, hit enter when prompted for username and password produces for me a data table with the associated script:

<-
Open(
	"/0540FBF8/nasdaqlisted.txt",
	columns(
		Name(
			"Symbol|Security Name|Market Category|Test Issue|Financial Status|Round Lot Size"
		) = Character,
		Column 2 = Character,
		Column 3 = Character,
		Column 4 = Character,
		Column 5 = Character,
		Column 6 = Character,
		Column 7 = Character
	),
	Import Settings(
		End Of Line( CRLF, CR, LF ),
		End Of Field( Tab, Comma ),
		Strip Quotes( 1 ),
		Use Apostrophe as Quotation Mark( 0 ),
		Scan Whole File( 1 ),
		Labels( 1 ),
		Column Names Start( 1 ),
		Data Starts( 2 ),
		Lines To Read( All ),
		Year Rule( "10-90" )
	)
);
->

Best regards,
-Matt

unknown · Answer

Thanks for the response mpb.  It's good to hear other's ideas.  So what you said got me thinking.  Maybe instead of using JMP's Open() function, I could use window's kernel32.dll CreateFile function by marshalling the dll.  Something like this, although this doesn't work and I'm not certain as to why:

If( Host is( Windows ) & Or( JMP Version() == " 8.0.1", JMP Version() == " 8.0.2", JMP Version() == " 9.0.0" ),

kernel32 = Load DLL( "kernel32" );

/*
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa363858(v=VS.85).aspx
*/

kernel32 << DeclareFunction(
        "CreateFileA",
        Convention( STDCALL ),
        Alias( "CreateFile" ),
        Arg( AnsiString, "lpFileName" ),
        Arg( AnsiString, "dwDesiredAccess" ),
        Arg( AnsiString, "dwShareMode" ),
        Arg( UInt32, "dwCreationDisposition" ),
        Arg( AnsiString, "dwFlagsAndAttributes" ),
        Returns( AnsiString )
    );

CreateFileA( "ftp://ftp.nasdaqtrader.com/symboldirectory/nasdaqlisted.txt", "GENERIC_READ", "FILE_SHARE_READ", 2, "FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL" );
    kernel32 << ShowFunctions();
    kernel32 << UnloadDll();
)

It's still very strange to me that JMP lacks scripting support for FTP servers.  There's also a ReadFile function in kernel32.dll that could be used to create an I/O stream, but I'm guessing it's probably much the same as JMP's socket connections.

I'd much rather be able to script the built-in menu command "File:Open Connection".  It seems to do everything I want for I/O purposes.

Message was edited by: shwaZmoto