Advice on non-interactive ftp script

[happyhat]

Alright so I have a question about using non-interactive ftp inside a function in a bash script.

How would I use it correctly? Everytime I try to create a simple function for passing a value ( a folder name ) to a non-interactive ftp session ( it's gonna be a cron job ) and everytime I run it, it connects to the server, however does not pass any of the ftp commands along. Here's a sample of the function I'm trying to work with:

data_upload() {

DEVICE=$1

MAIN_DIR=/some/dir/$DEVICE/data

cd $MAIN_DIR

ftp -inv 192.168.1.XXX << EOF

user USER P@ssw0rD

cd $DEVICE/data

mput *.foo *.bar

close

bye


EOF

}


data_upload foobar


I want it to open the ftp session, upload to specific file types and then close the session, but be reusable several times over the course of a script. Any help or suggestions are much appreciated.

[wje_lf]

What does your screen look like after you run this script? What's the screen output?

[ghostdog74]

you have put on the -v flag, so show your output. you can also experiment with the -d option. Also, you can use lcd and segregate your mput command for each file type you are uploading .

....
....
lcd $MAIN_DIR
prompt
mput *.foo
mput *.bar

[happyhat]

On this particular setup for my ftp function, here is the output:

# ./test.sh mt2060

./test.sh: line 71: syntax error: unexpected end of file


###

I'm sure it's related to the EOF statements, but I don't think I'm using them correctly.

[Thrillhouse]

You say this is a non-interactive ftp script but you are at least attempting to interact with the server.

I would take a look at expect and/or autoexpect. It can "watch" your interactive session with the server and produce a script based on what it observed. You'll probably end up having to tweak the script a little bit but it can at least give you something to work from.

[wje_lf]

I'm sure it's related to the EOF statements, but I don't think I'm using them correctly.

I think you're onto something there.

At first I thought it might be the space you have between the << and that EOF (because I never use a space there), but it turns out that a space is perfectly fine.

But I'm guessing that your script as you posted it is not exactly the way it is as you run it. First, I don't think the script itself has everything double spaced, but I don't think that's the problem. I suspect that some of the lines in the script itself are indented. I also suspect that the final "EOF" is one of them.

Remove any spaces or tabs before that final EOF and see whether anything changes.

[happyhat]

It'll be a couple of hours before I can go back and edit the script, but I was indenting everything inside the function brackets. I'll remove the indents to see if that resolves the issue.

[happyhat]

I think you're onto something there.

Remove any spaces or tabs before that final EOF and see whether anything changes.

Thanks a bunch dude!!! I removed that tab ( for strictly aesthetic purposes only ) and it looks like it works now.

[drl]

Hi.

Perhaps of some use:

If the redirection operator is <<-, then all leading tab characters are
stripped from input lines and the line containing delimiter. This
allows here-documents within shell scripts to be indented in a natural
fashion.

excerpt from man bash

Best wishes ... cheers, drl