Upload Notices

Upload Notices allow you to have an e-mail message sent or some other action taken when selected users upload new files to your FTP server.  The Upload Notice window allows you to create any number of notices, each of which defines who should receive the e-mail and how it should be sent.  As part of the user account setup (on the "Define Users" window), you can then select a notice to be used when each user uploads (or downloads) a new file.

This help page describes the options available when defining Upload Notices.  For a primer on creating notices, including basic scripting examples for Shell Command and AppleScript notice types, see the "Upload Notices" article in the "Helpful Info" folder of the Rumpus package.

The list at the left of the Upload Notices window displays all of the defined notices.  Selecting a notice in the list populates the detail fields that define the e-mail message to be sent or script to execute.  To begin a new Upload Notice, click the "Add Notice" button just below the Notices list.  When you start a new notice, you will be asked to give the notice a name, which can be any text string that you will be able to easily recognize when assigning the notice to user accounts.  If the new notice will be similar to one that already exists, select the existing one first, before clicking the "Add Notice" button, and you will be given the option of duplicating the existing notice as the basis for the new one.

General Options

Test Notice

When creating a notice, the first option is a pop-up menu that allows you to select the "Notice Type".  The available notice types include "E-Mail", "Shell Command" and "AppleScript".  Select the notice type, and the remaining fields on the window will change to reflect the action to be taken. 

Test Notice

When you create a new Upload Notice, you will usually want to check to make sure that it has been created correctly before assigning it to a user account.  The Test Notice button immediately triggers the selected notice, using test values for the uploaded filename and other variables.  Note that this test is not always conclusive, since the test is run by the Rumpus control application and not the Rumpus server daemon.  Differences in application execution (such as the user account under which the process is run) may cause differences in how the notice is executed between the test case and actual use.  However, the test will quickly reveal common notice setup problems in most cases.  In addition, when the Test Notice button is used, Rumpus automatically checks for common Upload Notice settings problems, and suggests ways to fix them if they are found.

Send One Notice For Entire User Session

In some cases, you may expect users to log in and send several files at one time.  If you prefer to have Rumpus execute the notice only once when a user uploads multiple files in a single session, check this option.  When this option is not enabled, the notice will be triggered for each and every file uploaded by assigned user accounts.

E-Mail Notice Options

SMTP Mail Server 

Supply the domain name or IP address of the mail server to be used to transfer the message.  If you aren't sure, check your own e-mail client to see what the name or address is of the local mail server you use to send messages.

SMTP Username and Password

If your mail server requires SMTP Authentication to accept and process mail, then enter your SMTP username and password in the fields provided.  Note that many mail servers do not require authentication for mail messages destined for local users.  If this is the case, you may leave the username and password blank and Rumpus will skip authentication when it attempts to send e-mail.

Mail To

Enter the complete e-mail address of the person to receive the e-mail message.  You may enter multiple addresses, separated by commas, to have the message sent to multiple recipients.

Mail From

Enter the e-mail address to be used as an originating sender.  Most mail servers require that the "mail from" address be a valid e-mail address.  For simplicity, you may specify the same address as the "mail to" address.

CC

If you would like someone carbon copied (sent a copy of the e-mail notice), enter their address in the "CC" field.  Like "Mail To", you may enter multiple addresses, separated by commas.

Subject

This is the text string that will be used as the e-mail message subject.  Enter any easily recognizable text to make notification e-mails easy to spot.

Custom Message

When you click this button, a sheet will drop down that allows you to customize the e-mail message body.  In most cases, the default message body will convey the important information, so you may never need to use this option. 

However, if you do wish to change the message body, simply compose the message text in the "Message Body" text box like you would any other e-mail message body.  Several tokens are available that allow you to insert information about the file upload into the text of the message.  To add a token, place the insertion cursor at the appropriate place in the message body text, then click the "Insert Token" button.  The tokens available include:

File Path : Insert the name and path of the file uploaded.

File Name : Insert only the name of file uploaded.
  
User Name : Insert the username of the account being used to upload the file.

 IP Address : Insert the TCP/IP address of the client computer.

Time : Insert the time the notice is sent (roughly the time the file upload completes).

Date : Insert the date on which the notice is sent.

Form Variable : If you customize the file upload form so that the user can enter additional information along with their file upload, that information can be included in the Upload Notice message body using the Form Variable token.  For details, see the "Accepting User Input Along With File Uploads" section of the "WFM Introduction" article .

Shell Command Notice Options

System Command 

Specify a Unix shell command to have executed when the Upload Notice is triggered.  The command can include any of the available "Insert Tokens", allowing you to customize command parameters for the file uploaded.

AppleScript Notice Options

AppleScript 

Specify a simple AppleScript to have executed when the Upload Notice is triggered.  The script can include any of the available "Insert Tokens", allowing you to customize command parameters for the file uploaded.  The script may be multiple lines, though to trigger long or complex scripts it is usually best to create the script in the AppleScript editor, save the script as a stand-alone applet, and then trigger the applet with the simple AppleScript entered here.