Using InfoDirect FTP September 2006

Transcription

1 Using InfoDirect FTP September 2006

2 COPYRIGHT AND MARKS Information in this document is subject to change without notice. No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, for any purpose, without express written permission of Pershing LLC Pershing LLC. All rights reserved. Pershing, NetExchange Pro and InfoDirect FTP are registered trademarks of Pershing Investments LLC. All other marks are the property of their respective owners. Dated: September 2006 Minor update November 2011

3 CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION...5 OVERVIEW...5 Important...5 WINDOWS VERSION OF NETEXCHANGE PRO USERS...6 NAVIGATION...6 Tabs...6 Navigation Tips...7 FILE NAMING CONVENTIONS...8 Bundled Files...8 HELP FUNCTIONS...9 Help for Third Party Products GETTING STARTED...11 BEFORE YOU BEGIN...11 BROWSER PATCHES AND UPDATES...11 CREATING AN INFODIRECT FTP FOLDER...12 Create InfoDirect FTP Folder...12 ASSOCIATING FILE EXTENSIONS...14 Download ifd_file_ext.reg...14 Run the Registry Script ACCESSING INFODIRECT FTP...17 Access InfoDirect FTP via Direct Web Address...17 Access InfoDirect FTP via NetExchange Pro...18 Save the Web Address in Your Favorites Folder (Internet Explorer)...18 Save the Web Address in Your Navigator Bookmarks (Netscape Navigator) NEWS AND INFORMATION...21 View News...21 View Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) DOWNLOADING FILES...23 Log on to InfoDirect FTP...23 View Your Directory Listing...24 Download a Specific File...25 Download All Available Files or a Group of Files...26 Log Off InfoDirect FTP...28 September

4 CONTENTS USING INFODIRECT FTP 6. UNZIPPING.ZIP FILES IN WINDOWS XP Unzip.zip Files September 2006

5 1. INTRODUCTION Overview InfoDirect FTP (file transfer protocol) HTTP (hypertext transfer protocol) is an easy-to-use Web interface to an InfoDirect FTP server. All you need is an Internet connection and a standard Web browser on your personal computer (PC) to send or receive files and retrieve information from the InfoDirect FTP repository. InfoDirect FTP gives you the option of normal FTP transfers or secure FTP transfers using the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol. Important You can only receive (download) files, you cannot send (upload) them. Files are available for the previous two weeks. Before accessing the InfoDirect FTP Web site, make sure that you have downloaded and applied all software patches for your browser (this is important for Microsoft Internet Explorer users). You also need to modify your Windows Registry to associate InfoDirect FTP file extensions and types. For more information, see Chapter 2, Getting Started, later in this guide. The current version of InfoDirect FTP allows you to download all available files at one time or a group of files. When you use this option, the individual files are collected, and bundled into one.zip file. Windows XP has the inherit capability to unzip these files (called compressed folders). There are other thirdparty file compression/decompression products available, such as PKZip and WinZip. You may opt to purchase and use these products. See Bundled Files under File Naming Conventions later in this guide. September

6 1. INTRODUCTION USING INFODIRECT FTP Windows Version of NetExchange Pro Users Navigation Tabs If you are using the Windows version of NetExchange Pro, you can access InfoDirect FTP from within this application. The first time you log in, you will need to provide your InfoDirect FTP user ID (mailbox ID) and password. Afterwards, the second and subsequent time you log in from within NetExchange Pro, your user ID and password will automatically appear in the appropriate boxes on the InfoDirect FTP Logon window. Also, a tab button, NetExchange Pro, will be available in InfoDirect FTP. This tab lets you exit and close your InfoDirect FTP session and return you to your NetExchange Pro session. Tabs appear in the top frame. Use them to navigate the InfoDirect FTP Web site. When you click a tab, menu options appear under it. Tabs Menu Options InfoDirect FTP Home page News Admin Tab Menu Options Usage Quarterly Announcements News Events Login Logout View data delivery news and information. Log on to access the Directory Contents page (or log off InfoDirect FTP). 6 September 2006

7 USING INFODIRECT FTP 1. INTRODUCTION Tab Menu Options Usage Files Directory Listing Access the Directory Contents page after you have logged on. FAQ Frequency Asked Questions View frequency asked questions (FAQ). NetExchange Pro Help Navigation Tips N/A Help Contacts Users Guide Standard File Layouts Switch to NetExchange Pro. Access the online help, contact information, the PDF version of Using InfoDirect FTP, and the Standard File Layouts page. See Help Information later in this chapter. The following elements enable you to navigate the InfoDirect FTP Web site effectively as well as enter or delete data: Name Example Description Hyperlink ACTV Click an underlined link to access a function or information. Text Box List Position the cursor in the box and type the information. Press TAB to go to the next element or press ENTER, depending on the function. Once you have completed one element, the cursor may move to the next element automatically. Click the down arrow to display a list of items to select from. Click an item to select it. Keyboard Tip: Tab to the list and type the first letter of your selection. If the list item is not the one you wanted, type the same letter again. Continue until your choice is displayed in the list box. As appropriate, press ENTER to choose the item or TAB to go to the next element. September

8 1. INTRODUCTION USING INFODIRECT FTP Name Example Description Command button Click the button to perform the function described by the button label. In most cases you can navigate within a page and delete data as follows: To Move to the next element within a page Move to the previous element within a page Delete information Action Press TAB or point to the next element and click. Press SHIFT+TAB or point to the previous element and click. Use the BACKSPACE or DELETE key on your keyboard. File Naming Conventions InfoDirect FTP uses the file naming convention MMDDYY.FORM (Example: NADD), where the file extension corresponds to the Standard File abbreviation. (For more information, consult the appropriate Pershing Standard File Layout documentation.) Bundled Files The current version of InfoDirect FTP allows you to download all available files at one time or a group of files. When you use this option, the individual files are collected and bundled into one.zip file using the naming convention: download_yyyymmdd-hhmmss.zip. You can download the.zip file to your InfoDirect FTP folder on your local PC, and extract the individual files using Windows XP or a third party file compression/decompression utility such as PKZip or WinZip. Note: This guide assumes that you are using Windows XP, and will follow the native Windows XP procedure for decompressing (unzipping).zip files. 8 September 2006

9 USING INFODIRECT FTP 1. INTRODUCTION Help Functions Along with this guide, application help is available through system messages, online help, and customer help services. The application displays messages that indicate requests for additional information or improper entries. Online help is clear, easy to understand and readily available. Help lines provide help with the application, its functionality, requests and hardware or password issues. The following resources are available from the Help tab. Help Accessing online help is easy and usually quicker than calling Pershing or consulting a printed guide. Navigation help is available. When you click the Help menu option, the InfoDirect FTP online help appears. InfoDirect FTP online help Contacts Provides Help Desk contact information, including phone numbers. Users Guide View an Adobe portable document format (PDF) version of this user guide online. Standard File Layouts View the Standard Files Layouts page. This page lists the individual PDF documents available for each Pershing Standard File Layout. You can view the PDF online or download it to your local PC. Each file layout document contains the following information: General Information Includes frequency, record size, Pershing process name, and Pershing form name. September

10 1. INTRODUCTION USING INFODIRECT FTP Description A general description of the file layout. File Layout Specifications Complete technical specifications including position (start and stop), picture (field length), field type, and field description. Covers header, data, and trailer records. Note: Viewing PDF documents online requires the Adobe Acrobat Reader which you can obtain for free from the Adobe Web site at Help for Third Party Products Third party products you may use to unzip the bundled InfoDirect FTP.zip files have their own online help and user manuals. Provided these products are properly installed and configured on your PC, you should be able to extract the files contained in the.zip file. You should also be able to access their online help. To learn more about using these products, consult that product s online help or user manual. 10 September 2006

11 2. GETTING STARTED Before You Begin To successfully use InfoDirect FTP, you need: An Internet browser, such as Internet Explorer (version 5.x or 6.x) or Netscape Navigator (version 4.7). Internet access through your firm s Internet service provider (ISP). An InfoDirect FTP user ID (mailbox ID) and password. To apply the most recent software patches and updates for your browser. See Browser Patches and Updates later in this chapter. For Internet Explorer users, you need to associate the Standard File file extensions (.NADD,.BKPG, etc.) in Windows. See Associating File Extensions later in this chapter. Ensure that you have a local PC directory where your downloaded InfoDirect files will reside. See Creating an InfoDirect Directory later in this chapter. A third party product for extracting files contained in.zip files. Note: The current version of InfoDirect FTP allows you to download all files, or a group of files. When using this option, the files are bundled into a.zip file. Windows XP contains its own capability to decompress (unzip).zip files. You may opt to purchase a thirdparty file compression/decompression utility such as PKZip or WinZip. This guide assumes that you are using Windows XP. Browser Patches and Updates Before accessing the InfoDirect FTP site, make sure you have applied the required patches for: Internet Explorer Internet Explorer 5.01 Requires Service Pack 2 (SP2) and all subsequent updates (Q-releases). Internet Explorer 5.5 Requires Service Pack 2 (SP2) and all subsequent updates (Q-releases). Internet Explorer 6.01 Requires Service Pack 1 (SP1) and subsequent updates (Q-releases). September

12 2. GETTING STARTED USING INFODIRECT FTP Note: Internet Explorer version 6.01 is the preferred browser for this application. Netscape Navigator Netscape Navigator version 4.7 or later is the minimum required browser. Note: At the time of this writing, no specific updates or patches for Netscape Navigator are required. However, this may have changed by the time you are reading this guide. To ensure that you have the most recent updates and patches for this browser, please check the Netscape Web site at Creating an InfoDirect FTP Folder If one does not exist, then you need to create a folder on your PC where your downloaded files will reside. You will only perform this procedure once. Note: You may skip this section if you already have an InfoDirect FTP folder (directory) on your PC (or on your file server s hard drive if you are saving the downloaded files to your network). Create InfoDirect FTP Folder 1 On your PC, access the Windows Desktop. 2 Double-click My Computer on your desktop. The My Computer window is displayed. My Computer window 12 September 2006

13 USING INFODIRECT FTP 2. GETTING STARTED 3 Double-click the drive that will contain the InfoDirect FTP folder. A window is displayed showing all folders and files in the root folder of that drive. Folders and Files for selected drive 4 (Optional) Double-click the folder that will contain the InfoDirect FTP folder. A window is displayed showing all the folders and files in that folder (the window may be blank if the folder is empty). 5 Position the mouse pointer in the window that you opened in the previous step, and right-click to display the shortcut menu. 6 On the shortcut menu, point to New and click Folder. The new folder appears in the window with New Folder selected waiting for you to type a name. 7 Type a name for the folder (for example, InfoDir_FTP) and press ENTER. Example folder to contain InfoDirect FTP files Note: Make sure that the folder name has no spaces. Some web browsers (such as Netscape Navigator) will not allow folder names and file names containing spaces. This is the folder that will contain your downloaded files. Note: You may need to close the windows that you opened in steps 1, 2, or 3. September

14 2. GETTING STARTED USING INFODIRECT FTP Associating File Extensions If you are using the most recent version of Internet Explorer 5.x or 6.x, you need to download a special Windows Registry script ifd_file_ext.reg. This script: Prevents the file extension.txt from being appended to downloaded files. Associates a default viewer (notepad.exe) to your downloaded files so that you can open them with Notepad whenever you double-click that file in Windows Explorer. This script associates all the InfoDirect file extensions in one click. Note: Pershing will update this script as new InfoDirect files become available. To ensure that the most recent file types are associated, you need to repeat this procedure each time a new InfoDirect file is released. Netscape Navigator users may skip this section, since Navigator does not append the.txt extension to downloaded files. Download ifd_file_ext.reg Note: You need administrator privileges to perform these steps. If you do not have administrator privileges, then log off and log on to your PC as Administrator. 1 Go to the InfoDirect FTP site at The InfoDirect FTP home page is displayed. InfoDirect FTP Home Page 14 September 2006

15 USING INFODIRECT FTP 2. GETTING STARTED 2 Double-click the Download File Extension Patch hyperlink to begin the download. The File Download dialog box is displayed. File Download dialog box 3 Click Save this program to disk and click OK. The Save As dialog box is displayed. Save As dialog box 4 In the Save in list, click Desktop and click Save. The downloaded file is saved to your desktop. You should see the following icon on your desktop. Idf_file_ext.reg icon September

16 2. GETTING STARTED USING INFODIRECT FTP Run the Registry Script 1 Double-click ifd_file_ext.reg. Note: The script may take some time to run, so be patient. After the script runs successfully, the following message box is displayed: 2 Click OK. File types and extensions are now correctly associated. You are ready to download your InfoDirect FTP files. 16 September 2006

17 3. ACCESSING INFODIRECT FTP Once you have all the information you need and have updated your browser and associated file types, as indicated in Before You Begin, in Chapter 2, Getting Started, earlier in this guide, you are now ready to access the InfoDirect FTP site. You can access InfoDirect FTP directly from its Web address, or from within NetExchange Pro or the Windows version of NetExchange Pro. Access InfoDirect FTP via Direct Web Address 1 Start your web browser. 2 In the Address box, type and press ENTER. The InfoDirect FTP home page is displayed. Note: In Netscape Navigator, this box is labeled Location. InfoDirect FTP Home Page September

18 3. ACCESSING INFODIRECT FTP USING INFODIRECT FTP Access InfoDirect FTP via NetExchange Pro 1 Click the OFFICE tab. The About NetExchange Office page is displayed. Note: If you are using the Windows version of NetExchange Pro, On the Office menu, click About Office. The About Office window is displayed. About NetExchange Office page 2 Click the Launch InfoDirect FTP site hyperlink. The InfoDirect FTP home page is displayed in its own browser window. Save the Web Address in Your Favorites Folder (Internet Explorer) Note: If you are using Netscape Navigator, see Save the Web Address in Your Navigator Bookmarks (Netscape Navigator) later in this chapter. You only need to perform these steps once. After the web address is saved to your Internet Explorer Favorites folder, you can easily access this site from that folder without having to type the long web address string in the Address box. If you have already stored the web address in your Favorites folder, skip to Log on to InfoDirect FTP later in this chapter. 18 September 2006

19 USING INFODIRECT FTP 3. ACCESSING INFODIRECT FTP 1 In Internet Explorer, click the Favorites menu, and then click Add to Favorites. The Add Favorite dialog box is displayed. Note: If you are accessing InfoDirect FTP from within the Windows version of NetExchange Pro, position the mouse pointer in the middle of the InfoDirect FTP page, right-click to access the shortcut menu, and then click Add to Favorites. Add Favorite dialog box 2 In the Name box, type the descriptive name for the web address. For example, InfoDirect FTP. 3 Do any of the following: In the Create in list, click an existing folder that is to contain the web address (favorite). Click any subfolder under a folder that is to contain the web address (optional). Click New Folder to store the web address in a new folder. The New Folder dialog box is displayed. Note: Subfolders can be accessed by clicking the plus sign (+) next to the listed folder to expand that folder. Skip to step 5 if you plan to save the web address in an existing folder or the root folder. 4 (Optional) If you clicked New Folder in step 3, in the Create New Folder dialog box, in the Folder name box, type the name of the new folder and click OK. The new folder is listed in the Create in list view. 5 In the Add Favorite dialog box, click OK. September

20 3. ACCESSING INFODIRECT FTP USING INFODIRECT FTP The web address is added to the Favorites folder or subfolder specified in step 3 with the descriptive name indicated in step 2. To access the InfoDirect FTP Web site in the future, select it from your Favorites. Save the Web Address in Your Navigator Bookmarks (Netscape Navigator) Note: You only need to perform these steps once. After the web address is saved to your Netscape Navigator Bookmarks folder, you can easily access this site from that folder without having to type the long web address string in the Location box. If you have already stored the web address in your Bookmarks folder, skip to Log on to InfoDirect FTP later in this chapter. 1 In Netscape Navigator, select Bookmarks from the Communicator menu. 2 Select Add Bookmarks from the Bookmarks menu. Note: If you are accessing InfoDirect FTP from within Windows version of NetExchange Pro, position the mouse pointer in the middle of the InfoDirect FTP page, right-click to access the shortcut menu, and then click Add Bookmark. Result: The Web address is added to the Navigator Bookmarks folder. Use the Edit Bookmarks option on the Bookmarks menu to edit the bookmark description and move it to a different folder or subfolder. 20 September 2006

21 4. NEWS AND INFORMATION This chapter covers information that you can access without having to log on to InfoDirect FTP. This information includes: News Quarterly Announcements FYI For information about logging on and off InfoDirect FTP, and about accessing your directory listing (files), see Chapter 5, Downloading Files, later in this guide. Note: You do not have to log on to InfoDirect FTP to access news and information. View News 1 Access the InfoDirect FTP home page. For more information, see Chapter 3, Accessing InfoDirect FTP, earlier in this guide. 2 On the InfoDirect FTP home page, click the News tab. 3 Do one of the following: For quarterly announcements, click the Quarterly Announcements menu option. For news events, click the FYI menu option. Result: The information page appears based on your selection in step 3. News Events page (listing) September

22 4. NEWS AND INFORMATION USING INFODIRECT FTP 4 In the listing, click the hyperlink to view details for that announcement or event. Note: Documents in Adobe portable document format (.pdf) require the Adobe Acrobat Reader. This reader can be obtained from Adobe for free (no cost), and downloaded from their Web site at News Events page (selected article) View Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) 1 On the InfoDirect FTP home page, click the FAQ tab. 2 Click the Frequency Asked Questions menu option. The FAQ Frequently Asked Question page appears. 22 September 2006

23 5. DOWNLOADING FILES Log on to InfoDirect FTP Note: If you are already logged on to InfoDirect FTP, see View Your Directory Listing later in this chapter. 1 Access the InfoDirect FTP home page. (See Chapter 3, Accessing InfoDirect FTP, earlier in this guide.) 2 Click the Admin tab. 3 Click the Login menu option. The Welcome page appears. Welcome page 4 On the Welcome page, provide the following information in the corresponding boxes: User ID Password September

24 5. DOWNLOADING FILES USING INFODIRECT FTP Note: User IDs and passwords are case sensitive and are typed lowercase. If you are logging in from the Windows version of NetExchange Pro for the second or subsequent time, the log in information from your first session will appear in the appropriate boxes. To use a different user ID and password, type over the information in these boxes. 5 Click Logon. The Files available for download page appears. Directory Contents page Note: If you scroll down this page, the total number of batches (files) is displayed. View Your Directory Listing From any InfoDirect FTP page, click the Files tab. The Files available for download page appears. Files Available for Download Page Information Information User Batch# Size Description User ID (the same as your mailbox ID). Batch number corresponding to this file. File size in bytes. 24 September 2006

25 USING INFODIRECT FTP 5. DOWNLOADING FILES Information File Name Creation Date Creation Time Description Actual file name that you download (see Download Your Files later in this chapter). File creation date in MMM DD, YYYY format. File creation time in HH:MM [AM/PM] format Download a Specific File Note: You also have the option to download all the files or a group of files. See Download All Available Files or a Group of Files later in this chapter. 1 Access the Files available for download page. (See either Log on to InfoDirect FTP or View Your Directory Listing earlier in this chapter.) 2 In the File Name column, click the hyperlink to download that file. The File Download dialog box appears. Tip: You can also select the checkbox and click Download. (You may need to scroll down to access the Download button on the page.) File Download dialog box 3 Click Save. The Save As dialog box appears. September

26 5. DOWNLOADING FILES USING INFODIRECT FTP Save As dialog box 4 (Optional) In the Save in list, select or navigate to the folder that will contain the downloaded file. 5 Click Save. The downloaded file is saved in the folder indicated in step 4. Note: If the Download complete dialog box appears, click Close. 6 Repeat steps 2 to 5 to download subsequent files. Download All Available Files or a Group of Files Note: You also have the option to a specific file or one file at a time. See Download a Specific File earlier in this chapter. 1 Access the Files available for download page. (See either Log on to InfoDirect FTP or View Your Directory Listing earlier in this chapter.) 2 Do one of the following: To download all available files, select the first check box in the top row. Selecting this box automatically selects all the files available for download. Note: This step assumes that no other check boxes are selected. Tip: Deselecting this check box deselects all available files. 26 September 2006

27 USING INFODIRECT FTP 5. DOWNLOADING FILES To download a group of files, select the check box in the rows of the files you want to download. 3 Click Download. The selected files are bundled into a compressed.zip file with the name download_yyyymmdd- HHMMSS.zip). The File Download dialog box appears. Tip: You may need to scroll down to access the Download button on the page. File Download dialog box 4 Click Save. The Save As dialog box appears. Save As dialog box 5 (Optional) In the Save in list, select or navigate to the folder that will contain the downloaded file. September

28 5. DOWNLOADING FILES USING INFODIRECT FTP 6 Click Save. The Download Complete dialog box appears. Download Complete dialog box 7 Do one of the following: Click Open Folder. A dialog box is displayed of the folder containing the.zip file you just downloaded. You can use XP, or a third-party unzipping program to extract your standard files contained in this.zip file. Click Close. The downloaded file is saved in the folder indicated in step 4. You can extract the.zip files later (using either XP, or a thirdparty unzipping program). Log Off InfoDirect FTP 1 Click the Admin tab. 2 Click the Logout submenu option. The Logout Message page appears and displays the message Logoff is successful. 28 September 2006

29 6. UNZIPPING.ZIP FILES IN WINDOWS XP Windows XP and other Windows 2000 variants have native, built-in capability for unzipping (uncompressing).zip files. The steps in this chapter outline how to unzip a.zip file (called compressed folders) in Windows XP. Note: If you are using a third party zipping/unzipping utility, such as WinZip or PKZip, the steps to unzip a file will be different. Consult your product s printed documentation or online help to learn how to unzip.zip files using that product. (See Help for Third Party Products, in Chapter 1, Introduction, earlier in this guide.) Unzip.zip Files 1 On your PC, using Windows Explorer, locate the folder containing the compressed file. 2 Do one of the following: To extract a single file, double-click the.zip file to open it. Then drag the file from the.zip file to a new location. To extract all files, right-click the.zip file, and then click Extract All. In the Compressed (zipped) Folders Extraction Wizard, specify where you want the files to reside. Note: When you extract a file from a.zip file, the compressed version remains in that.zip file. If you use the new multiple-file download capability, the number of.zip files you save will grow. You may need to revise your file retention policies to handle these.zip files. September

30 6. UNZIPPING.ZIP FILES IN WINDOWS XP USING INFODIRECT FTP NOTES 30 September 2006