Launch External Application

Operation Name

Function overview

Calls external application.

Properties

For information about using variables, refer to "variables".

Basic settings

Item name	Required/Optional	Use of Variables	Description	Remarks
Name	Required	Not available	Input the name on the script canvas.

Required settings

Item name	Required/Optional	Use of Variables	Description	Remarks
Launch command	Required	Available	Input the command (program) to launch. Click [Browse] button to activate the file Selectr and Select the file. Example: To launch Internet Explorer C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe	Launch command will perform on the machine on which DataSpiderServer is installed. Specify the absolute path on the server OS local file system. Commands that can be executed by the user who started DataSpiderServer can be specified.
Launch arguments	Optional	-	Specify the argument to pass to the command. Can be operated with the following buttons. [Add]: Add a column. [Up]: Move the order of the selected column upwards by one. [Down]: Move the order of the selected column downwards by one. [Delete]: Delete the column.
Launch arguments / Arguments	Optional	Available	Specify the argument to pass to the command. Specify absolute path("C:\Progra~1\Data~") or relative path from /bin of DataSpiderServer("..\home\root\~") for the file path in command description. Example: To delete C:\test.csv [Launch command]:cmd.exe [Arguments]: /C [Arguments]: del [Arguments]: C:\test.csv

Execution settings

Item name	Required/Optional	Use of Variables	Description	Remarks
Working directory	Optional	Available	Enter the working directory of the command. Click [Browse] button to activate the file Selectr and Select the directory. When use a relative path in the command , working directory will be the relative path.	Specify the absolute path on the server OS local file system. It defaults to '$DATASPIDER_HOME/server' if omitted.
Wait until the end of the external applications	Optional	Not available	Select whether to wait until the end of the specified command. [Checked]: (default) Wait until the end of the specified command. [Not Checked]: Do not wait until the end of the specified command.
Assume error if return code is not 0	Optional	Not available	Select whether it is an error if the return value is not 0. [Checked]: (default) An error occurs when the return value is not 0. [Not Checked]: No error occurs when the return value is not 0.	Valid if [Wait until the end of the external applications] is checked.
Obtain stdout and stderr	Optional	Not available	Select whether to obtain stdout and stderr output by the specified command and set them to the component variables of this operation. [Checked]: Obtain stdout and stderr and set them to the component variables. [Not Checked]: (default) Do not obtain stdout and stderr and do not set them to the component variables.	Valid if [Wait until the end of the external applications] is checked.
Timeout	Optional	Available	Specify timeout in millisecond. This operation waits for completion of the specified command until the timeout.	Valid if [Wait until the end of the external applications] is checked. If you omit the "0" is set. If the "0" is set this operation waits for completion of the specified command forever. When the specified command does not complete within the timeout, the command is interrupted.

Comment

Item name	Required/Optional	Use of Variables	Description	Remarks
Comment	Optional	Not available	You can write a short description of this adapter. The description will be reflected in the specifications.

PSP Usage

PSP is not supported.

Available Component variables

Component variable name	Description	Remarks
exitValue	Returns the return value of command.	The value defaults to null. If [Wait until the end of the external applications] is not checked ,-1 is returned. If the command fails to start, "-1" is returned.
stdout	Stdout of the command is stored.	The value defaults to null. The empty string is stored when [Wait until the end of the external applications] and [Obtain stdout and stderr] are not checked. The empty string is stored if the command failed to launch.
stderr	Stderr of the command is stored.	The value defaults to null. The empty string is stored when [Wait until the end of the external applications] and [Obtain stdout and stderr] are not checked. The empty string is stored if the command failed to launch.
message_category	Stroes the category to which corresponding message code belongs to, when an error occurs.	The value defaults to null.
message_code	Stores its corresponding message code of occured error.	The value defaults to null.
message_level	Stores the severity of the corresponding message code of the occured error.	The value defaults to null.
error_type	Stores the type of the occured error.	The value defaults to null. Error is represented in the format depicted below. Example:java.io.FileNotFoundException The message may vary depending on DataSpider Servista version.
error_message	Stores the error message for the occured error.	The value defaults to null. The message may vary depending on DataSpider Servista version.
error_trace	Stores stack trace of the occurred error.	The value defaults to null. The message may vary depending on DataSpider Servista version or the client application used.

Specification Limits

When DataSpiderServer is launched as Windows service and account is specified in the property of service, because the interaction with the desktop is not allowed, GUI will not be launched even when executing applications with GUI launching.

Cannot enter data into the standard input.Pay attention when executing commands that waits for standard input.
[Wait until the end of the external applications] is enabled: Stops by external application processing.By terminating the script, the script ends(ABEND), and the launched command ends too.
[Wait until the end of the external applications] is disabled: The external application ends normally, but the launched command will be processed in the background without being stopped.The process remains on the OS.Terminate the process on the OS to end the launched command.

Main Exceptions

Exception name	Cause	Solution
InvalidPropertyConfigurationException	[Launch command] is not specified.	Specify [Launch command].
LaunchException	The return value of the command is not 0.	Check the contents of the launched command.
LaunchTimeoutException	The command was not completed within [Timeout].	Check [Timeout].
java.io.IOException	Command failed to start.	Check [Launch command].

Notes

For built-in commands of command prompt and shell, specify command prompt or shell as the command to launch, and starts the built-in command with the command prompt/shell.
Example: To start copy command
[Launch command]:cmd.exe
[Arguments]: /C
[Arguments]:copy
[Arguments]:<The argument of copy command>

The behavior of executing Windows standard ftp command(%windir%\System32\ftp.exe) with start option"-v" using this component is different from executing it with Windows(e.g. execute by specifying file name).
Specify -v option to show the response of remote server, do not specify -v option to avoid showing the response of remote server.

Do not specify any file path that contains "="(equal) character in the [Launch command].

Application cannot be launched if the primary group of the user who created the application and that of the user who launched DataSpiderServer differs, or no authority to launch that application has been grated.
In which case, either the user needs to be in the same primary group as the user who owns the application, or proper authority needs to be granted.