Batch Manual

The use of SOFiE can also be integrated into an automated working environment, as it is often necessary for files that are processed in an automatic way by external systems.

In batch mode, you can only access to non-interactive functions, being the emission/receipt and the encryption/decryption functions.
To work in an automated way, SOFiE has created during your first login the basics for the Batch mode usage.
These basics consist in:

A script "run_batch_<user_ID>" (.ksh and .bat) to execute the batch mode
The script is located in the bin directory.
A securized file containing your authentification data.

Notice:
This file is only created if you have ticked the box "Save encrypted password for batch processing" before login. You can generate this file at anytime:
A properties file "<user_ID>.batch.properties" for the batch mode configuration, that the user can mofify.
The file is located in "properties\batch" folder.

Batch update and JAR packages

The JAR packages used by the batch mode are stored in the special folder "SOFIE_HOME/lib".
The first time the batch mode is started, all JAR packages are downloaded from Sofie's server by Wget in "SOFIE_HOME/lib".
Each time the batch mode is started, a check and update (if needed) of the JAR packages is done to ensure you run the last version.

Notice:
If you use a proxy server, the option "Use browser settings" has to be set to "false" in "SOFIE_HOME/properties/communication/communication_default_http.properties".
Instead, specify the proxy parameters manually in the properties file, as wget cannot retrieve the browser parameters.
The properties file cannot interpret proxy configuration script like Pac or wpad files.

Batch Mode Execution

To execute the batch mode, start the script "run_batch_<user_ID>.bat" (on Windows) or "run_batch_<user_ID>.ksh" (on Unix/Linux).

Notice:
If the property "run.forEver"(see batch properties) is set to "No", running the batch starts the SOFiE application and the latter is stopped when there is no more file to treat.
Setting the property to "Yes" keeps the application running, checking periodically (see "waiting.time" parameter) if new files are available and process them.

Custom Batch

You can also edit the script file manually to create your custom batch.
The command pattern to put in your script is call _run lu.cetrel.sofie.client.SofieMain <parameters list>

Parameter	Allowed Values	Default	Description
-mode	gui batch	gui	Execution mode. In batch execution, the value must be always batch (GUI is the default value used to run the GUI application)
-user	<user_ID>		Profile that has to be used to run the batch
-file	<file_name>		Name of the file that has to be treated
-e			Encrypt. Only if a filename is present. This option can’t be used with -d
-s			Send file. Only if a filename is present
-d			Decrypt file. Only if a filename is present. This option can’t be used with -e
-ctx	Production. Test		Context to use for file transfer.

Example

call _run lu.cetrel.sofie.client.SofieMain -mode batch -user 99990000 :

Launch SOFiE and run the encryption/decryption/send processes for the data files put the in the directories of user 999900268. The receive process is done too in order to download the files sent by others users to user 999900268.
call _run lu.cetrel.sofie.client.SofieMain -mode batch -user 99990000 -e simple_file.FREE.99990003 :

Launch SOFiE and encrypt the file "simple_file.FREE.99990003" with the private key of user 99990000 and the certificate of user 99990003. The resulting file will be named SOFIE.timestamp.99990003 and ready for a transmission to the destinator.
call _run lu.cetrel.sofie.client.SofieMain -mode batch -user 99990000 -d SOFI.200212091211001.999900000 :

Launch SOFiE and decrypt the file "SOFI.200212091211001.999900000" as far as the private key of 999900000 corresponds to the certificate that has been used by the sender to encrypt the file.
The resulting file will be named according to the original name except if a special naming convention has been implemented for the user 999900000.

Rules

The following rules must be followed when using the batch mode otherwise an error will occur:

you can only encrypt files that have not been encrypted by SOFiE before
you can only send files that have been encrypted
you can only decrypt files that have been encrypted before

Batch Properties file: Parameters Description

The parameters are described here.

Notice:
By default, the sending and receipt functions are disabled in the batch properties file.

Tracking The Batch Processing Using The Error Folder

When the processing of a file has failed, the file is moved in one of the subdirectories of folder <SOFIE_HOME>\error and a specific log file is created within the subdirectory.
The file is renamed when moved in the error folder i.e. a timestamp that represents the time when the error has occured is added at the end of filename.
The log file has the same name than its corresponding error file but the extension ".log" is added in the filename.
The subdirectory whithin the file and log are created depend on the error context:

<SOFIE_HOME>\error\to_crypt: an error has occured when trying to encrypt a file
<SOFIE_HOME>\error\to_decypt: an error occurs when trying to decrypt a file
<SOFIE_HOME>\error\to_send: an error occurs when trying to send a file
<SOFIE_HOME>\error\received: an error occurs when trying to download a file

Tracking The Batch Processing Using The Return Code

Also in batch mode, SOFiE is generating messages that are put in the same log as the user-interface execution.
When stopping, SOFiE is returning a system code, indicating whether file(s) have been treated without errors. The values of the return code are:

0 : no error has occured
a positive number : the number of files for which the processing has failed
9009 : the batch cannot find the custom java JRE of SOFIE.
In such case, you need to set JAVA_HOME environment variable to the Java installation directory (default : C:\program files\Cetrel\jre). You can add the variable definition at the beginning of the batch script.