Knowledge Base

Article 2608

How To timestamp downloads

Sometimes it is necessary to dynamically change the destination file/folder name. For example if you have a backup task scheduled which should put the files into a different folder each time it is started. The solution is to use predefined variables in the destination path.

In this example we setup a backup task which downloads a folder from a server to a local folder:

1. Schedule a transfer as describe in the following article:
   http://www.smartftp.com/support/kb/how-to-schedule-a-transfer-f145.html
2. Right-click on the newly created item in the Transfer Queue. Select Properties from the context menu.
3. In the General dialog go to the Destination at the bottom of the dialog.
4. In the Path input box add the desired Variables. For example if the path is called: C:\Backup\ and you want to put the files into a new folder each time you change it to C:\Backup\*d-*m-*Y\
   If the task would be started on the 4th May 2004 the files will be downloaded into the following destination folder:
   C:\Backup\04-05-2004\

Variables 
*a Abbreviated weekday name
*A Full weekday name
*b Abbreviated month name
*B Full month name
*d Day of month as decimal number (01 – 31)
*H Hour in 24-hour format (00 – 23)
*I Hour in 12-hour format (01 – 12)
*j Day of year as decimal number (001 – 366)
*m Month as decimal number (01 – 12)
*M Minute as decimal number (00 – 59)
*S Second as decimal number (00 – 59)
*U Week of year as decimal number, with Sunday as first day of week (00 – 53)
*w Weekday as decimal number (0 – 6; Sunday is 0)
*W Week of year as decimal number, with Monday as first day of week (00 – 53)
*y Year without century, as decimal number (00 – 99)
*Y Year with century, as decimal number

Keywords
timestamp

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