Command line switches for CWBTF.EXE aka Data Transfer From IBM i..?

Question

I would like to add an Edit action to the right-click context menu for IBM *.DTF files in my Windows Registry.

What are the command lines switches for CWBTF.EXE ..? Is there a switch for "open DTF file for editing" (but do not run it)..?

I've searched Google, StackOverflow, and the the IBM i 7.3 documentation for any mention of the command line switches for CWBTF.EXE aka "Data Transfer From IBM i", but I've found none.

The shortcut on my Windows Start Menu for "Data Transfer From IBM i" has the /t switch, but I cannot find any information on this.

I did find the command-line transfer utility RTOPCB.EXE , which does have some /? help text, but the options did not seem to relate much to the full-GUI version CWBTF.EXE .

Answer 1

I'm not sure where the documentation on the old Client Access program (CWBTF.EXE) exists. However, if you are able to use the newer Java based Access Client Solutions, the documentation for scripting can be found here . In particular, look for /plugin=download for transfer from IBM i.

Answer 2

I don't know if there are command-line switches which will override the "run automatically" setting. It seems unlikely. But depending on how determined you are, and how comfortable you are with scripting, a workaround could be to write your own CWBTF.EXE wrapper in a scripting language of your choice.

In broad strokes, your wrapper would go ahead and modify the .dtf file (or a copy of it) to ensure AutoRun=0 appears in the [Properties] section. Then it would call CWBTF.EXE on the modified .dtf . Then after that, if it's well-behaved, it would restore the .dtf to its original state (or remove the altered copy).

Armed with such a script, you could associate Edit with the wrapper.