The Transport Utility provides a way to move the contents of drivers and files from one location to another or from one format to another.  For example, a driver may be transported to a printer to print the contents of the driver.  Similarly, a local file may be transported to a remote file on an ftp server and vice versa.  Other examples include:

• Add files to or extract files from an archive (zip or jar file).
• Convert the contents of drivers to another format (e.g. export to Ascii, html, xml)
• Output the contents of a driver as a Pdf file
• Send a file as an email attachment
• Merge the contents of one driver into another driver
• See more examples

These methods become very useful when they are chained together.  For example, suppose you wanted to update a driver with the contents of another driver and then email the results.  This would require two transports - one to merge the files and another to send the result as an email attachment.  The same basic steps could be used to update a driver and post the results on a web site.

An added benefit is that the contents of a driver may be encrypted or decrypted during the transport.  For example,  a backup file could be encrypted as it is posted on an ftp site to protect its contents during the transport and while it is on the site.  The file could then be decrypted if you needed to download it from the site (assuming you know the password originally used to encrypt it).

Scripts may be executed before and after a transport.  A script might be used before a transport to prepare the item to be transported or to prompt for input.  For example, a script could be used to prompt for a filename.  The filename could be recorded in a token and the transport could use the token as the source or destination file.  A script could be used afterward for any number of things.  For example, after sending a file to a web site, a script could open the file in a browser.

All transports involve a source and a destination.  For example, if you wish to print the contents of a driver, the source is the driver and the destination is a printer.  If you want to convert the contents of a driver to a Pdf file, the source is again the driver and the destination is the name of the pdf file to be created.

The source and destination can always be specified by selecting a driver from the list of driver resources.  In some cases, it is possible to specify a file name directly rather than indirectly through a driver.  For example, copying a file, adding or extracting files from an archive and sending a file as an email attachment do not require a driver to be specified.  However, some commands, including the merge command and those used to convert to another format do require a driver since the type and structure of the file must be known.

The table below summarizes the transport methods.  Click any method for more information on that particular transport.