I have a program that makes a series of simple FTP uploads to a client site nightly. It uploads one file each time, takes a snapshot of the directory info, returns to VFP, which then reads the directory picture to be sure the file uploaded properly, then moves to the next file to upload.

The client site occasionally locks up during the FTP (this is a problem with the client site, and there is nothing we can do to fix that problem), leaving the DOS window hung in place. There are nights when the program will send 100 uploads, and will fail on the third or fourth file. Currently, I have a data admin who comes in at 6 AM simply kill the window and let it restart (once VFP regains control of the process, it will upload the same file as before, and then move on). The problem is that this requires manual intervention, as VFP is locked while control has been passed to a DOS window, and the DOS window is locked while its FTP command is lost.

I would like to find a way to do this automatically, but I've so far been unable to write a program that can kill a DOS window that has been opened by another VFP program. I can find the window, and I can send it a "kill" command, but it either (A) ignores the command, or (B) pops up another window that asks for confirmation, and I cannot pass a command to the confirmation window.

Is there a 3rd-party program (or simply a Fox or Windows command I'm missing) that can do a search-and-destroy mission on DOS windows created from other calls? Is there a 3rd-party FTP software that allows slightly more sophisticated programming, (such as if/then calls to note when the process had died)?