

The second scenario is when an EFT administrator tries to use a Folder Monitor to watch where a connected client will be uploading files. But in this kind of scenario EFT will attempt to grab the file after each new chunk is added since the file handle keeps getting closed. This is bad programming and against basic standards. The application may write out a line of a new file, then close the handle, then open a new handle, write out another line, and then close the handle, and so on. This is definitely rare but certainly not unheard of. The first scenario is when an application-generally a home-grown or very old legacy application or both-misuses file handles. However, there are two basic scenarios to watch out for, scenarios where you must be careful or even avoid using a Folder Monitor altogether. Scenarios in which to Use Caution or Avoid Using Folder Monitor It doesn’t matter if it takes 5 milliseconds or 5 hours, EFT won’t react until the file handle is closed. Essentially, whether some employee is saving a file in an application to that storage source, moving or otherwise copying and pasting it there, or some application server is doing that kind of work, a new file is created and has new contents written to it for some period of time, and then the handle is closed, indicating that process is finished. It allows near real-time reaction to files being added to a directory, either on the local server storage or across the network to any CIFS share. This concept works very well and reliably when dealing with processes and people on the local LAN.

If this is a new concept, and you’d like to see it in action, there are several utilities freely available from Microsoft’s Sysinternals suite, such as Process Monitor that will let you see the continual stream of this otherwise background information. If what it’s doing is writing to a new file, EFT won’t then react until that handle is “closed” or released.
Monitor folder for new files windows#
A file handle, in this context, means that some application (which could easily be Windows Explorer itself) has taken hold of a file, that it’s doing something with it. But how do we know the file’s done being written to the directory? And what about the Folder Sweep capability, that option where you can “Scan for files every…” so often? Let’s look at that more closely.ĮFT is able to know that the file is done being added to the directory when the file handle is closed. Something new has shown up in the directory, so there’s something we should do with it. A file has been renamed within the directoryīy far the most common scenario is to leverage the “if File Change does equal to added” condition.A file has been removed from the directory.If two thousand files are added to a directory, still each file being added is handled on its own.ĮFT Enterprise provides three (3) different triggers for reacting to changes to a folder: If two files are added to a directory, each is its own instance and handled independently from the other. Instead, use the File Upload event.īefore we get into the details, remember that each instance of change in a folder is its own discrete event. It is not recommended to use the Folder Monitor event for scanning files with the Content Integrity Control Action (sending to an ICAP server for scanning).
Monitor folder for new files how to#
With that in mind, there may be some question regarding what happens with the context variables and how to properly react to some changes. In many real-world implementations, Folder Monitors play a major role in both integration with application servers as well as reacting to human processes, where either way data will be deposited in a particular directory somewhere on the network. THE INFORMATION IN THIS ARTICLE APPLIES TO:ĮFT Enterprise offers a powerful and efficient capability to monitor folders for changes: files being added, removed, or renamed within a folder.
