Page History

...

Data Files are processed by jobs in a workflow e.g. to import reporting data into a data warehouse. Such files are (re-) moved only after processing by the their respective jobs.

For both Trigger Files and Data Files the workflow is responsible for removing an incoming file before completion of the workflow.

...

• The Order ID of file orders for example is created like this: #<ISO date>#F<Seconds since Jan 1st 1970>-<ID of file order source>:<file name>, where:
  
  • #<ISO date># is the date of appearance of the file, e.g. 2021-03-17., enclosed by #. The date is calculated for the time zone assigned the File Order Source.
  • F is a qualifier to indicate a File Order Source.
  • <Seconds since Jan 1st 1970>-  is what it says and is appended with is followed by a hyphen.
  • <File Order source ID>: is the unique identifier of the File Order Source configuration object followed by a colon.
  • <file name> is the name of the incoming file.
• Such file orders can be considered triggers for workflow execution, which implies that the workflow can be executed by the monitoring Agent or by different other Agents.

File Order Sources are managed with in the Configuration -> Inventory view like this:

...

The JS7 Agent applies the following procedure for the timely acceptance of incoming files:

• For Linux environments the Inotify interface is used, that . This notifies the JS7 Agent in near real-time about incoming files.
• For other Unix environments including MacOS, AIX etc. the Agent performs polling every 2s based on the implementation provided with the respective relevant Java Virtual Machine.
• For Windows environments the respective relevant API is used, that and notifies the JS7 Agent in near real-time.

...

When an incoming file arrives in a directory then the file might not be have been completely written at the point in time of appearance.

• In Windows environments, files that are being written by a process cannot be accessed by jobs.
• In Unix environments, parallel read and write operations to files by jobs and processes are possible - but not desired, as results are unpredictable.

...

Should it not be possible for a client process that writes a file to rename the file after completion then the Agent implements a delay to check the steady state of an incoming file.

• An interval of (default: 2 seconds) can be specified for which the Agent waits . The Agent will wait for this time and then checks check if the time stamp or the size of the file changed.
• If the file has changed then the Agent will wait for the next interval to apply before applying the same check.

Ghost Appearance

If a file appears then the Agent will create a file order. If the file disappears later on then this has no impact on the file order. However, if a file with the same name appears once again while the current file order is in progress then the Agent will prepare a new file order that will be visible only after the initial file order has completed the workflow.

It is not considered good practice for a client application to make files with the same name appear and disappear in short sequence. However, the situation will be handled by the Agent that creates additional file orders.

...

• can process a workflow for the file order provided that all jobs in this workflow are assigned to this Agent,
• has to wait for the Controller to become available in order to forward the file order.

...

• A job in a workflow can:
  • move an incoming file to some an archive location that is not subject to file watching,
  • remove an incoming file.

...

• The COMPLETED state does not indicate that previous jobs in the workflow were not successful. It indicates that clean-up for the incoming file did failhas failed.
• Users have to make completed file orders leave the workflow and move the remaining file to some other location.

...