Tip to prevent FileAdapter from reading incomplete files and passing empty value to processing component.

On Demand Consulting
Author: Vinoth Philominraaj

When using FileAdapter Export binding, BPM will start to process the file as soon as the file is created and this sometimes will push incomplete data or empty value to the processing component.

Ideal solution to avoid this problem is to use staging folder to have the remote system push file or using a different name for file like filename.ext.tmp, then use another process to move the file from staging to target folder where the FileAdapter is listening or remove the .tmp extension. This option is preferred when working with larger files or if file transfer takes longer time to complete.

Alternate to this solution is to use a property in the FileAdapter called "Time interval for polling unchanged files (in milliseconds)". This property by default will have a value of "0", indicating the FileAdapter activation specification to start processing the inbound file as soon as its created in the target folder. Setting a higher value for this property makes the adapter wait until the file is fully written by source system then use it for processing.

Below are details for setting this property in IID:
- Click on the FileAdapter Export binding and open its properties
- Navigate to End-point Configuration sub tab and expand ActivationSpec Properties under Connection
- The property "Time interval for polling unchanged files (in milliseconds)" can be found under FlatFile specific polling properties
- Set a higher value and save the changes.