Wait for Files

Description

Wait for Files pauses process execution and periodically checks whether a specified file exists, resuming the flow once the file becomes available. Use this process entry when your process depends on an external file that arrives on an unpredictable schedule — for example, waiting for a partner to upload a data feed, polling for a trigger file before starting a batch load, or pausing until an upstream system generates its output. You can configure it to wait indefinitely or to time out after a specified duration.

Configurations

Field Name	Description
Process Entry name	Specify a unique name for the process entry, on the workspace area. A process entry can be placed on the canvas several times; and each instance of the entry must have a unique name.
File name	The name and path of the file to wait for.
Maximum timeout	The maximum timeout in number of seconds, or 0 to wait indefinitely. This is the number seconds after which the flow will continue even if the file was not created. When the timeout is reached the "Success on timeout" option will determine whether the outgoing success or failure hop will be followed.
Check cycle time	The time in seconds between checking for the file. The file will be checked for in the start of the execution and then every "check cycle time" seconds until the maximum timeout is reached. A process can only be stopped every "check cycle time" as else the process entry step will be sleeping. A check cycle time of 30 or 60 seconds seems to be a good trade-off between the period until the file is detected and the required CPU usage.
Success on timeout	This option determines what to do when the "Maximum timeout" has been reached and the file has not been found. If enabled, the process entry will evaluate successfully, and the outgoing success hop will be followed.
File size check	When this is switched on, once the process entry detects the specified file, and will only continue if the file size hasn't changed the last check "cycle time seconds". This is useful in cases where a file is created in the final place, and another process is still writing to the file. (As a best practice, files should be written to a temporary location, and then moved when completed)