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File Connector Reference - Mule 4

File Connector v1.3

Anypoint Connector for File (File Connector) manipulates file systems mounted on a host operation system.

This class serves as both extension definition and configuration. Operations are based on the standard BaseFileSystemOperations.

Release Notes: File Connector Release Notes

Configurations

Default Configuration

Parameters

Name Type Description Default Value Required

Name

String

The name for this configuration. Connectors reference the configuration with this name.

x

Connection

Local FileSystem Connection

The connection types that can be provided to this configuration.

x

Default write encoding (DEPRECATED)

String

This parameter is deprecated and is ignored.

Time Between Size Check

Number

Wait time between size checks to determine if a file is ready to read. This allows a file write to complete before processing. If no value is provided, the check is not performed. When enabled, Mule performs two size checks, waiting the specified time between calls. If both checks return the same value, the file is ready to be read. This attribute works in tandem with Time between size check unit.

Time Between Size Check Unit

Enumeration, one of:

  • NANOSECONDS

  • MICROSECONDS

  • MILLISECONDS

  • SECONDS

  • MINUTES

  • HOURS

  • DAYS

A Time unit that qualifies the Time between size check attribute.

MILLISECONDS

Expiration Policy

Expiration Policy

Configures the minimum amount of time that a dynamic configuration instance can remain idle before the runtime considers it eligible for expiration. This does not mean that the platform will expire the instance at the exact moment that it becomes eligible. The runtime will actually purge the instances when it sees it fit.

Connection Types

Local FileSystem Connection

A Connection Provider that provides instances of File System from instances of File Connector.

Parameters
Name Type Description Default Value Required

Working Directory

String

The directory to consider the root of every relative path used with this connector. If not provided, it defaults to the value of the user.home system property. If that system property is not set, then the connector fails to initialize.

Reconnection

Reconnection

When an application deploys, a connectivity test is performed on all connectors. If set to true, deployment fails if the test doesn’t pass after exhausting the associated reconnection strategy.

Operations

Associated Sources

Copy

<file:copy>

Copies the file or directory specified in Source Path into the Target Path. The source path can be either a file or a directory. If it points to a directory, then it is copied recursively.

If the target path doesn’t exist, and neither does its parent, then a parent folder is created if Create parent directories is set to true. If Create parent directories is set to false, then a FILE:ILLEGAL_PATH error is thrown.

If Overwrite is set to true and the target file already exists, then the target file is overwritten. Otherwise, a FILE:FILE_ALREADY_EXISTS error is thrown.

Parameters

Name Type Description Default Value Required

Configuration

String

The name of the configuration to use.

x

Source Path

String

The path to the file to be copied.

x

Target Path

String

The target directory where to copy the file.

x

Create Parent Directories

Boolean

Whether or not to create parent directories if they don’t exist.

true

Overwrite

Boolean

Whether or not to overwrite the file if the target destination already exists.

false

Rename To

String

The new name for the copied file. If not provided, original file name is kept.

Reconnection Strategy

A retry strategy in case of connectivity errors.

For Configurations

Throws

  • FILE:CONNECTIVITY

  • FILE:ILLEGAL_PATH

  • FILE:FILE_ALREADY_EXISTS

  • FILE:RETRY_EXHAUSTED

Create Directory

<file:create-directory>

Creates a new directory on Directory path.

Parameters

Name Type Description Default Value Required

Configuration

String

The name of the configuration to use.

x

Directory Path

String

The new directory’s name.

x

Reconnection Strategy

A retry strategy in case of connectivity errors.

For Configurations

Throws

  • FILE:CONNECTIVITY

  • FILE:ILLEGAL_PATH

  • FILE:FILE_ALREADY_EXISTS

  • FILE:RETRY_EXHAUSTED

  • FILE:ACCESS_DENIED

Delete

<file:delete>

Deletes the file that the path field points to, provided that the file is not locked.

Parameters

Name Type Description Default Value Required

Configuration

String

The name of the configuration to use.

x

Path

String

The path to the file to be deleted.

x

Reconnection Strategy

A retry strategy in case of connectivity errors.

For Configurations

Throws

  • FILE:CONNECTIVITY

  • FILE:ILLEGAL_PATH

  • FILE:RETRY_EXHAUSTED

  • FILE:ACCESS_DENIED

List

<file:list>

Lists all the files in the Directory path that match a matcher.

If the listing encounters a directory, the output list includes its contents depending on the value of the Recursive parameter.

Parameters

Name Type Description Default Value Required

Configuration

String

The name of the configuration to use.

x

Directory Path

String

The path to the directory to be listed.

x

Recursive

Boolean

Whether to include the contents of subdirectories.

false

File Matching Rules

Matcher

A matcher used to filter the output list.

Time Between Size Check

Number

Wait time between size checks to determine if a file is ready to read.

Time Between Size Check Unit

Enumeration, one of:

  • NANOSECONDS

  • MICROSECONDS

  • MILLISECONDS

  • SECONDS

  • MINUTES

  • HOURS

  • DAYS

Time unit to be used in the wait time between size checks.

Streaming Strategy

Configure if repeatable streams should be used and their behavior.

Target Variable

String

The name of a variable on which the operation’s output is placed.

Target Value

String

An expression to evaluate against the operation’s output and the outcome of that expression is stored in the target variable.

#[payload]

Reconnection Strategy

A retry strategy in case of connectivity errors.

Output

Type

Array of Message of [CursorProvider] payload and [Local File Attributes] attributes

For Configurations

Throws

  • FILE:ILLEGAL_PATH

  • FILE:ACCESS_DENIED

Move

<file:move>

Moves the file or directory from the Source Path into the Target Path. The source path can be either a file or a directory. If it points to a directory, then it will be moved recursively.

If the target path doesn’t exist, and neither does its parent, then a parent folder is created if Create parent directories is set to true. If Create parent directories is set to false, then a FILE:ILLEGAL_PATH error is thrown.

If the target file already exists, then it will be overwritten if Overwrite is set to true. If Overwrite is set to false, a FILE:FILE_ALREADY_EXISTS error will be thrown.

Parameters

Name Type Description Default Value Required

Configuration

String

The name of the configuration to use.

x

Source Path

String

The path to the file to be copied.

x

Target Path

String

The target directory.

x

Create Parent Directories

Boolean

Whether or not to attempt creating any parent directories which don’t exists.

true

Overwrite

Boolean

Whether or not overwrite the file if the target destination already exists.

false

Rename To

String

Moved file’s new name. If not provided, original file name is kept.

Reconnection Strategy

A retry strategy in case of connectivity errors.

For Configurations

Throws

  • FILE:CONNECTIVITY

  • FILE:ILLEGAL_PATH

  • FILE:FILE_ALREADY_EXISTS

  • FILE:RETRY_EXHAUSTED

Read

<file:read>

Obtains the content and metadata of a file at a given path. The operation itself returns a Message which payload is a InputStream with the file’s content, and the metadata is represent as a LocalFileAttributes object that’s placed as the message Message#getAttributes() attributes.

If the lock parameter is set to true, then a file system level lock is placed on the file until the input stream this operation returns is closed or fully consumed. Because the lock is actually provided by the host file system, its behavior might change depending on the mounted drive and the operation system on which Mule is running. Take that into consideration before blindly relying on this lock.

This method also makes a best effort to determine the MIME type of the file being read. The file’s extension is used to make an educated guess on the file’s MIME type. The user also has the chance to force the output encoding and mimeType through the outputEncoding and outputMimeType optional parameters.

Parameters

Name Type Description Default Value Required

Configuration

String

The name of the configuration to use.

x

File Path

String

The path to the file to be read

x

Lock

Boolean

Whether or not to lock the file. Defaults to false.

false

Time Between Size Check

Number

Wait time between size checks to determine if a file is ready to be read.

Time Between Size Check Unit

Enumeration, one of:

  • NANOSECONDS

  • MICROSECONDS

  • MILLISECONDS

  • SECONDS

  • MINUTES

  • HOURS

  • DAYS

time unit to be used in the wait time between size checks.

Output Mime Type

String

The MIME type of the payload that this operation outputs.

Encoding

String

The encoding of the payload that this operation outputs.

Streaming Strategy

Configure if repeatable streams should be used and their behavior

Target Variable

String

The name of a variable on which the operation’s output will be placed

Target Value

String

An expression to evaluate against the operation’s output and the outcome of that expression will be stored in the target variable

#[payload]

Reconnection Strategy

A retry strategy in case of connectivity errors.

Output

Type

Binary

Attributes Type

Local File Attributes

For Configurations

Throws

  • FILE:CONNECTIVITY

  • FILE:FILE_LOCK

  • FILE:ILLEGAL_PATH

  • FILE:RETRY_EXHAUSTED

  • FILE:ACCESS_DENIED

Rename

<file:rename>

Renames the file pointed by the path to the name provided on the to parameter. The to argument should not contain any path separator. FILE:ILLEGAL_PATH is thrown if this precondition is not honored.

Parameters

Name Type Description Default Value Required

Configuration

String

The name of the configuration to use.

x

Path

String

The path to the file to be renamed.

x

New Name

String

The file’s new name.

x

Overwrite

Boolean

Whether or not overwrite the file if the target destination already exists.

false

Reconnection Strategy

A retry strategy in case of connectivity errors.

For Configurations

Throws

  • FILE:CONNECTIVITY

  • FILE:ILLEGAL_PATH

  • FILE:FILE_ALREADY_EXISTS

  • FILE:RETRY_EXHAUSTED

  • FILE:ACCESS_DENIED

Write

<file:write>

Writes the content into the file pointed by path.

If the directory on which the file is attempting to be written doesn’t exist, then the operation will either throw FILE:ILLEGAL_PATH error or create such folder depending on the value of the createParentDirectory.

If the file itself already exists, then the behavior depends on the supplied mode.

This operation also supports locking support depending on the value of the lock argument, but following the same rules and considerations as described in the read operation.

Parameters

Name Type Description Default Value Required

Configuration

String

The name of the configuration to use.

x

Path

String

The path of the file to be written

x

Content

Binary

The content to be written into the file. Defaults to the current Message payload

#[payload]

Encoding (DEPRECATED)

String

This parameter is deprecated and does nothing if configured.

Create Parent Directories

Boolean

Whether or not to attempt creating any parent directories which don’t exists.

true

Lock

Boolean

Whether or not to lock the file. Defaults to false

false

Write Mode

Enumeration, one of:

  • OVERWRITE

  • APPEND

  • CREATE_NEW

a FileWriteMode. Defaults to OVERWRITE

OVERWRITE

Reconnection Strategy

A retry strategy in case of connectivity errors.

For Configurations

Throws

  • FILE:ILLEGAL_CONTENT

  • FILE:CONNECTIVITY

  • FILE:ILLEGAL_PATH

  • FILE:FILE_ALREADY_EXISTS

  • FILE:RETRY_EXHAUSTED

  • FILE:ACCESS_DENIED

Sources

On New or Updated File

<file:listener>

Polls a directory looking for files that have been created or updated. One message is generated for each file that is found.

The key part of this functionality is how to determine that a file is actually new.

These are the strategies for that:

  • Set the autoDelete parameter to true: This deletes each processed file after it has been processed, causing all files obtained in the next poll to be necessarily new.

  • Set moveToDirectory parameter: This moves each processed file to a different directory after it has been processed, achieving the same effect as autoDelete< but without loosing the file.

  • Use the watermarkMode parameter to only pick files that have been created/updated after the last poll was executed.

A matcher can also be used for additional filtering of files.

Parameters

Name Type Description Default Value Required

Configuration

String

The name of the configuration to use.

x

Directory

String

The directory on which polled files are contained.

Recursive

Boolean

Whether or not to also files contained in sub directories.

true

Matcher

Matcher

A matcher used to filter events on files which do not meet the matcher’s criteria.

Watermark Mode

Enumeration, one of:

  • DISABLED

  • MODIFIED_TIMESTAMP

  • CREATED_TIMESTAMP

Controls whether or not to do watermarking, and if so, if the watermark should consider the file’s modification or creation timestamps

DISABLED

Time Between Size Check

Number

Wait time in milliseconds between size checks to determine if a file is ready to be read. This allows a file write to complete before processing. You can disable this feature by omitting a value. When enabled, Mule performs two size checks waiting the specified time between calls. If both checks return the same value, the file is ready to be read.

Time Between Size Check Unit

Enumeration, one of:

  • NANOSECONDS

  • MICROSECONDS

  • MILLISECONDS

  • SECONDS

  • MINUTES

  • HOURS

  • DAYS

A Time unit that qualifies the Time between size check.

Output Mime Type

String

The MIME type of the payload that this operation outputs.

Encoding

String

The encoding of the payload that this operation outputs.

Primary Node Only

Boolean

Whether this source should be executed only on the primary node when running in a cluster.

Scheduling Strategy

scheduling-strategy

Configures the scheduler that triggers the polling.

x

Streaming Strategy

Configure if repeatable streams should be used and their behavior.

Redelivery Policy

Redelivery Policy

Defines a policy for processing the redelivery of the same message

Reconnection Strategy

A retry strategy in case of connectivity errors

Auto Delete

Boolean

Whether each file should be deleted after processing or not.

false

Move To Directory

String

If provided, each processed file will be moved to a directory pointed by this path.

Rename To

String

This parameter works in tandem with Move to directory. Use this parameter to enter the name under which the file should be moved. Do not set this parameter if moveToDirectory hasn’t been set as well.

Apply Post Action When Failed

Boolean

Whether any of the post actions (Auto delete and Move to directory) should also be applied in case the file failed to be processed. If set to false, no failed files are moved nor deleted.

true

Output

Type

Binary

Attributes Type

Local File Attributes

For Configurations

Types

Reconnection

Field Type Description Default Value Required

Fails Deployment

Boolean

When the application is deployed, a connectivity test is performed on all connectors. If set to true, deployment will fail if the test doesn’t pass after exhausting the associated reconnection strategy

Reconnection Strategy

The reconnection strategy to use

Reconnect

Field Type Description Default Value Required

Frequency

Number

How often in milliseconds to reconnect.

Count

Number

How many reconnection attempts to make.

blocking

Boolean

If false, the reconnection strategy runs in a separate, non-blocking thread.

true

Reconnect Forever

Field Type Description Default Value Required

Frequency

Number

How often in milliseconds to reconnect.

blocking

Boolean

If false, the reconnection strategy runs in a separate, non-blocking thread.

true

Expiration Policy

Field Type Description Default Value Required

Max Idle Time

Number

A scalar time value for the maximum amount of time a dynamic configuration instance should be allowed to be idle before it’s considered eligible for expiration

Time Unit

Enumeration, one of:

  • NANOSECONDS

  • MICROSECONDS

  • MILLISECONDS

  • SECONDS

  • MINUTES

  • HOURS

  • DAYS

A time unit that qualifies the Max idle time attribute.

Local File Attributes

Field Type Description Default Value Required

Last Modified Time

DateTime

x

Last Access Time

DateTime

x

Creation Time

DateTime

x

Size

Number

x

Regular File

Boolean

false

Directory

Boolean

false

Symbolic Link

Boolean

false

Path

String

x

File Name

String

x

Matcher

Field Type Description Default Value Required

Created Since

DateTime

Files created before this date are rejected. Any timezone specification in this value is ignored and the Mule server’s time zone is used instead.

Created Until

DateTime

Files created after this date are rejected. Any timezone specification in this value is ignored and the Mule server’s time zone is used instead.

Updated Since

DateTime

Files modified before this date are rejected. Any timezone specification in this value is ignored and the Mule server’s time zone is used instead.

Updated Until

DateTime

Files modified after this date are rejected. Any timezone specification in this value is ignored and the Mule server’s time zone is used instead.

Accessed Since

DateTime

Files that were last accessed before this date are rejected. Any timezone specification in this value is ignored and the Mule server’s time zone is used instead.

Accessed Until

DateTime

Files that were last accessed after this date are rejected. Any timezone specification in this value is ignored and the Mule server’s time zone is used instead.

Not Updated In The Last

Number

Minimum time that should pass since a file was last updated for it not to be rejected. This attribute works in tandem with Time unit.

Updated In The Last

Number

Maximum time that should pass since a file was last updated for it not to be rejected. This attribute works in tandem with Time unit.

Time Unit

Enumeration, one of:

  • NANOSECONDS

  • MICROSECONDS

  • MILLISECONDS

  • SECONDS

  • MINUTES

  • HOURS

  • DAYS

A Time unit that qualifies the Updated in the last and the Not updated in the last attributes.

MILLISECONDS

Filename Pattern

String

Path Pattern

String

Directories

Enumeration, one of:

  • REQUIRE

  • INCLUDE

  • EXCLUDE

INCLUDE

Regular Files

Enumeration, one of:

  • REQUIRE

  • INCLUDE

  • EXCLUDE

INCLUDE

Sym Links

Enumeration, one of:

  • REQUIRE

  • INCLUDE

  • EXCLUDE

INCLUDE

Min Size

Number

Max Size

Number

Repeatable In Memory Stream

Field Type Description Default Value Required

Initial Buffer Size

Number

This is the amount of memory that will be allocated in order to consume the stream and provide random access to it. If the stream contains more data than fits into this buffer, then the buffer expands according to the Buffer size increment attribute, with an upper limit of the Max in memory size.

Buffer Size Increment

Number

How much to expand the buffer size if it exceeds its initial size. Setting a value of zero or lower will mean that the buffer should not expand, meaning that a STREAM_MAXIMUM_SIZE_EXCEEDED error is thrown when the buffer gets full.

Max in Memory Size

Number

This is the maximum amount of memory to use. If more than the specified maximum is used, then a STREAM_MAXIMUM_SIZE_EXCEEDED error is thrown. A value lower than, or equal to, zero means no limit.

Buffer Unit

Enumeration, one of:

  • BYTE

  • KB

  • MB

  • GB

The unit in which all these attributes are expressed

Repeatable File Store Stream

Field Type Description Default Value Required

Max In Memory Size

Number

Defines the maximum memory that the stream should use to keep data in memory. If more than that is consumed then it will start to buffer the content on disk.

Buffer Unit

Enumeration, one of:

  • BYTE

  • KB

  • MB

  • GB

The unit in which Max in memory size is expressed

Redelivery Policy

Field Type Description Default Value Required

Max Redelivery Count

Number

The maximum number of times a message can be redelivered and processed unsuccessfully before triggering process-failed-message.

Use Secure Hash

Boolean

Whether to use a secure hash algorithm to identify a redelivered message.

Message Digest Algorithm

String

The secure hashing algorithm to use. If not set, the default is SHA-256.

Id Expression

String

Defines one or more expressions to use to determine when a message has been redelivered. You can set this property only if Use secure hash is not selected.

Object Store

ObjectStore

The object store where the redelivery counter for each message is stored.

Repeatable In Memory Iterable

Field Type Description Default Value Required

Initial Buffer Size

Number

This is the amount of instances that will be initially be allowed to be kept in memory in order to consume the stream and provide random access to it. If the stream contains more data than fits into this buffer, then the buffer expands according to the Buffer size increment attribute, with an upper limit of Max in memory instances. Default value is 100 instances.

Buffer Size Increment

Number

This is by how much the buffer size expands if it exceeds its initial size. Setting a value of zero or lower will mean that the buffer should not expand, meaning that a STREAM_MAXIMUM_SIZE_EXCEEDED error will be raised when the buffer gets full. Default value is 100 instances.

Max in Memory instances

Number

This is the maximum number of memory instances to use. If more than the specified maximum is used, then a STREAM_MAXIMUM_SIZE_EXCEEDED error is thrown. A value lower than, or equal to, zero means no limit.

Repeatable File Store Iterable

Field Type Description Default Value Required

Max In Memory Size

Number

This is the maximum amount of instances that will be kept in memory. If more than that is required, then it will start to buffer the content on disk.

Buffer Unit

Enumeration, one of:

  • BYTE

  • KB

  • MB

  • GB

The unit in which maxInMemorySize is expressed

In Memory Objects

Number

Defines the maximum memory the stream uses to keep data in memory. If more than the specified memory is consumed, then the system starts to buffer the content on disk.

500

Time Between Size Check Parameter Behavior

The Write operation on a file can take time to complete and get the file ready to read or access. Use the timeBetweenSizeCheck parameter to prevent an operation from accessing an incomplete file. When you set this parameter, it verifies the file’s size before accessing the file contents. The verification validates that the file’s size does not vary after waiting for the amount of time specified by the parameters timeBetweenSizeCheck and timeBetweenSizeCheckUnit. The timeBetweenSizeCheck parameter then indicates the time to wait between each verification, which is performed twice. If the file’s size remains the same during both times, this assumes that the Write operation is complete and the access operation can continue, otherwise an exception is thrown. The performed wait indicates that the thread executing the operation goes to sleep for the indicated period of time. This wait occurs at the moment of retrieving the content of the file. If the flow never accesses the content of the file, the check is not performed.

In Mule runtime engine version 4.1 and 4.2, this wait can take place in multiple message processors, and the File Connector has no control over which thread is the one performing the wait. Any thread from any thread pool, even a CPU-intensive thread, which is not meant for this kind of task, can be the one performing the wait.

See Also

MuleSoft Help Center

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