Settings Tab

Folder to Monitor

Here you specify the folder that is to be checked for the existence of a specific file. You can use the Browse pushbutton to search for the folder in the directories. When file contents are read and written within enhanced notification processing (ENP), this folder also represents the root directory to which file names (which you define as tags on the Source System Tags tab of the ENP screen Assignment of Enhancement Variables) refer.

Monitoring Frequency (ms)

Specifies how often the folder is to be checked. The default is 1000 milliseconds (1 second).

Processing Order

If, within a notification operation, you want to react when files appear or files change, you can specify the processing sequence here. The files are then sorted according to the time stamp that was saved when the file was created. PCo checks all files in the specified folder that fulfill the criteria you entered in the File Mask field. Then it sorts the list of these files according to the setting made here.

The following options are available:

• Oldest Files First

  Files with the oldest time stamp are processed first by the file source system. This is the default setting.

• Newest Files First

  Files with the newest time stamp are processed first by the file source system.

• Random (Optimal Speed)

  With this setting, the list of files is not presorted according to the time stamp. This leads to the files being transferred more quickly to PCo.

File Mask

In this field, you can specify the search criteria for the files that are relevant for processing within a notification process. Only files that fulfill the predefined criteria are sent to a destination system.

The default setting is *.*.

Pass File Contents to Destination

If you set this indicator, the file contents are sent to a destination system.

If you do not set the indicator, the file contents are not read; instead, only the file name is sent to the destination system.

Default: The indicator is set.

Notify Only If File Is Unlocked

If this checkbox has been selected, PCo only triggers a notification message if the read only indicator for a file is not set or has been deselected.

Ignore Unavailability of UNC Folders

You have configured a network folder specified with a UNC path as the folder to be monitored. If this folder is no longer accessible at the runtime of the agent instance, the agent instance usually gets the faulty status. If you set the Ignore Unavailability of UNC Folders indicator, PCo ignores this error and continues monitoring as soon as the folder is available again. The error is simply logged as an information message in the agent instance log.

File Type

Here you enter the file type that is to be processed:

• Text

  PCo assumes that the contents of a file consist of text. The text content is read using the encoding selected in the Text Encoding field and is sent to the destination systems as text.

• Binary

  PCo assumes that the contents of a file consist of binary data. This might be pictures or executable files, for example. PCo converts the contents of a binary file into a Base64-coded character string and sends the character string to the destination systems.

Text Encoding

Using the chosen text encoding, the contents of the text files are read from the directory being monitored and converted by PCo into a Unicode character string before this is sent to the destination systems.

This setting is only relevant if you have chosen the file type text.

Test File and Sample Text

You can use a text file to test the chosen text encoding. The file contents are displayed in the Sample Text field. This option is only available if you have chosen the file type text.

Action

Specifies how the file that was found is to be dealt with.

The following actions can be selected:

• No Action

  This is the default setting. With this setting, the file is not changed. The fields Destination Folder and Rename Mask are not ready for input.

• Rename

  With this setting, you can rename the file and if necessary also move it to another folder. You need to specify the destination folder in the Destination Folder field.

• Move

  With this setting, you can move the file to another folder. You need to specify the destination folder in the Destination Folder field. You can use the Browse pushbutton to search for the folder in the directories.

  The Rename Mask field is not ready for input with this setting.

• Delete

  With this setting, the file that is found is deleted. The fields Destination Folder and Rename Mask are not ready for input.

• Copy

  You can use this setting to copy the file into another folder that you specify in the Destination Folder field.

Destination Folder

Specifies the destination folder to which the file is to be moved. (This is only relevant for the actions Move and Rename.)

Rename Mask

Here you can specify the new name of the file after it has been renamed. You can rename the files using the following options:

• You can enter date and time elements that are then integrated into the changed file name. For example, you enter [LO]-[YYYY]-[MM]-[DD].[RO], which means that the current date is inserted into the file name. See Rename File.

• You can extract the original file name and place it to the left or right side of the “.” (period).

• You can extend the file name using a prefix or a suffix.

• You can keep the original file name extension (the file type) or replace it with another one.

• You can extract textual or numeric parts of the file name and use them for the new file name.

• For more information, see Rename File.