File Watcher Job Definition Dialog

This section provides a brief overview of the File Watcher jobs and describes the elements used to define the File Watcher jobs in TA.

The File Watcher jobs are used to monitor files and directories using the security profile of the runtime user specified in the job. The File Watcher jobs set specific criteria for file monitoring. The job completes successfully when all specified criteria are met.

Accessing the File Watcher Job Definition Dialog

The File Watcher Job Definition dialog appears when you add or edit a File Watcher job from the Jobs pane. Similar to a job definition, all the properties related to a File Watcher job can be defined from this dialog.

Common to All Tabs

  • File Watcher Job Name – The name you choose for your job, limited to 256 characters. The name must be unique within a group.

    Note: Do not use the text characters of “, / or = in the name that you assign to a job.

  • Parent Group – The name of the job group to which the job belongs. By default, a job inherits certain properties of its parent group. When a job group is added to the production schedule, all of its jobs are added automatically. Note that job groups are created using the Job Group Definition dialog.

  • Job Class – The class of the job. Classes help categorize the job. For example, you can have a classification for all Payroll jobs, or all Accounting jobs. Queues can be set up with queue filters to accept jobs of a particular classification or a set of classifications.

  • Owner – The owner of the job. This can be an individual user or a TA workgroup. Every job must have an Owner.

    Note: If you are nesting a job group within another job group, it is recommended to use the same owner for all the jobs within the nested job groups.

File Watcher Job Tab

This tab contains these elements:

  • Directory – (Required) Enter the full path of the directory to monitor.

    Note: Any argument that either explicitly has a space in it or could have a space in the argument should be enclosed in quotation marks; otherwise, the argument is returned as separate arguments wherever the spaces occur. For example, a directory name, say, “Tidal Automation” would be returned as separate arguments, “Tidal” and “Automation”. Similarly, if a variable like <jobname> could return an argument containing a space, it also should be enclosed in quotation marks. Note that the agent does not support a directory or file that contains a single or double quotation mark.

  • Search All Subdirectories – Choose to include all hierarchical subdirectories in the search.

  • File Mask – (Required) Enter the name of the file you want to monitor. You can also enter a file name pattern.

    Example: Single file name (Example: myfile.txt). File name pattern containing wildcard (Example: *.log to match any file with a .log extension, app-?.txt to match any .txt file that begins with app- followed by any single character).

    Note: Any argument that either explicitly has a space in it or could have a space in the argument should be enclosed in quotation marks; otherwise, the argument is returned as separate arguments wherever the spaces occur. For example, a job with name “File Watcher Job” would be returned as separate arguments, “File” “Watcher” and “Job”. Similarly, if a variable like <jobname> could return an argument containing a space, it also should be enclosed in quotation marks. Note that the agent does not support a directory or file that contains a single or double quotation mark.

  • Match First File Only – Choose this option to continue searching the directory so that the job completes when the first file that matches the specified file mask and criteria is found. The job outputs the matching file name when the job completes.

  • Match All Files – Choose this option to continue searching the directory so that when the job completes after the specified Poll Duration, the job outputs all filenames matching the specified file mask and criteria.

  • Poll Continuously – Choose this option so that the directory is polled at specified interval until the specified criteria are met.

  • Poll Duration – Specify the maximum duration the directory should be polled. If the Poll Duration expires when the job run is still active, the job completes abnormally with an error. This field is enabled only when the Poll Continuously checkbox is not selected.

  • Poll Interval – Specify the time interval between two consecutive polls for checking file availability and file updates. The default value is 2000 milliseconds.

  • File Exists – Choose this criterion so that the job completes normally only if the specified file is found within the Poll Duration.

  • File Does Not Exist – Choose this criterion so that the job completes normally only if the specified file is not found within the Poll Duration.

  • File Size – This field is enabled only if the File Exists criterion is selected. Specify this additional file size criterion so that the job completes normally only if this criterion is met within the Poll Duration.

    Select one of these criteria:

    • Equals – The agent fetches/extracts only those files with the exact size you specify here.

    • Maximum – The agent fetches/extracts only those files with a size that is equal to or less than the size you specify here.

    • Minimum – The agent fetches/extracts only those files with a size that is equal to or greater than the size you specify here.

  • File Updated – This field is enabled only if the File Exists criterion is selected. Choose this option to specify the additional criterion that ensures the job completes normally only if the specified file is found to have been updated after the polling begins and within the Poll Duration.

  • File Activity – This field is enabled only if the File Exists criterion is selected and File Updated criterion is not selected. Specify this additional criterion so that the job completes normally only if the specified file meets the specified file activity criteria within the Poll Duration.

    When using this criteria, specify only one of these values:

    • File Stable for – Specifies the amount of time for which the file should be stable. The job completes normally if the file is not modified in the specified last N milliseconds/seconds/minutes.

    • File Modified in last – Specifies the recent time the file should have been modified. The job completes normally if the file is modified in the specified last N milliseconds/seconds/minutes.

    Note: Runtime users specified in the File Watcher jobs must be an operating system user having permissions to access specified directories and files.