File Monitor

I need to monitor the existence of a file. I know there are file monitors in APM but the problem with all of them is that they are looking for a specific name of a file. The file I need to monitor will have a different name every night. It will add the date and time to the end of the file name. Is there a way to monitor a file like this? Or maybe monitor the folder that the file will be in to see if a file has been inserted?

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aLTeReGo

Are these files moved out of this directory on a regular basis? The File Count monitor can tell you how many files you have in a given directory and includes extension filtering, but if the number of these files increments regularly this wouldn't solve your problem.

tbell52

I don't think that would work. I need to monitor to make sure files are going into the directory. We have a program that automatically downloads data from a device. I can monitor the process of the program to make sure it's running but I need to make sure it's actually downloading the data.

bobross

It shouldn't be too difficult to roll your own script for this. Are the files on a Linux/Unix or Windows box?

It should be as simple as grabbing a list of all files in the folder, sorting by the "time stamp" in the file name to find the most recent addition and comparing that to the current time. If the difference is >24 hours (or whatever interval works best for you) then you can trigger the alert.

tbell52

It's on a Windows box.

I was afraid that the answer would require writing a script. I'm not very good at scripting.

crzyr3d

tbell52,

Was someone able to write that script for you and is there a way or would you mind sharing it with us? I'm looking for somewhat the same thing that if it sees a .txt file and that file is over 15 minutes old, alert. I'm hoping if you were able to accomplish it, it would at least give me some headway with what we are trying to accomplish as well. Thanks in advance for any help you will provide!

Sarah