Mule File Inbound - empty files are not triggered - file

Question

I have a scenario wherein I need to read files from a particular folder. So I had a File inbound as below, its reading all non-empty files. But empty files are not read and sits in the same location as is.
<file:inbound-endpoint path="${file.path}" responseTimeout="10000" doc:name="File" moveToDirectory="${audit.location}">
<file:filename-regex-filter pattern="file.employee(.*).xml,file.client(.*).xml"
caseSensitive="true"/>
</file:inbound-endpoint>
I removed File filter, but still it doesn't read empty files.
Is there a way to enable file inbound to read empty files too?

Answer 1

According the the Mule File Connector documentation:
The File connector as inbound endpoint does not process empty (0 bytes) files.
So this behavior is expected. There is no documented way to process non empty file with the File Inbound Endpoint.
However you can still write your own connector to do this, or use a workaround such as fill your "empty" file with a single character (such as a space) to make it non-empty

Answer 2

If you want to read a file with the size of 0 KB, then you can`t achieve this with File Connector, but we can read a file by using MuleRequester in the flow. I will share sample snippet soon. Please let me know,If you need any help.
Regards,
Sreenivas B

Answer 3

Mule File connector does not process empty (0 bytes) files as inbound endpoint

Answer 4

As per my knowledge File Inbound connector will not process (0 KB) size files.

Answer 5

On the File Connector, the class org.mule.transport.file.FileMessageReceiver.java in method poll has :
if (file.length() == 0)
{
if (logger.isDebugEnabled())
{
logger.debug("Found empty file '" + file.getName() + "'. Skipping file.");
}
continue;
}
that prevents it from proccessing empty files
But you can create your own CustomFileMessageReceiver.java, create your package:
package com.mycompany.mule.transport.file;
And the class that extends AbstractPollingMessageReceiver
public class CustomFileMessageReceiver extends AbstractPollingMessageReceiver
Copy the original FileMessageReceiver.java methods but comment the above lines and change FileMessageReceiver to CustomFileMessageReceiver where needed.
The call fileConnector.move(file, workFile) is a protected method from the original package, commented and beware you cannot use workdir.
In the same package create a copy of org.mule.transport.file.ReceiverFileInputStream.java
Configure your connector:
<file:connector name="FILE" readFromDirectory="${incoming.directory}" autoDelete="true" streaming="false" recursive="true" validateConnections="true" doc:name="File" writeToDirectory="${processed.directory}">
<service-overrides messageReceiver="com.mycompany.mule.transport.file.CustomFileMessageReceiver" />
</file:connector>
Or you may implement your own file connector, as stated in the above answers.