Safe File Writing/Locking

The Problem

• ERP writes an in-house file; bots starts to read this before the file is completely written.
• Bots writes file over FTP, but file is read before Bots finishes writing.

The Solution

1. Tmp-part file name: bots writes a filename, than renames the file.

   Example 1. In channel: filename is myfilename_*.edi.tmp, tmp-part is .tmp

   Bots writes: myfilename_12345.edi.tmp

   Bots renames: myfilename_12345.edi

2. System lock: use system file locks for reading or writing edi files (windows, *nix).

3. Lock-file: Directory locking: if lock-file exists in directory, directory is locked for reading/writing. Both reader and writer should check for this.