File

This source reads a JSON or XML file from disk and reads it again every time the file changes. The file is watched rather than polled, so a layout follows a file another program writes as soon as it is written.

Settings

Setting
Filename	string	Full path of the file that is watched. Quotation marks around the path are ignored.
Format	Enum	Json or Xml. Default Xml.
Interval	TimeSpan	Has no effect. The file is read when it changes, not in an interval.

Name and Enabled are described on the Sources page.

Properties

Property
FileContent	string	The raw content of the file for debugging.
Value	object	Result

The parsed value

With Json the file is parsed the same way as the answer of a HTTP REST (GET) source: an object becomes an object whose properties are bound by name, an array becomes a list addressed with an index.

With Xml the parsing starts at the root element:

• Attributes become properties of the element they belong to.

• An element whose children all have the same name becomes a list, addressed with an index.

• An element whose children have different names becomes an object with one property per child.

• An element without children becomes its text.

A file that cannot be read, that is empty, or that does not parse sets IsSuccess to false and describes the problem in ErrorText.