16.2. File Variables

File variables can be used whenever a route starts with a File or FTP consumer endpoint, which implies that the underlying message body is of java.io.File type. The file variables enable you to access various parts of the file pathname, almost as if you were invoking the methods of the java.io.File class (in fact, the file language extracts the information it needs from message headers that have been set by the File or FTP endpoint).

Some of file variables return paths that are defined relative to a starting directory, which is just the directory that is specified in the File or FTP endpoint. For example, the following File consumer endpoint has the starting directory, ./filetransfer (a relative path):

file:filetransfer

file:filetransfer

The following FTP consumer endpoint has the starting directory, ./ftptransfer (a relative path):

ftp://myhost:2100/ftptransfer

ftp://myhost:2100/ftptransfer

In general, the file variables are named after corresponding methods on the java.io.File class. For example, the file:absolute variable gives the value that would be returned by the java.io.File.getAbsolute() method.

Table 16.1, “Variables for the File Language” shows all of the variable supported by the file language.