File Monitor

Plugin: File Monitor

Launch Data (ActiveX Classname): PH_FileMon.phfilemon

Initialization Data: Enter the full path and filename of the INI file for this particular instance of the File Monitor plugin. If you're using the defaults, then this value will be: c:\program files\powerhome\plugins\phfilemon.ini

The PowerHome File Monitor plugin allows the user to specify up to 256 files to monitor for changes. It does this by monitoring the date/time stamp of the file. Any change to a monitored files date/time stamp will cause the plugin to fire an appropriate Generic Plugin trigger. If more than 256 files need to be monitored, then another instance of the plugin can be loaded for an additional 256 files to be monitored. Since the plugin runs in it's own thread, it takes no PowerHome resources.

Configuring the phfilemon.ini file:

Open the phfilemon.ini file in Notepad. You'll need to configure the File Monitor plugin by modifying this file.
Under [Setup] section, set the "FileCount" parameter to the number of files you will be defining in the INI file for monitoring.
Under the [Files] section, set the full path and filename of the files you wish to monitor. If you wish to monitor 3 separate files, you will set the FileCount parameter to 3 and you will have 3 parameters beneath the [Files] section running from File1 to File3.
Once you've finished editing your INI file, close and save the file.

Using the PowerHome File Monitor Plugin:

The File Monitor plugin will fire Generic Plugin triggers anytime a change is detected on any of the monitored files. The trigger fired will be "Command 1" and the "Trigger Value" will match the File Number of the monitored file. For example, if "File2" in the INI file is "c:\program files\powerhome\pwrhome.ini" and this file changes, the plugin will fire a Generic Plugin trigger on the Plugin ID, Command 1, Option 2 (Option 2 for File 2). The [TEMP5] variable will contain the datetime of the modified file and [TEMP10] will contain the path and filename of the modified file.
The File Monitor plugin also allows for a small selection of commands to be sent to it using ph_picmd function. The allowed command numbers are:
1. Retrieve number of monitored files.
  lData1 = Unused
  lData2 = Unused
  sData3 = Unused
  sData4 = Unused
  Returns the number of monitored files.
2. Retrieve the path/filename of a specified monitored file.
  lData1 = The filenumber of file to be returned.
  lData2 = Unused
  sData3 = Unused
  sData4 = Unused
  Returns the full path/filename of the specified file number. If the file number is out of range, 998 will be returned.
3. Add a new file to be monitored into the first available spot. A spot is considered available if the path/filename is empty.
  lData1 = Unused
  lData2 = Unused
  sData3 = The full path and filename of the file to be added for monitoring.
  sData4 = Unused
  Returns the filenumber that the file was added to.
4. Change an -existing monitored filenumber to a new path and filename.
  lData1 = The file number to change
  lData2 = Unused
  sData3 = The full path and filename of the new file to be to be monitored.
  sData4 = Unused
  Returns the filenumber that was changed. 998 is returned if the file number is out of range. To stop a file from being monitored, set it's filenumber path and filename to an empty string.
A 999 will be returned for any unsupported commands.