read a folder that is currently copied to computer

Hi! Im currently working on a project where I want to automatic analyse images on a server. The folder is monitored with a while loop and a pause inside. The image analysis is done by a function I made which takes the filename, decides if it is a folder or an image and analyse the images in the folder or the single image. The thing is that it works like a charm until the function tries to analyse a folder that is not fully copied, this is the part I cannot solve! The error message is something about that the file cannot be found. So windows must in some way give the filename when searching through the folder even though the file is not ready. My plan B is to insert a 1 minute pause if the program finds a file.. but there must be some easier way! Have someone encountered a similar problem? Hope this makes sense.. Thanks! /Patrik, Stockholm

Simplified code to illustrate how Im thinking:

stdPath='C:\Temp'; %path where images comes
while(get(hObject,'Value')==1) %togglebutton
 listOfPaths = dir(stdPath);
  if(length(listOfPaths)>2)     
   numberOfFiles=length(listOfPaths); 
   for j=3:numberOfFiles
    fullFilename=fullfile(stdPath,listOfPaths(j).name);
    analyseThatFilename(fullFilename)
    newFullFilename=fullfile('C:\Temp\done',fullFilename)
    movefile(fullFilename, newFullFilename)%move folder or image
   end
  else
   disp('No work to be done atm :(')
  end
 pause(60)
end

Answer 1

[Jason Ross]

There are a few ways to tackle this, but they depend on how much control you have over how the files are getting there in the first place.

You can take a page from how a lot of browsers do this kind of thing. They call the file something like "filename.part" and then when the download is complete, it's changed to the proper extension.

You could also poll the number of items in the folder, or the folder size. If it's changing, then you wait a certain number of periods little while before trying to process it. The waiting periods will be dependent on how long your copy takes.

If you have control over what's putting the files there you could always drop a file in there that says "wait I'm still copying" and wait until the file is removed.

[Patrik]

That was a good idea about taking the size or number of items, I will try that! I havnt god control over the images (from a CT scanner).

Thanks!

Answer 2

[Daniel Shub]

So many things ...

There are other ways, but I am not sure if they are easier. I would suggest writing a function which embeds the read in a try-catch with the catch waiting a minute and then recursively calling the function.

The other thing is instead of waiting a minute in your main loop, you should look at timer objects.

doc timer

[Patrik]

Hmm.. i will try that..

I will use timer, thanks for the tip!