Which Files, And Where
Point an Expectation at a folder and a file pattern — your partner’s drop folder, only the *.csv files. That’s the set of files Files.com watches for.
A Missing File Is The Failure Nobody Catches
In most file-transfer systems, “failure” means an error code — a transfer threw a 500, a connection dropped, a job errored. By that narrow definition a flow keeps reporting “succeeding” right up until a partner’s nightly file quietly stops coming. There was no transfer, so there was no error, so nothing alerted. Someone finds out days later when a downstream pipeline breaks and has to trace it back to a file that never arrived at 2 AM.
Files.com flips that around. A failure isn’t an error code. It’s the data you expected not showing up the way you expected it. This feature is called Expectations, and it lets you write down exactly what you expect: which files, from whom, by when, and what they should look like. Most file tools can only tell you a transfer technically completed. Files.com tells you whether the right thing actually happened.
You Define What “Correct” Means
An Expectation captures a recurring delivery in four plain parts — the files to watch, the deadline, the shape they must take, and how much lateness you’ll accept.
When They’re Due
Set the deadline — the 06:00 feed, the hourly package, the monthly close on the 3rd. Files.com reasons from that deadline, so a 06:00 cutoff records as 06:00 even if the check runs a minute later.
What Shape They Take
Say what a correct delivery looks like: how many files, how big in total, which extensions, which named files must be present, what the file names must match, and which files must never appear.
How Late Is Still Okay
Allow a grace window — accept the feed until 08:00 and mark it late rather than missing — and hold the window open a few extra minutes while a bursty multi-part upload is still arriving.
Four Clear Outcomes, Not One Vague “Done”
Success — Data Is Ready
The right files arrived, on time, in the right shape. Files.com emits a durable “data is ready” signal that can kick off the next step — a downstream automation is now safe to run.
Missing — Nothing Came
The deadline passed and nothing showed up. Files.com opens an incident and fires your failure alerts, so a vendor feed that silently stopped surfaces at 6 AM instead of when a downstream job breaks days later.
Invalid — Something’s Wrong
Files arrived but didn’t meet your criteria — too few, the wrong extension, a required file absent, a forbidden temp file present. You learn exactly which rule failed, not just that “the transfer completed.”
Late — Ready, But Past Deadline
The data arrived valid, but after the deadline you promised. Files.com can tell you the deadline was missed and, separately, that the data is now ready — two different facts your downstream teams both need.
Evidence On Every Check, And A Trail You Can Prove
Every closed window keeps its evidence — the files that matched, the counts and bytes, and the exact criteria that passed or failed. An operator can see why a window passed or failed and which files were considered, instead of guessing. A missed deadline opens an incident you can acknowledge, snooze, comment on, and resolve, and it auto-resolves when a later window for the same feed comes through clean.
Together with the transfer engine’s integrity checks and the audit log, Expectations let you prove — not assume — that a critical file was delivered correctly and on time. That’s exactly the proof an auditor or a partner SLA asks for. See what each plan includes on the pricing page.
File-Delivery Monitoring Questions
What teams ask about catching missing, late, and malformed file deliveries before a downstream process fails.
Catch The Missing File Before It Breaks Something
Start a free trial, define what a correct delivery looks like, and let Files.com open an incident the moment a feed is missing, late, or malformed — and tell you the data is ready when it isn’t.
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