Develop Reference

How to check incoming file transfer status in apache commons io monitor

I have implemented a simple file listener using Apache commons io monitor.I have also implemented a selenium script that simply do is download file into the pre hard coded path folder.That is totally working fine.My listener monitoring downloaded files and collect the necessary information.According to my requirement i should be able to stop the file listener once my selenium script is finished execution.To do that i must know that the incoming file transferring status to handle it better way.because i can not stop listener middle of the file transferring.(sometimes download file can be heavy so it will take some time to download).So how can i know that incoming file status in Apache commons io monitor before stop the file listener.If any one knows please let me know.
Sample code snippet
public class SimpleTestMonitor {
// A hardcoded path to a folder you are monitoring .
public static final String FOLDER =
"/home/skywalker/Desktop/simple-test-monitor/watchdir";
public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
// The monitor will perform polling on the folder every 5 seconds
final long pollingInterval = 5 * 1000;
File folder = new File(FOLDER);
if (!folder.exists()) {
// Test to see if monitored folder exists
throw new RuntimeException("Directory not found: " + FOLDER);
}
FileAlterationObserver observer = new FileAlterationObserver(folder);
FileAlterationMonitor monitor =
new FileAlterationMonitor(pollingInterval);
FileAlterationListener listener = new FileAlterationListenerAdaptor() {
// Is triggered when a file is created in the monitored folder
#Override
public void onFileCreate(File file) {
try {
// "file" is the reference to the newly created file
System.out.println("File created: "
+ file.getCanonicalPath());
} catch (IOException e) {
e.printStackTrace(System.err);
}
}
// Is triggered when a file is deleted from the monitored folder
#Override
public void onFileDelete(File file) {
try {
// "file" is the reference to the removed file
System.out.println("File removed: "
+ file.getCanonicalPath());
// "file" does not exists anymore in the location
System.out.println("File still exists in location: "
+ file.exists());
} catch (IOException e) {
e.printStackTrace(System.err);
}
}
};
observer.addListener(listener);
monitor.addObserver(observer);
monitor.start();
}
}
Reference

How to watch file for new content and retrieve that content

I have a file with name foo.txt. This file contains some text. I want to achieve following functionality:
I launch program
write something to the file (for example add one row: new string in foo.txt)
I want to get ONLY NEW content of this file.
Can you clarify the best solution of this problem? Also I want resolve related issues: in case if I modify foo.txt I want to see diff.
The closest tool which I found in Java is WatchService but if I understood right this tool can only detect type of event happened on filesystem (create file or delete or modify).

Java Diff Utils is designed for that purpose.
final List<String> originalFileContents = new ArrayList<String>();
final String filePath = "C:/Users/BackSlash/Desktop/asd.txt";
FileListener fileListener = new FileListener() {
#Override
public void fileDeleted(FileChangeEvent paramFileChangeEvent)
throws Exception {
// use this to handle file deletion event
}
#Override
public void fileCreated(FileChangeEvent paramFileChangeEvent)
throws Exception {
// use this to handle file creation event
}
#Override
public void fileChanged(FileChangeEvent paramFileChangeEvent)
throws Exception {
System.out.println("File Changed");
//get new contents
List<String> newFileContents = new ArrayList<String> ();
getFileContents(filePath, newFileContents);
//get the diff between the two files
Patch patch = DiffUtils.diff(originalFileContents, newFileContents);
//get single changes in a list
List<Delta> deltas = patch.getDeltas();
//print the changes
for (Delta delta : deltas) {
System.out.println(delta);
}
}
};
DefaultFileMonitor monitor = new DefaultFileMonitor(fileListener);
try {
FileObject fileObject = VFS.getManager().resolveFile(filePath);
getFileContents(filePath, originalFileContents);
monitor.addFile(fileObject);
monitor.start();
} catch (InterruptedException ex) {
ex.printStackTrace();
} catch (FileNotFoundException e) {
//handle
e.printStackTrace();
} catch (IOException e) {
//handle
e.printStackTrace();
}
Where getFileContents is :
void getFileContents(String path, List<String> contents) throws FileNotFoundException, IOException {
contents.clear();
BufferedReader reader = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(new FileInputStream(path), "UTF-8"));
String line = null;
while ((line = reader.readLine()) != null) {
contents.add(line);
}
}
What I did:
I loaded the original file contents in a List<String>.
I used Apache Commons VFS to listen for file changes, using FileMonitor. You may ask, why? Because WatchService is only available starting from Java 7, while FileMonitor works with at least Java 5 (personal preference, if you prefer WatchService you can use it). note: Apache Commons VFS depends on Apache Commons Logging, you'll have to add both to your build path in order to make it work.
I created a FileListener, then I implemented the fileChanged method.
That method load new contents form the file, and uses Patch.diff to retrieve all differences, then prints them
I created a DefaultFileMonitor, which basically listens for changes to a file, and I added my file to it.
I started the monitor.
After the monitor is started, it will begin listening for file changes.

Capture events happening inside a directory

Im watching a directory using Java 7 nio WatchService by using below method.
Path myDir = Paths.get("/rootDir");
try {
WatchService watcher = myDir.getFileSystem().newWatchService();
myDir.register(watcher, StandardWatchEventKinds.ENTRY_CREATE,
StandardWatchEventKinds.ENTRY_DELETE, StandardWatchEventKinds.ENTRY_MODIFY);
WatchKey watckKey = watcher.take();
List<WatchEvent<?>> events = watckKey.pollEvents();
for (WatchEvent event : events) {
if (event.kind() == StandardWatchEventKinds.ENTRY_CREATE) {
System.out.println("Created: " + event.context().toString());
JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null,"Created: " + event.context().toString());
}
if (event.kind() == StandardWatchEventKinds.ENTRY_DELETE) {
System.out.println("Delete: " + event.context().toString());
JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null,"Delete: " + event.context().toString());
}
if (event.kind() == StandardWatchEventKinds.ENTRY_MODIFY) {
System.out.println("Modify: " + event.context().toString());
JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null,"Modify: " + event.context().toString());
}
}
} catch (Exception e) {
System.out.println("Error: " + e.toString());
}
But the above method only respond in one events happen in the directory after that watcher does not respond to the events happen in that folder. Is there a way that I can modify this to capture all events happen inside the folder. I also want to modify this to capture events happen in sub folders too. Can someone help me with that.
Thank you.

From the JavaDoc of WatchService:
A Watchable object is registered with a watch service by invoking its register method, returning a WatchKey to represent the registration. When an event for an object is detected the key is signalled, and if not currently signalled, it is queued to the watch service so that it can be retrieved by consumers that invoke the poll or take methods to retrieve keys and process events. Once the events have been processed the consumer invokes the key's reset method to reset the key which allows the key to be signalled and re-queued with further events.
You are only calling watcher.take() once.
To watch for further events, you must call watchKey.reset() after consuming the WatchEvents. Put all this in a loop.
while (true) {
WatchKey watckKey = watcher.take();
List<WatchEvent<?>> events = watckKey.pollEvents();
for (WatchEvent event : events) {
// process event
}
watchKey.reset();
}
Also take a look at the relevant section of the Java Tutorial.

Use Apache Commons IO File Monitoring
it will also capture events happening in sub folders too
import java.io.File;
import java.io.IOException;
import org.apache.commons.io.monitor.FileAlterationListener;
import org.apache.commons.io.monitor.FileAlterationListenerAdaptor;
import org.apache.commons.io.monitor.FileAlterationMonitor;
import org.apache.commons.io.monitor.FileAlterationObserver;
public class Monitor {
public Monitor() {
}
//path to a folder you are monitoring .
public static final String FOLDER = MYPATH;
public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
System.out.println("monitoring started");
// The monitor will perform polling on the folder every 5 seconds
final long pollingInterval = 5 * 1000;
File folder = new File(FOLDER);
if (!folder.exists()) {
// Test to see if monitored folder exists
throw new RuntimeException("Directory not found: " + FOLDER);
}
FileAlterationObserver observer = new FileAlterationObserver(folder);
FileAlterationMonitor monitor =
new FileAlterationMonitor(pollingInterval);
FileAlterationListener listener = new FileAlterationListenerAdaptor() {
// Is triggered when a file is created in the monitored folder
#Override
public void onFileCreate(File file) {
// "file" is the reference to the newly created file
System.out.println("File created: "+ file.getCanonicalPath());
}
// Is triggered when a file is deleted from the monitored folder
#Override
public void onFileDelete(File file) {
try {
// "file" is the reference to the removed file
System.out.println("File removed: "+ file.getCanonicalPath());
// "file" does not exists anymore in the location
System.out.println("File still exists in location: "+ file.exists());
} catch (IOException e) {
e.printStackTrace(System.err);
}
}
};
observer.addListener(listener);
monitor.addObserver(observer);
monitor.start();
}
}

Can I watch for single file change with WatchService (not the whole directory)?

When I'm trying to register a file instead of a directory java.nio.file.NotDirectoryException is thrown. Can I listen for a single file change, not the whole directory?

Just filter the events for the file you want in the directory:
final Path path = FileSystems.getDefault().getPath(System.getProperty("user.home"), "Desktop");
System.out.println(path);
try (final WatchService watchService = FileSystems.getDefault().newWatchService()) {
final WatchKey watchKey = path.register(watchService, StandardWatchEventKinds.ENTRY_MODIFY);
while (true) {
final WatchKey wk = watchService.take();
for (WatchEvent<?> event : wk.pollEvents()) {
//we only register "ENTRY_MODIFY" so the context is always a Path.
final Path changed = (Path) event.context();
System.out.println(changed);
if (changed.endsWith("myFile.txt")) {
System.out.println("My file has changed");
}
}
// reset the key
boolean valid = wk.reset();
if (!valid) {
System.out.println("Key has been unregisterede");
}
}
}
Here we check whether the changed file is "myFile.txt", if it is then do whatever.

Other answers are right that you must watch a directory and filter for your particular file. However, you probably want a thread running in the background. The accepted answer can block indefinitely on watchService.take(); and doesn't close the WatchService. A solution suitable for a separate thread might look like:
public class FileWatcher extends Thread {
private final File file;
private AtomicBoolean stop = new AtomicBoolean(false);
public FileWatcher(File file) {
this.file = file;
}
public boolean isStopped() { return stop.get(); }
public void stopThread() { stop.set(true); }
public void doOnChange() {
// Do whatever action you want here
}
#Override
public void run() {
try (WatchService watcher = FileSystems.getDefault().newWatchService()) {
Path path = file.toPath().getParent();
path.register(watcher, StandardWatchEventKinds.ENTRY_MODIFY);
while (!isStopped()) {
WatchKey key;
try { key = watcher.poll(25, TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS); }
catch (InterruptedException e) { return; }
if (key == null) { Thread.yield(); continue; }
for (WatchEvent<?> event : key.pollEvents()) {
WatchEvent.Kind<?> kind = event.kind();
#SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
WatchEvent<Path> ev = (WatchEvent<Path>) event;
Path filename = ev.context();
if (kind == StandardWatchEventKinds.OVERFLOW) {
Thread.yield();
continue;
} else if (kind == java.nio.file.StandardWatchEventKinds.ENTRY_MODIFY
&& filename.toString().equals(file.getName())) {
doOnChange();
}
boolean valid = key.reset();
if (!valid) { break; }
}
Thread.yield();
}
} catch (Throwable e) {
// Log or rethrow the error
}
}
}
I tried working from the accepted answer and this article. You should be able to use this thread with new FileWatcher(new File("/home/me/myfile")).start() and stop it by calling stopThread() on the thread.

No it isn't possible to register a file, the watch service doesn't work this way. But registering a directory actually watches changes on the directory children (the files and sub-directories), not the changes on the directory itself.
If you want to watch a file, then you register the containing directory with the watch service. Path.register() documentation says:
WatchKey java.nio.file.Path.register(WatchService watcher, Kind[] events, Modifier...
modifiers) throws IOException
Registers the file located by this path with a watch service.
In this release, this path locates a directory that exists. The directory is registered with the watch service so that entries in the directory can be watched
Then you need to process events on entries, and detect those related to the file you are interested in, by checking the context value of the event. The context value represents the name of the entry (actually the path of the entry relatively to the path of its parent, which is exactly the child name). You have an example here.

Apache offers a FileWatchDog class with a doOnChange method.
private class SomeWatchFile extends FileWatchdog {
protected SomeWatchFile(String filename) {
super(filename);
}
#Override
protected void doOnChange() {
fileChanged= true;
}
}
And where ever you want you can start this thread:
SomeWatchFile someWatchFile = new SomeWatchFile (path);
someWatchFile.start();
The FileWatchDog class polls a file's lastModified() timestamp. The native WatchService from Java NIO is more efficient, since notifications are immediate.

You cannot watch an individual file directly but you can filter out what you don't need.
Here is my FileWatcher class implementation:
import java.io.File;
import java.nio.file.*;
import java.nio.file.WatchEvent.Kind;
import static java.nio.file.StandardWatchEventKinds.*;
public abstract class FileWatcher
{
private Path folderPath;
private String watchFile;
public FileWatcher(String watchFile)
{
Path filePath = Paths.get(watchFile);
boolean isRegularFile = Files.isRegularFile(filePath);
if (!isRegularFile)
{
// Do not allow this to be a folder since we want to watch files
throw new IllegalArgumentException(watchFile + " is not a regular file");
}
// This is always a folder
folderPath = filePath.getParent();
// Keep this relative to the watched folder
this.watchFile = watchFile.replace(folderPath.toString() + File.separator, "");
}
public void watchFile() throws Exception
{
// We obtain the file system of the Path
FileSystem fileSystem = folderPath.getFileSystem();
// We create the new WatchService using the try-with-resources block
try (WatchService service = fileSystem.newWatchService())
{
// We watch for modification events
folderPath.register(service, ENTRY_MODIFY);
// Start the infinite polling loop
while (true)
{
// Wait for the next event
WatchKey watchKey = service.take();
for (WatchEvent<?> watchEvent : watchKey.pollEvents())
{
// Get the type of the event
Kind<?> kind = watchEvent.kind();
if (kind == ENTRY_MODIFY)
{
Path watchEventPath = (Path) watchEvent.context();
// Call this if the right file is involved
if (watchEventPath.toString().equals(watchFile))
{
onModified();
}
}
}
if (!watchKey.reset())
{
// Exit if no longer valid
break;
}
}
}
}
public abstract void onModified();
}
To use this, you just have to extend and implement the onModified() method like so:
import java.io.File;
public class MyFileWatcher extends FileWatcher
{
public MyFileWatcher(String watchFile)
{
super(watchFile);
}
#Override
public void onModified()
{
System.out.println("Modified!");
}
}
Finally, start watching the file:
String watchFile = System.getProperty("user.home") + File.separator + "Desktop" + File.separator + "Test.txt";
FileWatcher fileWatcher = new MyFileWatcher(watchFile);
fileWatcher.watchFile();

Not sure about others, but I groan at the amount of code needed to watch a single file for changes using the basic WatchService API. It has to be simpler!
Here are a couple of alternatives using third party libraries:
Using Apache Commons Configuration
Using spring-loaded package from the Spring Framework (didn't find an example implementation for this off-hand, but it looks straight-forward to use)

I have created a wrapper around Java 1.7's WatchService that allows registering a directory and any number of glob patterns. This class will take care of the filtering and only emit events you are interested in.
try {
DirectoryWatchService watchService = new SimpleDirectoryWatchService(); // May throw
watchService.register( // May throw
new DirectoryWatchService.OnFileChangeListener() {
#Override
public void onFileCreate(String filePath) {
// File created
}
#Override
public void onFileModify(String filePath) {
// File modified
}
#Override
public void onFileDelete(String filePath) {
// File deleted
}
},
<directory>, // Directory to watch
<file-glob-pattern-1>, // E.g. "*.log"
<file-glob-pattern-2>, // E.g. "input-?.txt"
<file-glob-pattern-3>, // E.g. "config.ini"
... // As many patterns as you like
);
watchService.start(); // The actual watcher runs on a new thread
} catch (IOException e) {
LOGGER.error("Unable to register file change listener for " + fileName);
}
Complete code is in this repo.

I extended the solution by BullyWiiPlaza a bit, for integration with javafx.concurrent, e.g. javafx.concurrent.Taskand javafx.concurrent.Service.
Also I added possibility to track multiple files.
Task:
import javafx.concurrent.Task;
import lombok.extern.slf4j.Slf4j;
import java.io.File;
import java.nio.file.*;
import java.util.*;
import static java.nio.file.StandardWatchEventKinds.ENTRY_MODIFY;
#Slf4j
public abstract class FileWatcherTask extends Task<Void> {
static class Entry {
private final Path folderPath;
private final String watchFile;
Entry(Path folderPath, String watchFile) {
this.folderPath = folderPath;
this.watchFile = watchFile;
}
#Override
public boolean equals(Object o) {
if (this == o) return true;
if (o == null || getClass() != o.getClass()) return false;
Entry entry = (Entry) o;
return Objects.equals(folderPath, entry.folderPath) && Objects.equals(watchFile, entry.watchFile);
}
#Override
public int hashCode() {
return Objects.hash(folderPath, watchFile);
}
}
private final List<Entry> entryList;
private final Map<WatchKey, Entry> watchKeyEntryMap;
public FileWatcherTask(Iterable<String> watchFiles) {
this.entryList = new ArrayList<>();
this.watchKeyEntryMap = new LinkedHashMap<>();
for (String watchFile : watchFiles) {
Path filePath = Paths.get(watchFile);
boolean isRegularFile = Files.isRegularFile(filePath);
if (!isRegularFile) {
// Do not allow this to be a folder since we want to watch files
throw new IllegalArgumentException(watchFile + " is not a regular file");
}
// This is always a folder
Path folderPath = filePath.getParent();
// Keep this relative to the watched folder
watchFile = watchFile.replace(folderPath.toString() + File.separator, "");
Entry entry = new Entry(folderPath, watchFile);
entryList.add(entry);
log.debug("Watcher initialized for {} entries. ({})", entryList.size(), entryList.stream().map(e -> e.watchFile + "-" + e.folderPath).findFirst().orElse("<>"));
}
}
public FileWatcherTask(String... watchFiles) {
this(Arrays.asList(watchFiles));
}
public void watchFile() throws Exception {
// We obtain the file system of the Path
// FileSystem fileSystem = folderPath.getFileSystem();
// TODO: use the actual file system instead of default
FileSystem fileSystem = FileSystems.getDefault();
// We create the new WatchService using the try-with-resources block
try (WatchService service = fileSystem.newWatchService()) {
log.debug("Watching filesystem {}", fileSystem);
for (Entry e : entryList) {
// We watch for modification events
WatchKey key = e.folderPath.register(service, ENTRY_MODIFY);
watchKeyEntryMap.put(key, e);
}
// Start the infinite polling loop
while (true) {
// Wait for the next event
WatchKey watchKey = service.take();
for (Entry e : entryList) {
// Call this if the right file is involved
var hans = watchKeyEntryMap.get(watchKey);
if (hans != null) {
for (WatchEvent<?> watchEvent : watchKey.pollEvents()) {
// Get the type of the event
WatchEvent.Kind<?> kind = watchEvent.kind();
if (kind == ENTRY_MODIFY) {
Path watchEventPath = (Path) watchEvent.context();
onModified(e.watchFile);
}
if (!watchKey.reset()) {
// Exit if no longer valid
log.debug("Watch key {} was reset", watchKey);
break;
}
}
}
}
}
}
}
#Override
protected Void call() throws Exception {
watchFile();
return null;
}
public abstract void onModified(String watchFile);
}
Service:
public abstract class FileWatcherService extends Service<Void> {
private final Iterable<String> files;
public FileWatcherService(Iterable<String> files) {
this.files = files;
}
#Override
protected Task<Void> createTask() {
return new FileWatcherTask(files) {
#Override
public void onModified(String watchFile) {
FileWatcherService.this.onModified(watchFile);
}
};
}
abstract void onModified(String watchFile);
}

WatchService and SwingWorker: how to do it correctly?

WatchService sounded like an exciting idea ... unfortunately it seems to be as low-level as warned in the tutorial/api plus doesn't really fit into the Swing event model (or I'm missing something obvious, a not-zero probability
Taking the code from WatchDir example in the tutorial (simplyfied to handle a single directory only), I basically ended up
extend SwingWorker
do the registration stuff in the constructor
put the endless loop waiting for a key in doInBackground
publish each WatchEvent when retrieved via key.pollEvents()
process the chunks by firing propertyChangeEvents with the deleted/created files as newValue
#SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
public class FileWorker extends SwingWorker<Void, WatchEvent<Path>> {
public static final String DELETED = "deletedFile";
public static final String CREATED = "createdFile";
private Path directory;
private WatchService watcher;
public FileWorker(File file) throws IOException {
directory = file.toPath();
watcher = FileSystems.getDefault().newWatchService();
directory.register(watcher, ENTRY_CREATE, ENTRY_DELETE, ENTRY_MODIFY);
}
#Override
protected Void doInBackground() throws Exception {
for (;;) {
// wait for key to be signalled
WatchKey key;
try {
key = watcher.take();
} catch (InterruptedException x) {
return null;
}
for (WatchEvent<?> event : key.pollEvents()) {
WatchEvent.Kind<?> kind = event.kind();
// TBD - provide example of how OVERFLOW event is handled
if (kind == OVERFLOW) {
continue;
}
publish((WatchEvent<Path>) event);
}
// reset key return if directory no longer accessible
boolean valid = key.reset();
if (!valid) {
break;
}
}
return null;
}
#Override
protected void process(List<WatchEvent<Path>> chunks) {
super.process(chunks);
for (WatchEvent<Path> event : chunks) {
WatchEvent.Kind<?> kind = event.kind();
Path name = event.context();
Path child = directory.resolve(name);
File file = child.toFile();
if (StandardWatchEventKinds.ENTRY_DELETE == kind) {
firePropertyChange(DELETED, null, file);
} else if (StandardWatchEventKinds.ENTRY_CREATE == kind) {
firePropertyChange(CREATED, null, file);
}
}
}
}
The basic idea is to make using code blissfully un-aware of the slimy details: it listens to the property changes and f.i. updates arbitrary models as appropriate:
String testDir = "D:\\scans\\library";
File directory = new File(testDir);
final DefaultListModel<File> model = new DefaultListModel<File>();
for (File file : directory.listFiles()) {
model.addElement(file);
}
final FileWorker worker = new FileWorker(directory);
PropertyChangeListener l = new PropertyChangeListener() {
#Override
public void propertyChange(PropertyChangeEvent evt) {
if (FileWorker.DELETED == evt.getPropertyName()) {
model.removeElement(evt.getNewValue());
} else if (FileWorker.CREATED == evt.getPropertyName()) {
model.addElement((File) evt.getNewValue());
}
}
};
worker.addPropertyChangeListener(l);
JXList list = new JXList(model);
Seems to work, but I feel uncomfortable
Outing myself as the thread agnostic I am: all example snippets I have seen so far do block the waiting thread by using watcher.take(). Why do they do it? Would expect at least some use watcher.poll() and sleep a bit.
the SwingWorker publish method doesn't quite seem to fit: for now it's okay, as I'm watching one directory only (didn't want to galopp too far into the wrong direction :) When trying to watch several directories (as in the original WatchDir example) there are several keys and the WatchEvent relative to one of those. To resolve the path, I would need both the event and the directory [A] the key is watching - but can pass on only one. Most probably got the distribution of logic wrong, though
[A] Edited (triggered by #trashgods's comment) - it's actually not the key I have to pass around along with the event, it's the directory it's reporting the changes on. Changed the question accordingly
FYI, this question is cross-posted to the OTN swing forum
Addendum
Reading the api doc of WatchKey:
Where there are several threads retrieving signalled keys from a watch
service then care should be taken to ensure that the reset method is
only invoked after the events for the object have been processed.
seems to imply that the events should
be processed on the same thread that retrieved the WatchKey
shouldn't be touched after the key is reset
Not entirely sure, but combined with the (future) requirement to recursively watching directories (more than one) decided to follow #Eels advice, kind of - will soon post the code I settled on
EDIT
just accepted my own answer - will humbly revert that if anybody has reasonable objections

Because your background thread is devoted entirely to watching, take() is the right choice. It effectively hides the platform dependent implementation, which may either forward or poll. One of the poll() methods would be appropriate if, for example, your background thread also needed to examine other queues in series with the WatchService.
Addendum: Because the WatchKey has state, it should probably not be forwarded to process(). The context() of a WatchEvent is a "relative path between the directory registered with the watch service and the entry that is created, deleted, or modified." One of the resolve() methods should work if the directories share a common root.

Actually, #Eels's comment didn't stop knocking in the back of my head - and finally registered: it's the way to go, but there is no need for any "artificial" struct, because we already have the perfect candidate - it's the PropertyChangeEvent itself :-)
Taking the overall process description from my question, the first three bullets remain the same
same: extend SwingWorker
same: do the registration stuff in the constructor
same: put the endless loop waiting for a key in doInBackground
changed: create the appropriate PropertyChangeEvent from each WatchEvent when retrieved via key.pollEvents and publish the PropertyChangeEvent
changed: fire the previously created event in process(chunks)
Revised FileWorker:
#SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
public class FileWorker extends SwingWorker<Void, PropertyChangeEvent> {
public static final String FILE_DELETED = StandardWatchEventKinds.ENTRY_DELETE.name();
public static final String FILE_CREATED = StandardWatchEventKinds.ENTRY_CREATE.name();
public static final String FILE_MODIFIED = StandardWatchEventKinds.ENTRY_MODIFY.name();
// final version will keep a map of keys/directories (just as in the tutorial example)
private Path directory;
private WatchService watcher;
public FileWorker(File file) throws IOException {
directory = file.toPath();
watcher = FileSystems.getDefault().newWatchService();
directory.register(watcher, ENTRY_CREATE, ENTRY_DELETE, ENTRY_MODIFY);
}
#Override
protected Void doInBackground() throws Exception {
for (;;) {
// wait for key to be signalled
WatchKey key;
try {
key = watcher.take();
} catch (InterruptedException x) {
return null;
}
for (WatchEvent<?> event : key.pollEvents()) {
WatchEvent.Kind<?> kind = event.kind();
// TBD - provide example of how OVERFLOW event is handled
if (kind == OVERFLOW) {
continue;
}
publish(createChangeEvent((WatchEvent<Path>) event, key));
}
// reset key return if directory no longer accessible
boolean valid = key.reset();
if (!valid) {
break;
}
}
return null;
}
/**
* Creates and returns the change notification. This method is called from the
* worker thread while looping through the events as received from the Watchkey.
*
* #param event
* #param key
*/
protected PropertyChangeEvent createChangeEvent(WatchEvent<Path> event, WatchKey key) {
Path name = event.context();
// real world will lookup the directory from the key/directory map
Path child = directory.resolve(name);
PropertyChangeEvent e = new PropertyChangeEvent(this, event.kind().name(), null, child.toFile());
return e;
}
#Override
protected void process(List<PropertyChangeEvent> chunks) {
super.process(chunks);
for (PropertyChangeEvent event : chunks) {
getPropertyChangeSupport().firePropertyChange(event);
}
}
}

With regard to your second point, couldn't you create a class that holds both WatchEvent and key and have the SwingWorker's second generic parameter be this type? Sorry, I know you've already thought of this, so I guess my question is: any down-side to doing this?