File Adapter Vs FTP Adapter in Oracle Integration Cloud

Oracle Integration Cloud Service has capabilities to perform integrations with on-premises applications. In addition, Oracle Integration Cloud offers two inbuilt adapters File Adapter Vs FTP Adapter. In this blog, we will discuss the actual difference between File Adapter and FTP Adapter.

Before that agenda for this blog.

Oracle provides Adapters that are developed based on JCA architecture which helps in integrating with the systems which are not exposed as services. In other words, Oracle File and FTP Adapters enable a mediator to exchange (read and write) files on local file systems and remote file systems (through the use of the file transfer protocol). The file contents can be XML and non-XML data formats. There are two types of Oracle Integration Cloud Adapters:

File Adapter
FTP Adapter

Introduction to File Adapter

File Adapter is one of the Oracle integration cloud adapters that helps to interact with the file system to read and write data on files. In addition, it also used to read/write file from a remote server.

file Adapter

File adapter allows transferring of files to any publicly accessible server in either binary or ASCII format.
It supports synchronous, which means a single-way request message exchange pattern without a response from the server.
File adapter allows the creation of binary files and schema-based files such as XML schema and comma-separated value(CSV).
File Adapter supports Microsoft Excel files. Either send the file as an opaque (pass-through) or save it as a comma-separated value(CSV) file before using Oracle Integration.
It is a predefined adapter combined with OIC. Moreover, you can configure this Adapter as a connection in integration in OIC( Oracle Integration).

Also Read Process large file (above 10MB) in Oracle Integration Cloud Service (OIC)

Introduction to FTP Adapter

FTP Adapter allows transferring files to an invoke FTP server in Oracle Integration Cloud (OIC) Service integration. It cannot be used as a trigger but we can use Scheduled orchestration and add FTP as invoke for modeling trigger type integrations.

FTP Adapter

FTP adapter can connect FTP and SFTP servers that are attainable across the internet.
FTP adapter enables read and writes files to publicly served in binary or ASCII format.
It enables to encrypt and decrypt the file using PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) cryptography.
It support for signing and un-signing of files.
FTP adapter empowers us to create a schema file format to utilise for the files to transfer. Schema can be made from a comma-separated value (CSV) file.
Oracle FTP Adapter supports FTPS means FTP over SSL and secure FTP (SFTP) to secure file transfer over the internet.

File Adapter and FTP Adapter Features

Oracle File adapters and FTP Adapters enable you to configure a BPEL(Business Process Execution Language) process or a Mediator that interact with local & remote file system directories. Now, let’s explore some of the features of the OIC File and FTP Adapters:

File Formats: The OIC File and FTP Adapters can read and write the following file formats mentioned below. In addition, use the adapter translator component at both design time and run time for instance;

XML (both XSD- and DTD-based)
Delimited
Fixed positional
Binary data COBOL
Copybook data

Dynamic Outbound Directory and File Name Specification: The OIC File and FTP Adapters allows to dynamically specify the logical/physical name of the outbound file/ directory. For information about how to determine the dynamic outbound directory.

File-Based Triggers: The OIC File and FTP Adapters provide support for file-based triggers to control inbound adapter endpoint activation.

Inbound and Outbound Interactions: File and FTP Adapters exchange inbound and outbound directions. Based on the order, the Oracle File and FTP Adapters perform different sets of tasks.

File Debatching: When a file contains various messages, you can pick to publish messages in a specific number of batches known as debatching. During debatching, the file reader, on the restart proceeds from where it left off in the previous run, thereby avoiding duplicate messages. File debatching is supported for files in XML and native formats.

Also Read Oracle Integration Cloud Services (ICS, PCS, VBCS)1Z0-1042 Training: Step By Step Activity Guides/Hands-On Lab Exercise

Difference between File Adapter Vs FTP Adapter

Oracle Integration Cloud offers two types of adapters File adapter and FTP adapter. These adapter helps to handle File-based processing in the integrations. Sometimes users get confused about when to use a File adapter and when to use the FTP adapter. Let’s see the critical difference between the two adapters.

File Adapter Vs FTP Adapter
File Adapter	FTP Adapter
The file can be processed from the FTP or SFTP server running behind the firewall with the help of a connectivity agent.	The file can be processed from any SFTP server which is publicly accessible or behind the firewall with the help of a connectivity agent.
File adapter enables the creation of binary files (opaque) and schema-based files such as XML schema and CSV.	FTP can encrypt and decrypt the file using Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) cryptography.
We can perform Read, Write, List, Delete, Move and Download File etc. operations.	Similarly, we can perform Read, Write, List, Delete, Move and Download File, etc.
File adapter supports synchronous (one-way request) message exchange pattern.	The FTP adapter retrieves files for OIC processing and can upload files from Oracle Integration Cloud to a directory on a remote FTP server.
No security policy is used to connect the File Server	Different security policy can be used to connect to FTP/sFTP server
File signing support is not there	Support for signing and un-signing of files.

Conclusion

In conclusion, working with Oracle File and FTP adapter is definitely like magic! Both FTP and File adapters are designed to read a file, not to copy a file. So if you want to copy a file and not process it, you have to jump through the hoops. In this blog, we have discussed File adapters, FTP adapters and the actual difference between them.