# textfile collector

The textfile collector exposes metrics from files written by other processes.

|||
-|-
Metric name prefix  | `textfile`
Classes             | None
Enabled by default? | Yes

## Flags

### `--collector.textfile.directory`

The directory containing the files to be ingested. Only files with the extension `.prom` are read. The `.prom` file must end with an empty line feed to work properly.

Default value: `C:\Program Files\windows_exporter\textfile_inputs`

Required: No

## Metrics

Metrics will primarily come from the files on disk. The below listed metrics
are collected to give information about the reading of the metrics themselves.

Name | Description | Type | Labels
-----|-------------|------|-------
`windows_textfile_scrape_error` | 1 if there was an error opening or reading a file, 0 otherwise | gauge | None
`windows_textfile_mtime_seconds` | Unix epoch-formatted mtime (modified time) of textfiles successfully read | gauge | file

### Example metric
_This collector does not yet have explained examples, we would appreciate your help adding them!_

## Useful queries
_This collector does not yet have any useful queries added, we would appreciate your help adding them!_

## Alerting examples
_This collector does not yet have alerting examples, we would appreciate your help adding them!_

# Example use
This Powershell script, when run in the `collector.textfile.directory` (default `C:\Program Files\windows_exporter\textfile_inputs`), generates a valid `.prom` file that should successfully ingested by windows_exporter.

```Powershell
$alpha = 42
$beta = @{ left=3.1415; right=2.718281828; }

Set-Content -Path test1.prom -Encoding Ascii -NoNewline -Value ""
Add-Content -Path test1.prom -Encoding Ascii -NoNewline -Value "# HELP test_alpha_total Some random metric.`n"
Add-Content -Path test1.prom -Encoding Ascii -NoNewline -Value "# TYPE test_alpha_total counter`n"
Add-Content -Path test1.prom -Encoding Ascii -NoNewline -Value "test_alpha_total ${alpha}`n"
Add-Content -Path test1.prom -Encoding Ascii -NoNewline -Value "# HELP test_beta_bytes Some other metric.`n"
Add-Content -Path test1.prom -Encoding Ascii -NoNewline -Value "# TYPE test_beta_bytes gauge`n"
foreach ($k in $beta.Keys) {
  Add-Content -Path test1.prom -Encoding Ascii -NoNewline -Value "test_beta_bytes{spin=""${k}""} $( $beta[$k] )`n"
}
```