ZIP Activities
The ZIP Activities Extension Library adds three activities to Integration Soup:
- Create ZIP File
- Create ZIP Message
- Extract ZIP File
Use them to package a directory for archiving or delivery, return an archive as a Binary response message, or extract an archive into a server directory.
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Prerequisites
- Integration Soup or Integration Host on Windows
- Read permission for source directories and ZIP files
- Write permission for output ZIP paths and extraction directories
- Enough free disk space for file-based operations and enough memory for Create ZIP Message
The paths are resolved on the machine running the Integration Soup service. When a workflow runs as a service, its service account must be able to access local or network paths.
No separate ZIP application is required. The installer provides the activity DLL and its persistent out-of-process runner.
Create ZIP File
Create ZIP File recursively adds the contents of a source directory to a ZIP archive on disk. Subdirectories and empty directories are included.
Parameters:
- Source Directory: full path to the directory to package
- ZIP File Path: full path of the ZIP file to create
- Include Base Directory: set to
trueto place the source directory itself at the root of the archive; leave it blank orfalseto put its contents at the root - Overwrite Existing File: set to
trueto replace an existing ZIP file
The activity does not require an incoming activity message. It returns a Text response confirming the output path and the number of archived files and directories.
Create ZIP Message
Create ZIP Message creates the same recursive archive in memory and returns it as a Binary response message.
Parameters:
- Source Directory: full path to the directory to package
- Include Base Directory: set to
trueto place the source directory itself at the root of the archive
Use the Binary response with a File Writer, SFTP activity, HTTP activity, cloud-storage activity, or another step that accepts file bytes. This form is convenient for workflow chaining, but Create ZIP File is preferable for very large directories because Create ZIP Message must hold the ZIP bytes and their named-pipe representation in memory.
Extract ZIP File
Extract ZIP File recreates the files and directories from an archive under a destination directory.
Parameters:
- ZIP File Path: full path to the ZIP archive
- Destination Directory: full path to the directory that will receive the extracted contents
- Overwrite Existing Files: set to
trueto replace existing destination files; leave it blank orfalseto stop before extraction when a destination file already exists
The destination directory is created when needed. The activity returns a Text response confirming the archive path, destination, and extracted item counts.
The extractor rejects archive entries that would escape the destination directory, including .. traversal paths and absolute paths.
Runner behavior
The activity DLL stays lightweight and sends synchronous requests to a persistent ZIP runner over a named pipe. One request is processed at a time for this extension type, and each workflow caller remains blocked until its own ZIP operation finishes.
The runner process is installed only under the Integration Host Server Custom Libraries\ZipActivitiesRunner folder. It remains in memory for later requests and exits when its parent host process exits.
Typical uses
- Package a directory of generated reports before SFTP or cloud delivery
- Create a Binary ZIP response and pass it directly to a File Writer
- Extract inbound partner archives into a directory for later scanning
- Preserve nested and empty directory structures in an archive