PI / HCI SFTP add file counter to output file

Hello everyone,

after our mapping steps, we write an xml output file to an sftp server. Works fine, but ... we have the requirement to 'number' the output files.

Example :

First file is 01_xxxx, second file 02_xxxx, etc.

What is the best way to achieve this ? In case the server is restarted or the project redeployed (due to an update), the number can't restart from 0, but should continue numbering where it ended.

Right now, via an oData call we write a variable to a back-end system field, but if it can be achieved in a better way, yes please

Thanks!