fix: add skip fail flag

config.go

@@ -33,6 +33,10 @@ type TCPClientSettings struct {
 type Config struct {
 	TCPClientSettings `mapstructure:",squash"` // squash ensures fields are correctly decoded in embedded struct.
 
+	// SkipFailOnInvalidTCPEndpoint controls whether to fail if the endpoint is invalid.
+	// This is useful for cases where the collector is started before the endpoint becomes available.
+	SkipFailOnInvalidTCPEndpoint bool `mapstructure:"skip_fail_on_invalid_tcp_endpoint"`
+
 	// RequireAck enables the acknowledgement feature.
 	RequireAck bool `mapstructure:"require_ack"`
 
@@ -87,8 +91,11 @@ func (config *Config) Validate() error {
 
 	// Resolve TCP address just to ensure that it is a valid one. It is better
 	// to fail here than at when the exporter is started.
-	if _, err := net.ResolveTCPAddr("tcp", config.Endpoint); err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("exporter has an invalid TCP endpoint: %w", err)
+	if !config.SkipFailOnInvalidTCPEndpoint {
+		if _, err := net.ResolveTCPAddr("tcp", config.Endpoint); err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("exporter has an invalid TCP endpoint: %w", err)
+		}
 	}
+
 	return nil
 }

config_test.go

@@ -110,6 +110,17 @@ func TestConfigValidate(t *testing.T) {
 			},
 			err: fmt.Errorf("exporter has an invalid TCP endpoint: address http://localhost:24224: too many colons in address"),
 		},
+		{
+			desc: "Endpoint is invalid but SkipFailOnInvalidTCPEndpoint is false",
+			cfg: &Config{
+				TCPClientSettings: TCPClientSettings{
+					Endpoint:          "http://localhost:24224",
+					ConnectionTimeout: time.Second * 30,
+				},
+				SkipFailOnInvalidTCPEndpoint: true,
+			},
+			err: nil,
+		},
 		{
 			desc: "Config is valid",
 			cfg: &Config{

exporter.go

@@ -11,7 +11,6 @@ import (
 
 	fclient "github.com/IBM/fluent-forward-go/fluent/client"
 	"github.com/IBM/fluent-forward-go/fluent/protocol"
-	fproto "github.com/IBM/fluent-forward-go/fluent/protocol"
 	"go.opentelemetry.io/collector/component"
 	"go.opentelemetry.io/collector/pdata/pcommon"
 	"go.opentelemetry.io/collector/pdata/plog"
@@ -87,7 +86,7 @@ func (f *fluentforwardExporter) connectForward() {
 
 func (f *fluentforwardExporter) pushLogData(ctx context.Context, ld plog.Logs) error {
 	// move for loops into a translator
-	entries := []fproto.EntryExt{}
+	entries := []protocol.EntryExt{}
 	rls := ld.ResourceLogs()
 	for i := 0; i < rls.Len(); i++ {
 		ills := rls.At(i).ScopeLogs()
@@ -96,8 +95,8 @@ func (f *fluentforwardExporter) pushLogData(ctx context.Context, ld plog.Logs) e
 			logs := ills.At(j).LogRecords()
 			for k := 0; k < logs.Len(); k++ {
 				log := logs.At(k)
-				entry := fproto.EntryExt{
-					Timestamp: fproto.EventTimeNow(),
+				entry := protocol.EntryExt{
+					Timestamp: protocol.EventTimeNow(),
 					Record:    f.convertLogToMap(log, rls.At(i)),
 				}
 				entries = append(entries, entry)
@@ -176,7 +175,7 @@ func (f *fluentforwardExporter) convertLogToMap(lr plog.LogRecord, res plog.Reso
 
 type sendFunc func(string, protocol.EntryList) error
 
-func (f *fluentforwardExporter) send(sendMethod sendFunc, entries []fproto.EntryExt) error {
+func (f *fluentforwardExporter) send(sendMethod sendFunc, entries []protocol.EntryExt) error {
 	err := sendMethod(f.config.Tag, entries)
 	// sometimes the connection is lost, we try to reconnect and send the data again
 	if err != nil {
@@ -193,10 +192,10 @@ func (f *fluentforwardExporter) send(sendMethod sendFunc, entries []fproto.Entry
 	return nil
 }
 
-func (f *fluentforwardExporter) sendCompressed(entries []fproto.EntryExt) error {
+func (f *fluentforwardExporter) sendCompressed(entries []protocol.EntryExt) error {
 	return f.send(f.client.SendCompressed, entries)
 }
 
-func (f *fluentforwardExporter) sendForward(entries []fproto.EntryExt) error {
+func (f *fluentforwardExporter) sendForward(entries []protocol.EntryExt) error {
 	return f.send(f.client.SendForward, entries)
 }

factory.go

@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ func createLogsExporter(ctx context.Context, set exporter.Settings, config compo
 	exporterConfig := config.(*Config)
 	exp := newExporter(exporterConfig, set.TelemetrySettings)
 
-	return exporterhelper.NewLogsExporter(
+	return exporterhelper.NewLogs(
 		ctx,
 		set,
 		config,