diff --git a/src/communication/exporter_interface.hpp b/src/communication/exporter_interface.hpp
index a41357180063cc66539d36bf6711ef3ce869a490..6c22fddeca667cb34d3df5469979ef25895ed908 100644
--- a/src/communication/exporter_interface.hpp
+++ b/src/communication/exporter_interface.hpp
@@ -22,6 +22,9 @@ public:
 
     // Performs the export of the data
     virtual void do_export(const std::vector<spike_type>&) = 0;
+
+    // Returns the status of the exporter
+    bool good() const;
 };
 
 } //communication
diff --git a/src/communication/exporter_spike_file.hpp b/src/communication/exporter_spike_file.hpp
index cf3e43df6ac9cbfc6131544035c31dd65da05d05..adf185d8520f37b6bc4f7d7ec3bf9a7fa3fe2bcb 100644
--- a/src/communication/exporter_spike_file.hpp
+++ b/src/communication/exporter_spike_file.hpp
@@ -58,6 +58,11 @@ public:
         }
     }
 
+    bool good() const
+    {
+        return file_handle_.good();
+    }
+
     // Creates an indexed filename
     static std::string create_output_file_path(const std::string& file_name, const std::string& path,
         const std::string& file_extention, unsigned index)