How to use a SchemaScanner on an empty feature type?

FME(R) 2023.1.1.0 (20230928 - Build 23631 - WIN64)

Hello FMEers,

I have a set of Esri feature classes that we are supplying to our clients so they can submit data to us using a standard schema. On submission we want to verify they haven’t modified the data structure using the method described here. The method compares two datasets using the SchemaScanner and works well if there is at least one record in each feature type. It doesn’t work if there are no records in one of the datasets to be compared. This is expected because there are simply no features coming out of the ‘template’ feature class reader to work with.

My question: is there any way to achieve the intent of the abovementioned article when one of my inputs has no records, only the table definition? The method works fine if I include a dummy record in the ‘template’ feature class, but I’d rather avoid this kludge.

Thanks in advance.