Archive files created from a bot

The Create a new file task archives each file that it creates. The following sections provide more details:

• How the file name is formed
• How the folder name is formed
• How the complete folder and file path is formed
• View the folder and file names in Audit History
• Create an action to open a saved file

For more information about the settings described, see Create and save a file from an automation.

How the filename is formed

The filename is formed by combining the File Name Prefix value, the timestamp (if Disable Timestamp? is disabled) formatted as yyyyMMdd_HHmmss_fff, and the file extension for the HTTP Content Type.

For example, if the File Name Prefix is set to MyFileName and the HTTP Content Type is PDF:

• If Disable Timestamp? is disabled, the archive attachment filename is: MyFileName20190207_133355_804.pdf
• If Disable Timestamp? is enabled, the archive attachment filename is: MyFileName.pdf

How the folder name is formed

The folder name in which the file is stored is formed using the default app folder and the File Folder Path property.

To configure the default app folder, select Settings  > Information, and under App properties enter a value in the Default app folder setting. For example:

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To configure the default app folder, select Info > Properties, expand App Properties, and enter a value in the Default app folder property.

Examples:

If the Default app folder is /1track/data/MyApp-24403/MyDefnFolder1, and the File Folder Path is MyFolderA/MyFolderZ, then the folder name is:

/1track/data/MyApp-24403/MyDefnFolder1/MyFolderA/MyFolderZ

If the default app folder is /1track/data/MyApp-24403 and File Folder Path is not defined (defaults to Files), then the archive folder name is:

/1track/data/MyApp-24403/Files

How the complete folder and file path is formed

The complete folder and file path is formed by combining the Folder Name and File Name values.

Examples:

If the Folder Name is /1track/data/MyApp-24403/Files and the filename is PurchaseOrder20190207_133355_804.pdf, then the file and folder name is:

/1track/data/MyApp-24403/Files/PurchaseOrder20190207_133355_804.pdf

 

If the Folder Name is /1track/data/MyApp-24403/MyFiles/PurchaseOrdersByMonth_2019_02 and the filename is PurchaseOrder20190207_133355_804.pdf, then the archive file and folder name is:

/1track/data/MyApp-24403/MyFiles/PurchaseOrdersByMonth_2019_02/PurchaseOrder20190207_133355_804.pdf

View the folder and file names in the Audit History

View the file by checking the audit history log. Customize the dashboard settings and look for an audit record related to the Create a new file task. The FileName value indicates the folder and file path where the file was archived.

Note: You may need to wait for up to five minutes for the audit record to appear. AppSheet groups audit records before writing them to the audit history log to reduce overhead. This can result in a delay before an audit record appears in the audit history. If you don't see an audit record, click Search periodically to refresh the audit history log.

Create an action to open a saved file

You can create an action to open a saved file.

1. Configure a Create a new file task.
   To create an action button that opens the file, the filename needs to be repeatable and unique. To ensure that the filename is unique, disable the timestamp and set the filename using a formula based on the key column. For example: CONCATENATE(“PurchaseOrder_”, [ID])
2. Where ID is the name of the key column of the table.
3. Add a column to your table to store the PDF filename. For example, call the column FileName and set its type to File.
4. Create a data change action to set the file FileName column. The action must be of type: Data: set the values of some columns in this row. Use a formula to set the value to the relative file path of the file.
   
   For example, if the relative file path is: /MyFolderA
   
   And filename is: CONCATENATE(“PurchaseOrder_”, [ID])
   
   Then the formula should be: CONCATENATE(“MyFolderA/”, “PurchaseOrder_”, [ID], “.pdf”)
5. Create an Open File action. The action must be of type: External: open a file. Set File to point to the column that you created to store the filename. For this example, the formula would be: [FileName]
6. Return to the bot that saves the file and add an action. Set the Reaction to Change Data and select the action you created in step 3.

When the bot is triggered, it will archive the file with the relative file path and filename you specified. It will save the file path and filename in the column you created. When you click the Open File action, it will retrieve the relative file path from that column and open that file.