Alteryx flow only run when particular file is available.

[amsrivastava]

Hi Folks!!

I have Alteryx flow that will pick the file from the Network directory, irony is, file will be available any time of the particular day (say Monday), time is not fixed, it can be available at any time, may be at 2 AM, 2 PM,4 PM, 5 PM etc.

I need to build a flow that will only run once file is available OR want to build a capability in the flow that will keep on checking the existence of file and execute rest of the logic once file is available.

Other way around, I tried to schedule it from the Alteryx Server, though I have found where to put start and end date but couldn't be able to find where to give frequency (after every 10 min or 20 min etc ) on which Alteryx flow will schedule and execute.

Happy to have solution either at Alteryx Desktop Designer level or Alteryx Server level.

Please suggest how to achieve the required.

[Verakso]

I am not really keen on having an Alteryx WF scheduled on the server, that checks if a file exists every 20 minutes, there is ought to be a better/smarter way.

I once made a small Windows NT Service written in C#, that triggered an event, once a file was dropped into a folder. Something similar should be easy to Google or having and AI to write, but next question would be, how to trigger that in Alteryx, and I have no experience with that.

But, depending on if the filename is unique every day, one way to make sure it only run once, it to keep the processed filename in a YXDB, and the check whether that file has been processed.
You can then use the Directory Tool to see the files, and the compare with the YXDB, if the file has been processed or not.

Br (ツ)

Thomas

[amsrivastava]

Hi Verakso,

Thanks for the reply.

1st Solution

We do not have luxury to utilize C# and create events, we are not allowed, so unfortunately, i cannot go to the option A even it is feasible

2nd Solution

For every successful completion of the flow, input file gets archived, and no file is left in the source folder.

Problem here is, source file can be available at any time in the source folder, and I don't see any utility via which I can give frequency in the Alteryx server-based scheduler.

So, the ask is either it is feasible to do in the server or any capability in the Alteryx Desktop design which keep on checking the file existence and execute rest only when file is available.

Thanks

A

[Raj]

@amsrivastava using the directory tool you can pull all the file names and filter out the file for the day if there is a file for the day then this will run else this will stop running
put your transformation in the macro form so it does not fetch any error if condition is not met

also scheduling this schedule every 10 min should work for you.

hope this helps.

[amsrivastava]

Hi Raj,

I want my flow run until file is available, first solution which you are providing will only runs once and if it doesn't find file, it will not run second time.

I didn't find where to set scheduler for 1o min in Alteryx server.

Thanks

A

[Verakso]

Hi @amsrivastava 

I would suggest to take a look at ListRunner macros form CReW.

You could as suggested build some logic that, if the file hasn't been processed, it would the trigger another workflow that process that file.

When it comes to scheduling, I am not sure what the issue is.

On my server, I can schedule a recurring job to run every x minutes.

In fact we do have a job, running every 20 min, process files if they are new, and then keep track of them in a YXDB

Br (ツ)

Thomas

[SPetrie]

Is the gallery API an option for you? I use power automate to monitor email and ftp sites and call workflows to run after files are downloaded using the API since I never know when they will arrive.

If you have a similar software that can monitor the directory, that may work better than a gallery flow running every 20 minutes or so.