Download from website that requires field selections

Question

Hello,

I would like a flow to download a file from an internal site that requires a login. Upon login the user has to click a link, then populate a few fields before clicking 'Submit'. The file is then downloaded to the default directory for downloads.

I've seen similar articles for website scraping and downloading files, but nothing involving dropdown menus on a site or things that would require users to make selections before proceeding. I would think the dropdown fields could be handled with some sort of input text file followed by the download tool.

Once it has downloaded, I would want it to repeat for a different combination of fields. For example, change the state dropdown to the next state, click submit, then download again.

Another hurdle I have is that when normally downloading through Google Chrome, I see "Insecure Download Blocked" in the upper right. I can then allow the download by clicking 'Keep'. I'm not sure if that is something I'll have to address in the Alteryx flow.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

AndyJay · Answer

Thank you for responding so quickly. I did try to contact someone that maintains it to see if it would be available in an alternative form and it appears that it wouldn't be for data governance purposes. I agree though it would be better to obtain the data from a different method.

Even if this were an external website, I would still think there's a way to have Alteryx populate fields in the browser.

SPetrie · Answer

If this is an internal site, the simplest solution may be to reach out to the team that manages the site and see if they can provide an api or access to the underlying data so you dont have to go through more hoops.

If that is not possible, your other options would be a type of desktop automation such as selenium-python, UiPath, or PowerAutomate desktop.