How to parameterize the input file paths or Database connections

Question

Hi All,

Suppose i have file called customers.csv which i am reading from path c:/A. I packaged my workflow and  and moved it another enviornament and there i need to read my file from D: /B folder path.

My question is,

Do i need to change my path in code manually or can we parametarize these paths in some external parameter files??

And same question applies to Database connection name also. What if my data base connection is different in another enviornament.

In development my connection name may be DEV_CONN and in production it may be DEV_PROD do i need to change these connections manually???

Please help.

Regards,

Pradeep

jgo · Accepted Answer

Hi @pradeephc,

For files, you can use dynamic path references instead of absolutes. For example, if your Workflow AND customers.csv file are both saved in C:\A folder, you can configure your input to read from ".\customers.csv" instead of "C:\A\customers.csv". Another option, and probably the one I'd most recommend, is to have that file in a network share location. You'd need to make sure that your input if referencing a UNC path and not a mapped drive (especially if this is going to a server environment for scheduling or publishing).

It could be possible to parametrize, but would require you to convert your workflow to either an App or Macro.

With DB connections there's not a whole lot of leeway and the easiest option is to simply change it manually when moving from one environment to another. Other option is to set up Aliases on both environments that have the same alias name, but different connection strings.

Hope this helps!