Opening .bak file

[catmar]

A path to my latest workflow is not found. I am trying to recover my workflow with a.bak file. 

I changed .xlsx to .yxmz, but upon opening, I receive an error that the data at the root level is invalid. Line 1, position 1. 

How can I succesfully open a .bak file? 

[alexnajm]

.yxmz is not a correct file type, do you mean .yxmd?

[alexnajm]

https://help.alteryx.com/current/en/designer/file-types-support/alteryx-file-types.html

[alexnajm]

If you are trying to restore an Excel file, you need to put the Excel extension

[catmar]

I am trying to restore a workflow with Apps and Macros. Changing the name from .yxmz to .yxmd gives the same error.

[alexnajm]

The original file extension was not noted in the original post, so I assumed that it was a workflow file since you said “workflow“.  If it is an app, then change it to a YXWZ file.

Otherwise, use the link posted above to figure out your correct file type - it cannot be a workflow and at the same time

[danilang]

Hi @catmar 

Since the .bak files have exactly the same names as the excel files and almost the same size, I'd say that these are back ups of the excel file that that Alteryx workflow created.    You can check by opening the .bak in a text editor like notepad.  

An Alteryx workflow of any kind is an xml file and will always look similar to this 

An excel file is a renamed zip file and will look like this

Dan

 

 

[catmar]

After opening the file in notepad, it looks like a backup of the excel file. 
Would you know how to retrieve a backup .bak of the workflow? I don't see it.

[danilang]

Hi @catmar 

Your autosave files are stored in C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Alteryx\Autosave.  In the same directory there's an AutoSaveList.txt that has the workflow names for each save file.

BTW:  You should also check File name extensions in your explorer view settings to see the actual extensions of the files

Dan

[catmar · Accepted solution]

Internally we were able to retrieve the workflow. Thank you all for your guidance.