Box Connection

[imakosov]

Hi Community,

I am trying to run the flow where input files are in the Box. However Alteryx shows those files are not not linked to the location of the Box server but C:\Users\Name\Box...  I wonder if there is a Box connection method that prevents the error as depicted below. 

Thanks for the help, I am very new to Alteryx...

[CharlieS]

Hi @imakosov 

What is "the Box" in your environment? A fileshare/network drive? A particular computer?

The error message begins with "C:\", which means the workflow is expecting a file on the C:\ drive on your computer. Do you have the file saved somewhere else?

[imakosov]

Thank you Charlie, I understand what error means. Our organization uses Box.com for storing and sharing files, and the the caveat is when you connect to the file in your designated Box folder the Alteryx path references "C:\"....  

[CharlieS]

Ah that makes sense. 

It looks like Box.com has robust API support so I might suggest using the API calls documented at the website below with the Alteryx Download tool to download the data directly from Box.com rather than relying on local repositories.

https://developer.box.com/reference/get-files-id-content/

I don't have Box.com credentials or experience, but this usually works by using Text Input and other tools to build a URL string for the particular file you're interested in, then input that URL string into the Download tool and the "DownloadData" field that is output from the Download tool will be the data from your file. 

Once the data is returned, you can parse our what you need and pass it on to the rest of the workflow. It may be a little slower to download the data each time, but it would be much more flexible to share workflows.

Does that make sense?

[imakosov]

Absolutely, thank you!