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Alteryx Designer Desktop Discussions

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SOLVED

True Automation with trigger files

Trip
6 - Meteoroid

We currently use 3rd party products that handle ETL actions.  But what is nice is we can have processes drop files in folders and then the ETL flow is started based on a file.  Does Alteryx have a way to trigger a flow to kick off based on the presence of a file.  I am assuming there would need to be a file listener to do that.  But I have not seen anything like that with my experience using Alteryx yet.

3 REPLIES 3
BrandonB
Alteryx
Alteryx

Alteryx does not have a file listener but the Alteryx Server does have API and command line functionality. Some customers are leveraging listening scripts or programs in conjunction with their Alteryx Server to kick off processes accordingly. 

Trip
6 - Meteoroid

@BrandonB We have the Alteryx Server.  Is there examples you know of that would help me go down that path?

BrandonB
Alteryx
Alteryx

I can't really go so far as to suggest a specific third party tool or package for monitoring although I have seen some people using watchdog in Python or other programs specifically built to monitor directories. Other people may choose to use something like Powershell: https://mcpmag.com/articles/2019/05/01/monitor-windows-folder-for-new-files.aspx 

 

The Alteryx Server API documentation can be found here: https://gallery.alteryx.com/api-docs/#subscription 

This contains endpoints that allow you to execute jobs programatically.  You can also find examples on this page of creating your own client. 

 

The Command Line documentation can be found here: https://help.alteryx.com/20212/designer/run-workflows-command-line 

This allows you to invoke the AlteryxEngineCmd.exe to execute a workflow. 

 

The API is generally a better approach so that it respects the queue as opposed to immediately starting a job with the command line. Hopefully this helps!

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