Select and Download PDF File in Gallery

[DavidKennedy]

I have a workflow that automatically generates around 60 PDFs on a daily basis to a folder on our share drive.  Each PDF contains data for a different plant and includes the plant's name in the filename.  I'd like to have a separate workflow that can be manually executed from the Gallery and allows the user to select/download a PDF for a specific plant.  

I know how to build the workflow so it will selected the correct file path for the specific file.  What I don't know is how to make Alteryx then provide it for the Gallery user to download.  It seems like a relatively easy task but it has turned out to be a bit more of a challenge than I expected.  Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

David

[jrgo]

In your Output/Render tool, don't include a directory when setting the output path. Only set it with your filename.ext. This will instruct the job output tool to create the file in the same location of the workflow, but when it's ran on Gallery, it'll generate to the jobs workspace which will also be available to the user to download in the job result page.

Don't use any of the "Temporary...." Output mode options if using the Render tool.

This help doc may explain better.

https://help.alteryx.com/20223/designer/app-building-guidelines

[fmvizcaino · Accepted solution]

Hey @DavidKennedy ,

Totally agree with you. It seems relatively easy and achievable but when we start developing, we soon realize we have a problem. 😂

Fortunately, there is a solution and it is an easy one (it becomes easy only after you see it for the 1st time), then 

Since you need to output the file on Alteryx to have the option to make it available for someone to download, the workaround is to use a combination of the blob input and output tool only to load and generate the file. The blob output will have the option to show the file on the gallery after execution.

Best regards,

Fernando Vizcaino

[DavidKennedy]

Thank you Fernando!  This worked perfectly.  Maybe it's my version of Designer, but the Blob output tool did not provide a distinct option/setting to output the PDF on the gallery.  However, I just left the filename field blank and had the output tool pull the filename from my workflow (replacing the entire path) and it worked fine.

Thanks again for your help!