File: Create Node

The File: Create Node allows a workflow to create a file within your Application Files.

Node Properties

There are two main configuration sections for the File: Create Node ...

File Configuration

First is to configure the details of the file to create. All applicable fields are templatable unless otherwise noted:

• Public vs. Private File: (Required) Choose whether to create a public application file or a private application file. This field is not templatable.
• File Name Template: (Required) The name of the file to create or update.
• Parent Directory Template: (Optional) The full path in which to create the file. If any of the specified directories do not already exist, they will be created.
• Content Type Template: (Optional) The MIME type of the file to create. If left blank, the MIME type will be guessed based on the file name.
• File Encoding: (Optional) The encoding of the file contents, by default this is UTF-8. The following are valid encodings: ASCII, UTF-8, UTF-16LE, Base64, Binary, Hex. This field is not templatable.

File Contents

Next, choose how to provide the contents of the file to create. You have two options ...

• File Content Template: (Default) When selected, enter the content of the file to create as a string template.
• File URL Template: When selected, provide a public URL from which to download the contents of the file to create. The field supports string templates, and it must resolve to a valid URL that can be reached through an HTTP GET request.

Existing File Behavior

If your application already contains the file specified above, you can handle that in one of two ways:

• Cancel and return an error if the file exists: (Default) This option will return an error on the payload and not write any content to the configured file.
• Overwrite the file with my new content if it exists: This option will completely replace the file with the configured file content.

Result Path

The success or failure of the operation can optionally be placed at the specified payload path. If the operation fails, the result object will contain an error object instead of its normal result.

Node Example

The following is an example of what will be placed on the payload after a successful run of the File: Create Node:

{
  "_type": "file|privateFile",
  "id": "5d5aa5bde697320006842c02",
  "url": "https://files.on.losant.com/5c365aee856/important/business.csv",
  "s3etag": "7553490ea58a9e576a6fd75c2e0dc43f",
  "status": "completed",
  "creationDate": "2019-08-19T13:35:57.763Z",
  "lastUpdated": "2019-08-19T13:35:58.075Z",
  "contentType": "text/csv",
  "fileSize": 32,
  "type": "file",
  "parentDirectory": "/important/",
  "name": "business.csv",
  "authorType": "flow",
  "authorId": "5d56e856005f990006c855bf",
  "applicationId": "5c365aee8565c365aee856aa"
}

Node Errors

A common error is when the node attempts to create a file at a specified path and file name when the file already exists, and the node existing file behavior disallows overwriting an existing file. The following is an example of what would be placed on the payload in such a case:

{
  "error": {
    "message": "File business.csv failed to create or update: File business.csv already exists",
    "type": "FILE_CREATE_ERROR"
  }
}