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File Browse Tool Icon File Browse Tool

One Tool Example

File Browse has a One Tool Example. Go to Sample Workflows to learn how to access this and many other examples directly in Alteryx Designer.

Use File Browse to display a file browse control in an app. This tool can read input or write output. The value of the file path that the user specifies is passed to downstream tools.

File Browse in Alteryx Server

There are a couple of things that you need to be aware of when you use File Browse in Alteryx Server:

  • The Save as Dialog option is not supported in Server.

  • When a user selects a file via File Browse in Server, the file is copied to the Server for processing to an internal folder for the specific job execution. As a result, the file path is a location on the Server and any updates to the file only update this copy, not the original file. In Server, the File Browse tool can't be used to select a file to update in a remote location.

Configure the Tool

  1. Enter the text or question to be displayed: Enter text to instruct app users on how to use the File Browse control.

  2. Save As Dialog: This option is for outputting or writing a file. The Save as Dialog option is not supported in Server.

  3. Select the file formats the app user can select from when browsing. Refer to Allowed File Types for Upload below.

    • Standard Database File Formats: All supported file formats are accepted.

    • Select Spatial Formats Only if processing requires a spatial object or if the output is restricted to spatial file types.

    • Generate Field Map for Input Data Tool: Select this option if your Analytic App updates fields in an Input Data tool and the workflow is dependent on those fields for processing.

      • As part of your Analytic App, connect the File Browse tool to an Input Data tool. The Input Data tool should include a template file that contains field names and data types. These field names and values are stored in the app’s XML for reference when the app is run by a user.

      • When a user runs your Analytic App, the app references the values in its XML (the values provided via the original template file) and uses the values to present the field names and data types to the user as labels.

      • The user then maps the fields from their file to the fields from your app’s template file.

      • Note that if you need to update the template file, you need to update the source file in your app.

    • Name a column in the template file so it ends with (Optional) to create an optional field in the app.

    • Report Formats: Select this if updating a Render Tool.

    • Arbitrary File Specification: Specify any set of file formats, including files, images, spatial objects, or others. Enter a file description as plain text, followed by a pipe character and file extension.

      Example: Comma-Delineated Text Files (*.csv)|*.csv|dBase (*.dbf)|*.dbf|All Files (*.*)|*.*

Allowed File Types for Upload

You can access the list of allowed file types for upload in the alteryx.config file in this directory:

[INSTALL DRIVE]\Program Files\Alteryx\bin\server\config\alteryx.config

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