Skip to main content

Blob Input Tool Icon Blob Input Tool

One Tool Example

Blob Input has a One Tool Example. Visit Sample Workflows to learn how to access this and many other examples directly in Alteryx Designer.

Use Blob Input to read a Binary Large OBject like an image or media file, by browsing directly to a file or passing a list of files to read.

Configure the Tool

The Blob Input tool can either be an input tool or a pass-through tool where a list of files are passed to the tool and the tool reads them.

Configure as Input Tool

File Name: Specify the file name of the Blob to be read. All file types are supported.

Configure as Pass-through Tool

  1. The incoming data stream should contain a list of files (Blobs) to be read.

  2. Specify the file name of the Blob to be read. All file types are supported. Alteryx replaces the string with the contents of the incoming stream.

  3. Modify File Name Using Optional Input: Select the appropriate action to replace the string specified in the file name above.

    • Modify File Name By: Choose the action to replace what was specified in the file name above. For example, the file name is set to .\data\images\image.png

      • Appending Field To File Name: The contents of the specified field are added after the file name and before the extension. Using the example above, if the value of the specified field is apple, the resulting filename is .\data\images\imageapple.png

      • Prepending Field To File Name: The contents of the specified field are added before the file name. If the value of the specified field is banana, the resulting filename is .\data\images\bananaimage.png

      • Replacing File Name With Field: The contents of the specified field will be used as the file name before the extension. If the value of the specified field is grape, the resulting filename is .\data\images\grape.png

      • Replacing Entire Path With field: The contents of the specified field will be used as the location directory, file name, and extension. If the value of the specified field is C:\Temp\rainbows_and_unicorns.jpg, the resulting filename is C:\Temp\rainbows_and_unicorns.jpg

    • Using This Field: Use the dropdown to select the incoming field that contains the data replacement for the file name.

  4. Stop With Error If File Not Found: When checked, Alteryx throws an error if the file is not present. The error is Cannot access file: (path).

Input or Pass-through Tool Configuration

  1. Specify the file name of the Blob to be read. All file types are supported.

  2. Blob Options: Provides options for handling large files.

    • Split Blobs into Chunks: When checked, blobs are broken up into smaller blobs, or "chunks" and sent downstream as individual records. Each record contains this blob and also an additional field called "BlobNumber" which is the sequence number of each chunk. The first is 1, the second is 2, etc.

    • Maximum Size of Chunks: Allows the size (KB) of each chunk that is created to be specified. If the original blob that is read is not an exact multiple of the chunk size, the final chunk is smaller than this size. If the original blob is smaller than the chunk size, it is output as a single blob and still has the "BlobNumber" field added to the record.

In this section: