Prerequisites

If saving files to a cloud-based storage provider such as SharePoint Online, OneDrive or Google Drive, you must create a connection to the relevant storage account before adding a Save FileClosed The Save File tool saves output from another task step capable of producing document, as one or more files on the local drive, on-premise file server, external server, or cloud based server. task step.

No connection is required if saving to the local file system.

Adding a Save File Connection

You access the Save File - Global Configuration interface from the resources tree — expand System > Tools > Output and double-click Save File in the items list.

  1. Click Add to create a new connection to one of the supported file system providers.
  2. Enter a unique Connection name. If adding connections for different types of file system provider, it is recommended you add such details to the connection name to enable you to identify each connection.

  3. Select the required File System Type from the list of supported external file storage providers.

  4. Authorise the connection to your storage account using the authentication dialog provided by the provider.

  5. Use Test connection to confirm the connection status.
  6. Click OK to save the connection.

For more information, see Creating Save File Connections.

Adding a Task Step

When creating a new task step, Save File is located under Output in the Task Browser.

To add a new Save File step to an existing task, do the following:

  1. Open the relevant task (if creating a new task, see How to Create a Basic Task).
  2. Either:
■ Click and drag the Save File icon from the Task Browser to the task Design area.

– OR –

■ From the task's Design tab, right-click on empty space and select New > Output > Save File.
  1. In the General tab, Name your task step and choose the file(s) to save.

    The General tab is used to Name and describe (Description) the task step.

    Tip: If this task instance makes use of two or more Save File steps, ensure the Name used is unique for each individual step.

    ►Read data from a source — This option is enabled if a tool step output outputting a recordset, document or XML data has been previously configured in the task. Select this if the data from one of these sources is required when saving the file.
    ■Source — Selected from available data source steps in the task.

  2. The Connection tab establishes the connection for the Save File output location.

    If the Save File tool output is to the local file system, the Use Local File System option must be selected. No other configuration is required..

    If connections to other file storage providers are available, then the step can be configured to save files to those locations. To do this, clear the Use Local File System check-box to enable the Connection drop-down and select from connection settings previously set-up in global configuration.

    Note: Only fully configured connections will appear in the Connection drop-down list. Connections flagged as Configuration Incomplete in the tool's Global Configuration will not be shown until the configuration has been completed.

    If required, use a BPA Platform variable or formula to create a dynamic connection, where the connection used is determined by runtime circumstances. At runtime, the contents of the variable must match the name of one of the global connections — this is case-sensitive.

    For more information, go to the Connection tab help.

  3. Go to the Main tab and define where the file is saved.

    If this task step consumes a recordset (See General tab), use the Value field to specify the saved file's contents. The Value field can be input manually, drag-and-drop a static value to be saved by the Save File output, or drag-and-drop any object from the Task Browser to build the file's contents.

    However, if the task step is consuming a document or XML source the selected source will form the saved file's contents and the Value field will be disabled.

    To specify the saved file's destination Path, manually enter the path details or click the Browse... button to locate and select the required output folder. You can use an existing folder or enable Create destination folder if not found to have the Save File step create the folder automatically if it can not find the one specified. You can drag-and-drop variables and recordset data from the Task Browser build the file path or create a dynamic entry depending on run-time data.

    To specify the saved file's Filename, manually enter the filename details or click the Browse... button to locate and select the required output filename. You can drag-and-drop variables and recordset data from the Task Browser to build the filename or create a dynamic entry depending on run-time data.

    By default, all saved files use ANSI encoding. If a different Content Encoding is required, select this from the drop-down.

    Use Memory to memorise some or all of the step output for use in other task steps. This is particularly useful when the Save File step is called multiple times — use Memory to compare the document previously processed to the new document currently being processed to avoid duplicates.

    For more information, go to the Main Tab Parameters help.

  4. Go to the Options tab and select the relevant error handling options for this task step.

    The Options tab allows you to define how errors in this step are handled at task runtime.

    If a destination file already exists, you can chose whether to Never overwrite or Always overwrite.

    Note: If Never Overwrite is selected and an existing file found during a task run, an error is logged to the Event Log but the new file data is not saved.

    If an error occurs, you can decide whether the step should Continue processing, or terminate the step immediately (Abort Step).

    If the step is aborted, you can choose to Continue processing onto the next step in the task, or terminate the whole task immediately (Abort Task).

    For more information, go to the Options tab help.

  5. Click OK to save the task step.