Solved: Help with File Retrieval

Quality_Assuran · 02-20-2023 01:24 AM

Hi community,

I am struggling with a PDF template retrieval and I cannot work out where I am going wrong.

Hoping someone can see something that I can't

This is my setup.

Create a File Name Column

Then Set Files file name using automation

This is the File Location Details

This is the Default app folder

This is the screenshot of the record in the Google Drive

This is the Screenshot of the error I am getting, I tried changing the PDF extension to upper case and lower case as seen below, but this doesn't make a difference.

I'm not clear on how the above works. I have noticed one Result is successful while all the others fail.

In an effort to determine what differences there might be between the two locations, I took to the google drive, clicked on rename for the file name as well as each of the folders and then I separated them with "/".

This is the result below

FSMS/ISO22000/Production and Quality Control/Revision Number 2023.PDF

I also copied and pasted the result from my last screenshot for comparison.

FSMS/ISO22000/Production and Quality Control/Revision Number 2023.PDF

Here they are next to each other:

FSMS/ISO22000/Production and Quality Control/Revision Number 2023.PDF

They appear identical to me and I have a similar setup on some other apps which work, but every now and then I encounter this problem when trying to implement this and I'm not clear why this happens.

Has anyone else experienced similar problems?

Marc_Dillon

A table only has access to files at or below it's own GSheet location.

View solution in original post

Marc_Dillon

The file path config in the Bot should not include the file name, only the path to the containing folder.

With a bit less confidence... it should also not include the path from the root of your GDrive, but only a relative path from where that table's GSheet is located.

Also I'm a little confused about exactly what you're doing here. What do you mean by "File Retrieval", and what does it have to do with a Bot?

Quality_Assuran

@Marc_Dillon what I mean by file retrieval is being able to open the pdf which was created, from within the app.

So I am using a method I've seen @MultiTech use in this great video where you use the bot to create the PDF file and then you have another column for the file path itself so that right after you create the PDF you set its name and then you can click on the file and it will open from within the app.

See 41 minutes into the video below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJuy-UMXvo0&t=1s

And then I'm using @dbaum 's method of getting the latest version of that file.

https://www.googlecloudcommunity.com/gc/Tips-Tricks/Open-a-file-action-get-current-not-cached-file/m...

So I've checked that my system isn't working, even without using @dbaum 's method, so my problem lies at the level where I am setting the file name.

For clarity, these are my steps in order.

Step 1

Create a file name in my columns using a concatenate:

Step 2

Set File Folder Path

Step 3

Set File Name

Step 4

Set File Path Name for File Retrieval

And finally, when I try and retrieve the file from the location I have stipulated above I get this error.

And below is my default folder:

So to me, it looks as though the file path I am creating is correct, but Appsheet gives me the error. And as I mentioned in the original post, I even compared the file names manually by choosing Rename in Google Drive so that I could copy and paste each folder name, exactly and they appear identical to me.

Marc_Dillon

Step 4, same as the other path, it should just be a relative path from your GSheet, NOT from the root of your GDrive.

Quality_Assuran

@Marc_Dillon thanks for your patience so far.

I'm not sure I did what you were asking me to do.

I changed Step 4 to:

I got this error

My Google sheet isn't in the same folder. It's in a folder called FSMS-3102900 and the Google Sheet is Called FSMS.

Is this having an effect on my path?

Marc_Dillon

A table only has access to files at or below it's own GSheet location.

Quality_Assuran

You, @Marc_Dillon , sir, are a legend!

This isn't the first time I've encountered this issue and I could not work out why it was not working. It's probably in some documentation I never got round to reading.

For anyone else who ever has this issue, I moved the folders I was creating into the folder that contains the Google sheet and it now finds the PDF document.