Image does not change in pdf when change in server

[Benoit_Gramond]

Hi,

First of all, very nice work on the new community!

I have a workflow to send via email a pdf with the pictures and product informations of my collection.
The pictures are stored in a server.

Problem: I changed some pictures in the server but when I send the pdf, it still send the old ones.

How do I refresh the cache?

Kind regards

[Aleksi]

Instead of using the same file name, you should use different name.

[Benoit_Gramond]

My file name and the picture are virtual columns, they are created with some other columns of the tables.
The thing is that those pictures and file names (reference_color_001.jpg for front, reference_color_001.jpg for back) are generated by another software.

[Benoit_Gramond]

Hello, there is no other option to solve this problem ?

[LeventK]

@Benoit_Gramond
As @Aleksi had already proposed, you should use different filenames instead of the same filename.

[Benoit_Gramond]

@Aleksi, @LeventK Indeed, I saw this answer, problem is that the link to the picture is automatically generated. I can not do what is suggested unfortunately.
I assume that the pictures are in cache somewhere, do ou have other ideas that I should try ?

[LeventK]

@Benoit_Gramond
Even thought the file might be in the cache somewhere, how do you think AppSheet can decide or choose which image is the correct one to place in the template where all the image filenames are identical? Being a full-pledged programmer and developer, I honestly don’t know any method to achieve this.

[Benoit_Gramond]

@LeventK I think there is a misunderstanding: in the source folder, the image names are UNIQUE (as it is always in a server, you can not have 2 files with the same name).

My images are generated with a link as they are located in an external server. There is only one image with the same name.

If I change the image in my folder (IMAGE 1 = new image in my folder for the link to the image in appsheet), it will not change in the app or in the pdf workflows using this image (IMAGE 2).
This image is generated with a link, if I click on the link to open the image in my browser, I have the good image.

As it has changed in my server (The image but not the link), and it does not change in Appsheet, I assumed that the imaged are stored in appsheet server with another name (or cached) and/or another link.

This is where comes my question to have a solution to regenerates images stored in appsheet for a specific table? Or is there any oter solution than to change the name of the picture? (This one does not work as it is setup with a specific dynamic link)?

IMAGE 1:

IMAGE 2:

[LeventK]

@Benoit_Gramond
What is the source of your database? Google Sheet or SQL?

[Benoit_Gramond]

@LeventK it is an SQL database (Google MySql)

[pravse]

We maintain a cache of resized images. Most image content sources (eg: Dropbox or Google Drive) will throttle access with rate limiting errors if we serve images directly from them.
As @Steve points out, the cache should in theory always be populated with the most current copy, where “most current” is determined by the origin copy’s timestamp. In practice, this is done by checking and respecting cache expiry headers, or by repeatedly checking with the origin. Again, we worry about rate limiting on those checks. This is why we’ve gone with a (mostly) sensible compromise of requiring you to use different urls/filenames for different versions of an image.
In your case, perhaps you could modify the image link to add a version number or something for every new image?

[Benoit_Gramond]

@praveen Indeed I can understand very well why you do that, it is more efficient in most of cases. My problem is that those pictures are used in 18 apps in Appsheet and more important, they come from another ERP system. I do not have the choice either in the name or the location of those pictures.
If I understand well, you suggest that I create a table for the images and use it for the link?

[Benoit_Gramond · Accepted solution]

We found a solution for this trouble:
1 - Create a table with Overide images with id + new link
2 - Change the Virtual column formula for the imge so that if there is the ID in the table Overide images, use the last link in this table, if not use the original formula.