Process Start Triggered by a File Upload to Box

In this article, I will explain the newly added automatic Steps related to Box.

Questetra has various automatic processes that work with Box, but starting with version 13.1 Box: Move File will become available.

* See Utilising Box From Your Workflow for existing automated Steps.

Using Start: Box: File Uploaded and Box: Download File in addition to this new feature, we are going to define a workflow App that automatically starts a Process when a file is uploaded.

About each automated Task

First, we’ll briefly explain each Task.

Start: Box: When uploading files

This Start Event will start a Process when a file is uploaded to the specified folder in Box. It also Retrieves the file ID of the uploaded file and stores it in a Data Item.

Box: Move File

This new Service Task will move an existing file to the specified folder. The file ID/URL will not be changed.

Box: Download File

This Service Task will download the specified file in Box. If you do not specify a file name, it will be saved with the file name used in Box.

How to Integrate Box with Questetra

Please refer to Utilising Box From Your Workflow to set up.

Example App

This app is a mechanism for receiving files from departments that do not use Questetra, in situations where Box is used in the entire organization while Questetra is used in some parts of the organization. It detects the upload of a file to a shared folder and automatically moves the file to another specified folder after a Process is started. This will prevent duplicate processes being launched and will also allow you to confirm which files have been processed.

By the way, the process after confirming the receipt of the file is not defined. Please expand the design of the App according to your requirement.

Settings in Box

This time, we will create two folders in Box in advance and use them.

After logging in to Box, create folders from [New]. Set the first folder name to “Reception box” and the second to “Started Files”. Click [Share] adjacent to the Reception box and enter the email address or department name of the sender of the file in the Invite People field. Set the target person’s authority to [Uploader] and click the [Send] button.

After creating the folder, click the created folder to open the details screen. The number part of the character string displayed on the navigation bar (where the URL is displayed) on the browser is the folder ID of this folder. Make a note of the folder IDs of the two folders. (We will use them for the App settings.)

Sharing settings may be restricted depending on the basic settings (Enterprise settings) of Box. Contact your Box administrator.

Settings on Workflow App

Data Items

Data Item Name	Data-type	Required	Confirm Task	Description
Title	–	–	Display only	The Title of the Process.
File ID	String-type (single line)	–	Display only	Stores the File ID of the target file.
Uploaded Time	Datetime-type	–	Display only	Stores the time when the target file was uploaded.
File	File-type	–	Display only	Stores the downloaded file

Box Start

Item Name	Required	Description
C1: OAuth2 Setting	Yes	Specify OAuth2 settings to connect to Box. In the OAuth2 settings, you need to get a token beforehand. (see How to Integrate Box with Questetra)
C2: Parent Folder ID	–	Enter the folder ID of the Reception box to be monitored file uploads.
C3: Data Item to save File ID	Yes	Select the File ID Data Item to store Box’s file ID.
C4: Data Item to save File Uploaded Datetime	–	Select the Uploaded Time Data Item to store the date and time of the file upload to Box.

When the App is released, it will start monitoring the folder on Box specified by the ID. If a file upload is detected, a Process will be started and the retrieved file ID and upload time will be stored into the Data Items.

If multiple files are uploaded at the same time, Processes will be started for each file.

Move file Step

Item Name	Required	Description
C1: OAuth2 Setting	Yes	Specify OAuth2 settings to connect to Box.
C2: ID of the File to be moved	Yes	Select the File ID Data Item to be specified.
C3: Destination Folder ID	Yes	Select Fixed Value and enter the folder ID of Started Files.

It moves a file uploaded to the Reception box folder to the Started Files folder. This will allow you to see the processes started in Questetra by browsing the contents of the destination Started Files folder on Box alone.

Download Step

Item Name	Required	Description
C1: OAuth2 Setting	Yes	Specify OAuth2 settings to connect to Box.
C2: File ID to download	Yes	Select the File ID Data Item to be specified
C3: File Name	－	Leave it blank this time. (You can also name it using the Process Sequence Number or formatted date and time, but in that case, the file extension is fixed)
C4: File-type Data Item to add the downloaded file	Yes	Select the File Data Item to specify

It downloads the target file and stores it in a File-type Data Item.

When the App is released, [Start: Box: When uploading a file] will start monitoring the specified folder. Files already in the monitored folder will be ignored and a Process will be started only for newly uploaded files. Immediately after a Process is started, the automatic Step moves the file from the Reception Box folder to the Started File folder. The next automated Step downloads the file and saves it in the Questetra Data Item. At the Confirm Step, you can confirm the file along with its file ID and upload time.

Note that Box records the date and time when the file was first created on Box, and the creation time is retained even if the file is moved to another folder. If you want to deliver a file that is already on Box via the Reception Box, please Copy it instead of Moving it and put the copy in the Reception Box. If you move the file the process may not start.

That’s it for today.