Input
File Input
Reads one tabular file — on your own computer, in My files on FlowDoo, or in Google Drive — and turns it into rows for the pipeline.
When to use it
Reach for it when the data sits in a file — a CSV drop, an Excel export, a JSON dump — whether on your own computer, uploaded to FlowDoo or in Drive, or when a Loop or Input Folder hands it one file at a time.
In a pipeline
File InputFilter RowsExport CSV
Settings
| Setting | Type | Required | Default or hint |
|---|---|---|---|
| File Path | text | Yes | Server path, e.g. data/sales.csv (inside your workspace or an allowed folder) |
| First row is column name | checkbox | — | true |
| Skip rows before header / data | number | — | 0 |
Example
Reading a CSV export of orders
- File=C:\Reports\sales.csv
- First row is column name=Ticked
| Order | Customer | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| A-1041 | Northwind Trading | 1240.00 |
| A-1042 | Harbour Foods | 860.00 |
| A-1043 | Cole & Sons | 312.50 |
| Order | Customer | Amount | __source_file |
|---|---|---|---|
| A-1041 | Northwind Trading | 1240.00 | sales.csv |
| A-1042 | Harbour Foods | 860.00 | sales.csv |
| A-1043 | Cole & Sons | 312.50 | sales.csv |
Every row also carries __source_file and __source_path, so later nodes can tell which file it came from.
Worth knowing
- Type a path the way you know it — C:\Reports\sales.csv — or press Browse ▸ Choose a file on <your computer>: the FlowDoo desktop agent opens that computer's own Open dialog, and only the file you pick is shared. The file stays on your computer; a run reads it through the agent, scheduled runs included, while that computer is on.
- A path on your computer works when that file, or a folder holding it, is shared in the desktop agent. Sharing the folder lets the file name change.
- Part of the path can come from a Variable node: type $ and pick it, e.g. C:\Reports\$FileName. A * picks the newest matching file, e.g. C:\Reports\sales_*.csv, so a file renamed every day keeps working.
- Browse ▸ Upload a file to My files keeps a copy on FlowDoo (files/sales.csv) for pipelines that should not depend on a computer being on. My files can be browsed, added to and tidied from the same menu.
- It reads .csv, .tsv, .txt, .json, .xml, .xlsx, .xls and .docx; a legacy .doc has to be saved as .docx first. PDFs are read with the PDF File Input node, so Browse does not offer them here.
- Inside a Loop, leave the path empty: the node then reads the file named by the current item.