About Download and Upload Folder Rules

You can use a folder download rule to download a hierarchy of folders and files from Process Composer into a file system while preserving the structure of the folders and files. Similarly, you can use a folder upload rule to upload a hierarchy of folders and files into Process Composer. The structure of the uploaded hierarchy is preserved and is accessible through the table page.

See Also
About Rules
Creating a Folder Upload Rule
Creating a Folder Download Rule
About Referenced Content

In some cases you will have a complex structure of files and folders that you would like to upload into Process Composer. For example, the following figure shows a set of material definitions that has been uploaded into the Material Definitions simulation folder.

You can create upload rules that upload each document individually, as described in Creating an Upload Rule. Alternatively, you can create a single folder upload rule that uploads the entire file structure into a simulation folder or a referenced bookmark folder. (You cannot use an upload folder rule to upload directly into a selected data category.) If you have a complex file hierarchy of nested folders and subfolders, uploading the entire file structure with a single folder upload rule is more efficient than uploading each file individually.

Similarly, you can create individual download rules that download the hierarchy of material test data shown in the previous figure, as described in Creating a Download Rule. Alternatively, you can create a single folder download rule that downloads the entire file structure from the Material Definitions simulation folder back into a file system. (You can use an download folder rule to download a selected data category. For example, you can create a single folder download rule that downloads the entire file structure from the Specifications data category back into a file system.)

A folder rule in a simulation activity can operate on the following:

  • A simulation folder (the folder can reside in the simulation activity or in another unrelated simulation activity, or the folder can reside in the parent simulation process)
  • A simulation data category (folder download rules only)
  • A reference to a bookmark folder

If you choose to download empty folders when you create a folder download rule, the rule creates corresponding empty directories in the file system. You can then use a separate process, such as a script, to populate the empty directories with files and use a folder upload rule to upload the files back into Process Composer.