i have set up a second zap. when a new email/attachment from outlook comes in from a particular person/subject i wanted the attachment to be saved to dropbox. However, when i run a test it only saves a text file? am i missing something?
Answer
New outlook email file/attachment saved to Dropbox in specific folder
- Beginner
Best answer by jesse
Just summarizing some of the things to try if the file you’re trying to upload to Dropbox comes across as a text file!
It looks like the issue here was that you had the “Subject” mapped to the file field when the file field is expecting an object. More info on how to work with file objects, here: https://zapier.com/help/create/basics/different-field-types-in-zaps#step-4
If you’re trigger app is sending multiple attachments, that is going to cause some issues as Nick outlines here:
Hi
This may not work if there are multiple files attached, because what happens is they get added into a zipped folder, but this would be the type of field you’d be looking for:
When it’s a file object you’ll see (Exists but not shown) as shown above.
So long as you’re working with a file field sending across a single file object, this should work! And for anyone following along, we’ve also put together this guide for working with attachments between Gmail and Dropbox:
This post has been closed for comments. Please create a new post if you need help or have a question about this topic.
+5- Tinkerer
Hey
I think it is by default like this. Can you show the text message you receive? And is the test successful?
+14- Zapier Orchestrator & Solution Partner
Please provide screenshots of how your Zap steps are configured.
It’s likely that you may need to specify a different data point from the trigger step.
Uploading a file creates a text file instead of what I expect
The Dropbox app requires file objects to be passed along during a Zap, and will not download files from a URL.
One may consider using a Gmail 'Send Email' action as you can provide a public URL and create a file object that Dropbox can use.
- Beginner
https://zapier.com/shared/92dce9896772013b8ed0aa1d25769332c572d98c
hope this is the right way of sharing it?
+14- Zapier Orchestrator & Solution Partner
Please provide screenshots of how your Zap steps are configured.
- Beginner
just thinking. surely I’m not the first person to automate this. is there a template I can follow?
+14- Zapier Orchestrator & Solution Partner
This is the issue, you’re using the Subject for the File, but it expects a file object.
Article: https://zapier.com/help/create/basics/different-field-types-in-zaps#step-4
+14- Zapier Orchestrator & Solution Partner
File fields - Data in the form of an actual file object or URL
When we reference files on Zapier, we mean the actual file object, and not a text field describing the file.
For example, a file would be a photo itself, a field describing that file might be the Name, or the URL for that photo.
If you put a string of text in a file field, we'll convert it to a .txt file for you.
If you give us a URL, we'll inspect the URL and try to load in the data there and name it properly.
And, if the item is a file from the trigger side, we'll bring it along.
Note: inserting multiple file fields into a single file field is unsupported.
Quick reference:
- File: passes file to action app
- URL: passes data from URL in the form of a single file to action app
- Text: creates a .txt file containing the field contents and uploads to action app
+14- Zapier Orchestrator & Solution Partner
This won’t work because the value for the “Has Attachments” data point is “true”, not a file object.
+11- Zapier Staff
Hi
This may not work if there are multiple files attached, because what happens is they get added into a zipped folder, but this would be the type of field you’d be looking for:
When it’s a file object you’ll see (Exists but not shown) as shown above.
+11- Zapier Solution Partner
Just checking in to see if you still need help with this?
+9- Architect
- Answer
Just summarizing some of the things to try if the file you’re trying to upload to Dropbox comes across as a text file!
It looks like the issue here was that you had the “Subject” mapped to the file field when the file field is expecting an object. More info on how to work with file objects, here: https://zapier.com/help/create/basics/different-field-types-in-zaps#step-4
If you’re trigger app is sending multiple attachments, that is going to cause some issues as Nick outlines here:
Hi
This may not work if there are multiple files attached, because what happens is they get added into a zipped folder, but this would be the type of field you’d be looking for:
When it’s a file object you’ll see (Exists but not shown) as shown above.
So long as you’re working with a file field sending across a single file object, this should work! And for anyone following along, we’ve also put together this guide for working with attachments between Gmail and Dropbox:
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