topic Oops... (I really wish we… in Product Forum

How to save image data type (Data item) to desktop folder png format?

ÖzençGezgin — Mon, 18 Feb 2019 23:54:00 GMT

I have an image data type (Data item) . I want to save this file to desktop folder. How can it be?

I'll probably facepalm after…

david.l.morris — Tue, 19 Feb 2019 01:58:00 GMT

I'll probably facepalm after I ask this question. How did you get the image into the image data item to begin with (other than importing through BP's UI? If you're just trying to pull an image into Blue Prism and hold it for a while and then save it somewhere later on, you can use a binary data item instead. Use a Calculation stage with the function LoadBinaryFile([C:\Test\image.png]) to get it into a binary data item. Then use the File Management VBO's action 'Write Binary Data' to write it to another location. Of course, I'm assuming that (1) simply moving the file isn't good enough and (2) you don't need to use the image while in transit.

Oops... (I really wish we…

david.l.morris — Tue, 19 Feb 2019 01:59:00 GMT

Oops... (I really wish we could edit posts) LoadBinaryFile(""C:\Test\image.png"")

I have the same problem…

HuYue — Wed, 27 Feb 2019 17:05:00 GMT

I have the same problem.Meybe you did not understand us.For example.I have a Data Item with type 'image' named 'imagedata'.This image is not imported but from dynamic by Region Mode(Surface Automation).Then how to save this variable to local folder. There is no function' LoadBinaryFile' in a calculation stage.Can you help me? Thanks.

Hi huyue, There is a…

david.l.morris — Wed, 27 Feb 2019 17:39:00 GMT

Hi huyue, There is a function in a calc stage called 'LoadBinaryFile'. Check the File group of functions. But that function doesn't apply to what you need. If you've got an image in a data item that you want to save, I don't know of an existing function or action for that. However, it seems as though writing code for this is pretty easy. I don't know what format you need, so it may be slightly different for you. Below works for me (C#): varImage.Save(saveLocation,ImageFormat.Png); That's with 'varImage' being an input variable to your code stage and you pass in your image data item. And 'saveLocation' is something like 'C:\Test\fileName.png'. Dave

Also, I had to add the…

david.l.morris — Wed, 27 Feb 2019 17:41:00 GMT

Also, I had to add the Namespace Import of 'System.Drawing.Imaging' so that the Compiler would be happy.

RE: Hi huyue, There is a…

HarshitRawat — Wed, 28 Apr 2021 12:09:00 GMT

Thanks @Dave Morris-- This works .. I am trying to save different images from a PDFs as separate pngs and this helped

------------------------------
Harshit Rawat
Senior RPA Consultant
------------------------------

RE: Hi huyue, There is a…

david.l.morris — Wed, 28 Apr 2021 19:34:00 GMT

Awesome! Glad it helped!

------------------------------
Dave Morris
Cano Ai
Atlanta, GA
------------------------------

RE: I'll probably facepalm after…

Ben.Lyons1 — Thu, 29 Apr 2021 09:33:00 GMT

Hi Dave,

Just for another way this can happen. It's possible to read an image when you've spied it using surface automation, just grab a read stage and select "Read Image".

I had to use this a lot in v5 for image matching, but you never know when something like this may come in use!

I would imagine to save it down, you'd need to "write" it into an image editing application as there's no internal functionality to save an image. Would be interested to hear if you can think of a way to do this though.

Regards

------------------------------
Ben Lyons
Product Consultant
Blue Prism
UK
------------------------------

RE: I'll probably facepalm after…

david.l.morris — Thu, 29 Apr 2021 17:59:00 GMT

Yeah it works to just save by using the File Management VBO's action 'Write Binary Data' and include the image extension such as .png or whatever. I said that stuff over two years ago so I don't even remember typing that stuff. Haha! But yeah image files typically are binary data (not sure if all image types are or not) and they can be just written to the disk with the right file extension and then it'll display if you were to open it.

------------------------------
Dave Morris
Cano Ai
Atlanta, GA
------------------------------

RE: I'll probably facepalm after…

Ben.Lyons1 — Fri, 30 Apr 2021 07:01:00 GMT

Nice one, so basically a method that could also be used to take screenshots to some degree. Surface Automation to read images (can be set to location based to ignore what the image is) and then write binary to save.

------------------------------
Ben Lyons
Product Consultant
Blue Prism
UK
------------------------------

RE: I'll probably facepalm after…

david.l.morris — Mon, 03 May 2021 13:14:00 GMT

Hi @Ben.Lyons1

I went back and re-read what you were saying. I see that you were talking about taking an actual image data item and saving that to the disk. What I suggested doesn't work directly for that. Just wanted to follow up and say that yeah it cannot be directly saved. You'd have to convert from Image to Binary first.

I grabbed some code from Stack Overflow to test it just in case and it works: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/3801275/how-to-convert-image-to-byte-array

I did adjust the code slightly because I'm lazy. 😃 (I added static so I didn't have to instantiate an object when using it)

Here's the Global Code:

public static byte[] ImageToByteArray(System.Drawing.Image imageIn)
{
   using (var ms = new MemoryStream())
   {
      imageIn.Save(ms,imageIn.RawFormat);
      return  ms.ToArray();
   }
}

And then here's what would be in a code stage, assuming an input parameter of ImageIn and an output parameter of BinaryOut

BinaryOut = ImageToByteArray(ImageIn);

And in case anyone is trying this who isn't familiar with programming, be sure to add Namespace imports in the Initialise page > Properties > Code Options > Namespace Imports. For this, you should only have to add System.IO for the MemoryStream. No additions needed in External References.

Edit: Also in case it's not obvious, at this point, the Utility - File Management VBO's action 'Write Binary Data' can be used to write the binary data to the disk. Use the file extension such as .png in the name of the new file. And then the image should be viewable.

------------------------------
Dave Morris
Cano Ai
Atlanta, GA
------------------------------

RE: I'll probably facepalm after…

Ben.Lyons1 — Tue, 04 May 2021 07:15:00 GMT

Nice one. Looks good.

------------------------------
Ben Lyons
Product Consultant
Blue Prism
UK
------------------------------

RE: I'll probably facepalm after…

kevin.wilson — Wed, 20 Jul 2022 16:23:00 GMT

Hi Dave,

That worked great. Initially, we had a Data Item of type Image, and didn't readily see a way to Write it out to a file using a VBO.

Once we updated the logic such that the Screen Shot that were were working with was in a Data Type of Binary, then, as you pointed out, we could simply use the Utility File Mgmt VBO, Write Binary Data Action to write it out to a file.

Thanks

------------------------------
Kevin Wilson
`Solution Engineer
Blueprism
America/Denver
------------------------------