Process run when file is saved into folder

[rokkam_saiteja]

Hi Community,

I would like to know whether it is possible to automatically trigger a process in Blue Prism when a user submits a file through Microsoft Forms, and the file is subsequently saved into a designated process folder.

The requirement is for the bot to detect the file and initiate the process automatically, without any human intervention.

Could you please advise on the best approach to achieve this?

Thank you in advance.

[david.l.morris]

Blue Prism Enterprise does not directly have this functionality built in, such as with Scheduler. I have no idea what WorkHQ/NextGen's capabilities are, but I suspect it also will not support this but I don't know for sure.

I cannot tell if you're referring to a local/shared drive or SharePoint/OneDrive. Given that you mentioned Microsoft Forms, I assume the file is saved into SharePoint/OneDrive. So, my suggestions below might change based on this, but I'll try to mention a few things related to both ways (shared drive and SharePoint).

The overall methods that I've seen for this are these (I'll list best to worst):

1 - Have an application that monitors for files, does not take up a BP license, and then triggers automations to run when needed. This could either be a custom application or a 3rd party application such as CTWO (RPA Supervisor) or even Blue Prism's more recent tool called Automation Orchestrator. It could also just be a PowerShell script, albeit a really complicated script. Triggering the automations could be by AutomateC CLI commands or by Blue Prism API (if you have that set up). In our case, we have/use CTWO and it is great.

2 - Have a Blue Prism process that is dedicated to monitoring for inputs which will check various locations, such as shared drive, SharePoint folders, SharePoint lists, email mailboxes, etc. Then it would call something else to trigger the automation, such as calling CTWO or Blue Prism API or directly calling AutomateC.

3 - Have your automation periodically run and check the input folder and then end if there's no file. This does take a license during that short time, but it is better than running all the time.

4 - Have your automation run all the time consuming a license watching that input folder. This one is pretty bad of course but it at least works.

[naveed_raza]

you can refer to this DX Asset.

https://digitalexchange.blueprism.com/cardDetails?id=200053

[taylor_brooks]

If the file lands in SharePoint or OneDrive after a Forms submission, I would avoid keeping a Blue Prism runtime resource sitting there just watching for it.

The pattern that usually holds up better is:

1. use the upstream Microsoft side to detect the new file,
2. write the metadata or path somewhere deterministic, and
3. trigger Blue Prism from that event, or have Blue Prism poll a lightweight queue rather than the folder itself.

If you only have standard BP tooling available, a short scheduled check is usually the pragmatic fallback. I just would not leave a licensed robot permanently monitoring a directory unless there is no other option.

The main thing is making the handoff idempotent so the same file is not picked up twice if Forms / SharePoint retries or the process fails halfway through.