Read Text From File

Overview

The Read Text From File node reads the contents of a local text file and stores it as a string variable within the workflow for further use in subsequent nodes.

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Purpose

Use this node to import the text content of any accessible file into your workflow data for processing, transformation, or integration with other nodes.

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Inputs

Input	Type	Description
Local File	Text	The full local path to the text file to be read. Example: C:\Temp\myfile.txt

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Outputs

Output Variable Name	Description
FileText	Contains the entire text content read from the specified file.

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Execution Details

1. Validation:

   • Validates that the Local File input is provided.
   • Checks if the file exists at the specified path.

2. File Reading:

   • Reads the entire text content of the file using _fm.ReadTextToString(localFile).

3. Output Handling:

   • Stores the resulting text in the FileText output variable.
   • Removes the Local File input from the task data after processing.

4. Error Handling:

   • If the Local File input is missing or empty, the node fails with an appropriate error message.
   • If the file does not exist at the specified path, the node fails with an error message.
   • Any unhandled exceptions will result in node failure with the exception message returned.

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Example Use Cases

• Reading configuration files to extract runtime parameters.
• Loading text templates or scripts for processing in later workflow nodes.
• Importing data files for parsing and transformation within the workflow.

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Notes

⚠️ Important:

• Ensure the file path is accessible by the automation server or execution environment where this node runs.
• Large files will be read entirely into memory; ensure this is appropriate for your use case.

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Known Limitations

• This node only reads text files. It does not support binary file reading.
• It does not support encoding selection; it uses default system encoding unless _fm.ReadTextToString implementation specifies otherwise (please verify in SysFileMethods if necessary).

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