Google drive download and execute command

Questions
1

Hi there,

I am new to N8N and I search everywhere but didn’t find any solution to my issue
When a pdf file is appearing in my google drive specific folder I am using the node google drive to download the file, but I don’t know where the file is temporary stored.
I create a specific script to transform my pdf in json format and I am using the node execute command to execute the script and get the Json result in the outpout. What I want is to say to my script where to search my google drive pdf whatever the name of this file.

I am using the last version of N8N on npm for windows et docker on linux.

Thanks for your help

2

It looks like your topic is missing some important information. Could you provide the following if applicable.

  • n8n version:
  • Database (default: SQLite):
  • n8n EXECUTIONS_PROCESS setting (default: own, main):
  • Running n8n via (Docker, npm, n8n cloud, desktop app):
  • Operating system:
3

Hey @Froldev Welcome to community!

In n8n, when you download a file using the Google Drive node, the file is stored in memory as binary data within the workflow’s context. This means the file isn’t saved to a physical location on your server by default. To process this file with your custom script using the Execute Command node, you’ll need to write the in-memory binary data to a temporary file, execute your script on this file, and then, if necessary, remove the temporary file after processing. Here’s how you can achieve this:

1. Writing the Binary Data to a Temporary File:

Use the “Write Binary File” node to save the in-memory binary data to a temporary location on your filesystem.

  • Add the “Write Binary File” Node:
    • Set the “Binary Property” to the name of the property holding your file (default is data).
    • Specify the “File Path” where you want to save the file, e.g., /tmp/downloaded_file.pdf on Unix-based systems or C:\Temp\downloaded_file.pdf on Windows.

Or you can do that by:
Using the “Extract From File” Node:

n8n offers the “Extract From File” node, which can extract text content from PDF files. Here’s how to set it up:

  • Add the “Extract From File” Node: In your workflow, include this node to process the PDF.
  • Configure the Node:
    • Input Binary Field: Specify the field containing the PDF binary data.
    • Operation: Select “Extract From PDF” to extract text content.

This method is straightforward but primarily extracts plain text, which might require additional parsing to structure as JSON.

1 Like
4

works like a charm!

Thanks Ruslan

1 Like
5

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