XLS Writer Node & @SSL

KNIME Analytics Platform
#1

Dear KNIMErs

I have a long standing problem with the XLS Writer node saving files to a ShareRoom/SharePoint site.  My company has upgraded our ShareRoom/SharePoint version and files can only be saved using SSL Certificates. 

I would like to use the XLS Writer node to creates XLS files that are named via the flow variable "filename", but the files created are corrupt and contain no information, even though the KNIME workflow completes correctly.  although you can see that something is odd with the workflow as the XLS Writer node hangs at 80% completion for around 20 seconds before immediately going to green.

I am not alone with this general problem:

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/24145451/excel-file-corrupted-after-uploading-to-sharepoint-with-python

It would be great if the XLS Writer Node could be further developed to allow SSL credentials to be added.

Is there anyone in the KNIME user community who has faced the same problem? If yes, how did you overcome this?

Any advice would be helpful as my workaround is storing  all files locally before manually adding them to the Sharepoint site, which is very time consuming.

Thanks

 

#2

Hm, those are the 'best' problems. We use standard java and xls writing libraries (Apache POI). I agree you wouldn't expect the node to turn green if it fails to upload. (Apparently the system thinks that the upload was completed.)

Another workaround could be to use a "create temp dir" node and write the XLS file to that folder first. And then, afterwards, upload the file using one of the file handling nodes. This is still an extra copy but if it works it can be automated.

Disclaimer: I haven't tried this but thinking out loud.

- Bernd