Streamline Bulk File Handling with Automated Decompression and Splitting
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This n8n workflow efficiently downloads and decompresses a ZIP archive, then intelligently splits its contained files into individual items for easy, subsequent processing. It's perfect for scenarios requiring individual attention to files bundled within a single upload or download.
About This Workflow
Many automation challenges involve dealing with multiple files bundled together, often in a compressed format like ZIP. This workflow tackles that head-on by demonstrating a robust solution for acquiring a compressed archive, decompressing its contents, and — critically — transforming those multiple individual files into separate data items within n8n. This makes each file independently accessible for further steps, whether it's uploading to cloud storage, sending to an API, or any other specific action. While the example uses a dummy ZIP file, the pattern is easily adaptable to real-world scenarios like email attachments, FTP uploads, or cloud storage synchronization.
Key Features
- Automated Archive Retrieval: Easily download compressed files from any URL.
- Seamless Decompression: Effortlessly unpack ZIP archives to access their contents.
- Intelligent File Splitting: Transforms a single item with multiple binary files into distinct items, each representing one file.
- Customizable Data Transformation: The Function node provides flexibility to adapt to varying binary data structures.
- Ready for Post-Processing: Prepares individual files for subsequent actions like uploads, analysis, or storage.
How To Use
- Execute the workflow: Run the workflow manually to observe how it downloads, decompresses, and splits the example ZIP file.
- Replace Data Source: Modify the 'Download Example Data' node (or replace it entirely) with your actual source for compressed files, such as an email trigger, an FTP node, or a cloud storage node.
- Verify Decompression: Ensure the 'Decompress Example Data' node is configured to handle the specific compression format of your incoming files (e.g., ZIP, GZIP, TAR).
- Adapt File Splitting (if needed): If your binary data structure is different, adjust the
functionCodein the 'Split Up Binary Data' node to correctly extract file names and binary data. - Add Post-Processing Nodes: Connect subsequent nodes to the 'Split Up Binary Data' node to perform actions on each individual file (e.g., upload to S3, send to a document parser, store in a database).
Apps Used
Workflow JSON
{
"id": "7e747085-5d7a-48af-8401-3f6c903f1c60",
"name": "Streamline Bulk File Handling with Automated Decompression and Splitting",
"nodes": 16,
"category": "Operations",
"status": "active",
"version": "1.0.0"
}Note: This is a sample preview. The full workflow JSON contains node configurations, credentials placeholders, and execution logic.
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ID: 7e747085-5d7a...
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