The /file/decompress Robot

We can both archive and extract entire media libraries.

The /file/decompress Robot extracts entire archives of files to be consumed by other Robots or exported as individual files.

Parameters

Name Type Default Description

Name	Type	Default	Description
`use`	(required) String / Array of Strings		General Specifies which Step(s) to use as the input to this Robot. Special Step names A special Step name is `":original"`, which provides user uploads handled by Transloadit. Providing several Steps as input You can add arrays to `use` several Steps: `"use": [ ":original", "encoded", "resized" ]` Step bundling Some Robots can gather several Step results for a single invocation. For example, the /file/compress Robot would normally create one Zip file for each file passed to it. If you'd set `bundle_steps` to true, however, it will create one archive containing all the result files from all Steps you give it. To enable bundling, provide an object like the one below to the `use` parameter: `"use": { "steps": [ ":original", "encoded", "resized" ], "bundle_steps": true }` This is a crucial parameter for the /video/adaptive Robot, otherwise you'll generate 1 playlist for each viewing quality. Keep in mind that all input Steps must be present in your Template. If one of them is missing, no result is generated because the Robot waits indefinitely for all input Steps to be finished. Group by original Sticking with the /file/compress Robot example, you can set `group_by_original` to `true`, in order to create a separate Zip file for each of your uploaded or imported files, instead of creating one archive containing all originals (or one per resulting file). This is a crucial parameter for the /media/playlist Robot. Demo See a demo for the `use` parameter here.
`ignore_errors`	Array	`[]`	A possible array member is only `"meta"`. There might be an error coming up when trying to extract meta data from the files inside your archive. This happens for files that are zero bytes big for example. Setting this to `true` will cause the Robot to not stop the file decompression (and the entire Assembly) when that happens. To keep backwards compatibility, setting this parameter to `true` will set it to `["meta"]` internally.

use

(required) String / Array of Strings

General

Specifies which Step(s) to use as the input to this Robot.

Special Step names

A special Step name is ":original", which provides user uploads handled by Transloadit.

Providing several Steps as input

You can add arrays to use several Steps:

"use": [
  ":original",
  "encoded",
  "resized"
]

Step bundling

Some Robots can gather several Step results for a single invocation. For example, the /file/compress Robot would normally create one Zip file for each file passed to it. If you'd set bundle_steps to true, however, it will create one archive containing all the result files from all Steps you give it. To enable bundling, provide an object like the one below to the use parameter:

  "use": {
    "steps": [
      ":original",
      "encoded",
      "resized"
    ],
    "bundle_steps": true
  }

This is a crucial parameter for the /video/adaptive Robot, otherwise you'll generate 1 playlist for each viewing quality.
Keep in mind that all input Steps must be present in your Template. If one of them is missing, no result is generated because the Robot waits indefinitely for all input Steps to be finished.

Group by original

Sticking with the /file/compress Robot example, you can set group_by_original to true, in order to create a separate Zip file for each of your uploaded or imported files, instead of creating one archive containing all originals (or one per resulting file). This is a crucial parameter for the /media/playlist Robot.

Demo

See a demo for the use parameter here.

ignore_errors Array [] A possible array member is only "meta". There might be an error coming up when trying to extract meta data from the files inside your archive. This happens for files that are zero bytes big for example. Setting this to true will cause the Robot to not stop the file decompression (and the entire Assembly) when that happens. To keep backwards compatibility, setting this parameter to true will set it to ["meta"] internally.

See full docs

Demos

Our /file/decompress Robot can be used in combination with other Robots, to create powerful workflows unique to your use case. Here are a few example scenarios that you can try live on our website:

Blog posts about the /file/decompress Robot

We wrote the following posts about the /file/decompress Robot on our blog:

Kicking Transloadit Into Gear for the New Year February 1, 2015
Two New Robots and More Features March 30, 2012

Did you know?

You can easily combine Robots to create powerful workflows, unique to your business.
This is the power of Transloadit.