'Azure Functions and temporary File Storage
I'm a beginner and have never dealt with cloud-based solutions yet before, so apologies for the dumb question.
I have an Azure Blob Storage containing PDF files from which I want to extract data using PDFBox. Because PDFbox can't load blobs directly, I currently download these files locally first. However, eventually my project will need to become fully Cloud-based, preferably as an Azure Function.
The main hurdle therefore is figuring out how my Azure Function should access the files. When using the console inside my Azure Function I noticed it comes with a file storage. Can the Function download blobs and store them here before processing it? Does this file storage work the same as a local environment or are there differences to keep in mind?
I'm only looking to store files temporarily here, for only a few minutes at a time.
Solution 1:[1]
The main hurdle therefore is figuring out how my Azure Function should access the files. When using the console inside my Azure Function I noticed it comes with a file storage.
Yes, all of the information of your deployed azure function is stored in the file storage you set.(It is defined when you create the function app.)
Can the Function download blobs and store them here before processing it? Does this file storage work the same as a local environment or are there differences to keep in mind?
Yes, you can. And the root directory is D:/home/site/wwwroot. So if you don't specify, the file you create will be in this directory.
Remember to delete the files, because the storage space is limited. It is based on the plan you selected.
I'm only looking to store files temporarily here, for only a few minutes at a time.
By the way, if you get a file from blob storage, at this time you have completely got its data. You can process the obtained data directly in the code without temporarily storing it in the current folder. (Of course, if you have special needs, please ignore this one.)
Solution 2:[2]
You can use a blob trigger or input binding to load a blob into memory of your function for processing by PDFBox.
With regards to the local file system, you can read about more about it here. From the description of your problem I think a blob trigger or input binding should be sufficient for you.
Sources
This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Overflow and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Source: Stack Overflow
| Solution | Source |
|---|---|
| Solution 1 | halfer |
| Solution 2 | Tom Biddulph |