I’m exploring a possibility and need some insight on whether this can be achieved using make.com, especially integrating local desktop environments into automated workflows.
As it stands, I understand that make.com can monitor SharePoint for any new files being created, triggering flows based on these events. This is incredibly useful for cloud-based operations, but my scenario involves a slightly different approach, focusing on local desktop activity.
Objective: The core idea is to trigger a flow when a user drops a file into a specified local folder on their desktop device. Here’s the intended workflow in detail:
File Drop Trigger: The moment a file is placed into a specific local folder, the automated flow is triggered.
Reading the File: Upon triggering, the flow should be capable of reading the file that was just dropped.
Form Pop-Up: Subsequently, a form should appear on the user’s desktop with the file already attached, or its contents loaded within.
User Interaction: The user fills out the form, providing additional information as required.
Form Submission: Once completed, the user submits the form, and both the form data and the file are sent through a webhook to a specified endpoint.
Question: Is the above scenario achievable using make.com, particularly the aspects involving local folder monitoring and popping up a form on a user’s desktop? If direct integration isn’t available, are there any workarounds or third-party tools that can bridge this gap?
I’m looking for any advice, guidance, or experiences that could help in implementing such a workflow. Any input or suggestions on how to approach this would be greatly appreciated.
No, this is not possible, because Make runs in the cloud. For Make to “detect” any changes, OneDrive will need to sync that to the OneDrive cloud folder first. This could take anywhere from 30 seconds depending on the file size.
Then, depending on the polling schedule set by your trigger module, there is an additional delay as Make “asks” OneDrive whether there are any changes.
You can try uploading directly to the OneDrive cloud folder using the OneDrive web interface. This bypasses the desktop to cloud upload delay, but the Make trigger schedule still exists.
What you can do is ask a computer application developer to code a desktop application for you.
Alternatively, you can create a web app that the user can upload the file to.
Either way, you need a “frontend” user interface. Make cannot do this as it is a server-to-server system.
I’m particularly interested in delving deeper into the mechanism for the form pop-up functionality. The crux of my query revolves around how one can initiate a form to appear on a user’s desktop, prompting them to input additional information after a file drop event but before the data is dispatched.
Could you provide guidance or suggest strategies on how to effectively implement this aspect? Specifically, I’m looking for a method to dynamically generate a form on the user’s machine as part of the automated workflow. This form would ideally be pre-filled with certain file details or would have the file attached already, ready for the user to add more information before submission.