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try_to_file function

Applies to: check marked yes Databricks SQL check marked yes Databricks Runtime 18 LTS and above

Beta

This feature is in Beta. Workspace admins can control access to this feature from the Previews page. See Manage Databricks previews.

Returns a FILE value that references the file at path, or NULL if the file doesn't exist or is inaccessible.

Syntax​

try_to_file(path)

Arguments​

  • path: A STRING expression specifying the path to a file, for example a path in a Unity Catalog volume.

Returns​

A FILE value that references the file at path, or NULL if the file doesn't exist or is inaccessible.

This function is the error-tolerant version of to_file function. To gather file metadata, Databricks makes a remote call to the file's storage location. If the file doesn't exist or is inaccessible, this function returns NULL instead of raising an error.

Common error conditions​

  • TO_FILE_ILLEGAL_USAGE.NO_PATH_PROVIDED

For more information, see Error conditions in Databricks.

Examples​

To create a FILE reference from a path in a volume:

SQL
SELECT try_to_file('/Volumes/my_catalog/my_schema/my_volume/report.pdf');

If the path doesn't exist or is inaccessible, try_to_file returns NULL:

SQL
SELECT try_to_file('/Volumes/my_catalog/my_schema/my_volume/ghost.csv');
Text
NULL
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