Writing to a file using a file node
You can append data to a file, overwrite a file or delete a file.

When using the IoT-Gateway, please also observe the manual Controllers u-control.
- Open Node-RED.
- Add a file node from the storage category to the workspace.
- Double-click the file node to open the Edit file node dialogue.
- In the Filename text box, specify the file you want to write to (e. g. /home/admin/user).
ATTENTION

Writing to the flash memory of the device degrades the memory. Do not write to the flash memory too often.

External storage devices are accessible at the file path /run/media/sdxn/, where x is the device letter and n is the device specific partition number (e. g. /run/media/sda1 for the first USB flash drive). If there is only one partition, n is missing.
- In the Action drop-down list, select the writing operation. Choose from:
- append to file: The payload of the received message is appended to the end of the file (useful for logging).
- overwrite file: The data in the file is overwritten with the payload of the received message (useful for binary data e. g. images)
- delete file: The file is deleted whenever the node receives a message
- If you want to add a newline character after each message, enable the check box Add newline (\n) to each payload?.
- If you want to write to a directory that does not yet exist, enable the check box Create directory if it doesn't exist?.

The /home/admin/user directory on the flash memory does not yet exist in the delivery state of the device.
- Click Done to apply your changes.
- Connect the input of the file node to the node whose messages trigger the writing operation.