Categories:

File functions (AI Functions)

TRY_TO_FILE

A version of TO_FILE that returns NULL instead of raising an error.

Syntax

Use one of the following:

TRY_TO_FILE( <stage_name>, <relative_path> )

TRY_TO_FILE( <file_url> )

TRY_TO_FILE( <metadata> )

Arguments

Specify the file by providing:

  • Both stage_name and relative_path
  • file_url
  • metadata

Only one of these methods can be used at a time.

stage_name

The name of the stage where the file is located, as a string, in the form '@stage_name'.

relative_path

The path to the file on the stage specified by stage_name as a string.

file_url

A valid stage or scoped file URL as a string.

metadata

An OBJECT containing the required FILE attributes. A FILE must have CONTENT_TYPE, SIZE, ETAG, and LAST_MODIFIED fields. It must also specify the file’s location in one of the following ways:

  • Both STAGE and RELATIVE_PATH
  • STAGE_FILE_URL
  • SCOPED_FILE_URL

Returns

A FILE, or NULL.

Usage notes

Returns NULL when:

  • The supplied URL is not validL.
  • The file is on a stage that the user lacks privileges to access.
  • The supplied metadata doesn’t contain the required FILE fields.

Examples

Unlike TO_FILE, which raises an error on invalid arguments, TRY_TO_FILE returns NULL in this situation. It otherwise works exactly like TO_FILE.

The example below illustrates the behavior of TRY_TO_FILE when given an invalid file path, assuming that the file image.png exists on the stage but the other two files do not.

SELECT
    TRY_TO_FILE('@mystage/image.png'),
    TRY_TO_FILE('@mystage/incorrect_file1.jpg'),
    TRY_TO_FILE('@mystage', 'incorrect_file2.png');

Result:

+-----------------------------------------------------+---------------------------------------------+------------------------------------------------+
| TRY_TO_FILE('@MYSTAGE/IMAGE.PNG')                   | TRY_TO_FILE('@MYSTAGE/INCORRECT_FILE1.JPG') | TRY_TO_FILE('@MYSTAGE', 'INCORRECT_FILE2.PNG') |
%-----------------------------------------------------%---------------------------------------------%------------------------------------------------%
| {                                                   | NULL                                        | NULL                                           |
|   "CONTENT_TYPE": "image/png",                      |                                             |                                                |
|   "ETAG": "2859efde6e26491810f619668280a2ce",       |                                             |                                                |
|   "LAST_MODIFIED": "Thu, 18 Sep 2025 09:02:00 GMT", |                                             |                                                |
|   "RELATIVE_PATH": "image.png",                     |                                             |                                                |
|   "SIZE": 23698,                                    |                                             |                                                |
|   "STAGE": "@MYDB.MYSCHEMA.MYSTAGE"                 |                                             |                                                |
| }                                                   |                                             |                                                |
+-----------------------------------------------------+---------------------------------------------+------------------------------------------------+

For more examples of creating FILE objects from valid inputs, see TO_FILE examples.