Overwrite selected columns and retain content in other columns

Hello All,

I have 13 columns and I need to overwrite only the first 10 columns. The data from columns K-M should remain the same. I tried doing the following things but nothing worked:

1. While saving the sheet I specified the column range. (A-J)

2. In the output tool I specified " data.xlsx|||Overwrite$A:J " by this way, and also used the 'Overwrite Sheet/ Range' option.

Please let me know what can be done.

Please find attached the screenshots.

Thank you!!

Saving Sheet.JPG

Overwrite.JPG

Output Tool.JPG

Developer

Output

Accepted answers

All comments

alexnajm

I would put in some numbers - for example, A1 to J100000!

MadhuraBuchake

Thanks for your reply.

Yes, I tried with numbers as well but got the below error:

"Specified range is not large enough for incoming data fields"

alexnajm

Can you double check the amount of columns coming out of Alteryx then and going into your output? Columns A through J is 10 columns but if you have 11 or more going into the output, this will not work. Screenshots to prove this would be great as well.

MadhuraBuchake

Oh yes, I do have more than 10 columns. Last 3 columns are manual entries and those shouldn't get updated. I am assuming Alteryx can overwrite selected columns, and not the entire sheet.

Please find the attached screenshot.

ExcelData.JPG

alexnajm

Yes I understand - however this screenshot reflects the Excel. Can you provide a screenshot of the date in Alteryx so we can confirm that you are passing through 10 columns into the final Output Data tool?

MadhuraBuchake

I am trying to include as many screenshots as possible. Hope it helps!!

Data1: Input1 (10 Columns)

Data2: Input2(selecting only last 3 columns)

using left outer join to combine all the inputs and final output should have 13 columns in total.

Expected: Last 3 columns should not refresh

Data1.JPG

FullError.JPG

Data2.JPG

Select.JPG

alexnajm

Notice in the Select tool you have 13 columns selected - this means that you would be trying to pass through 13 columns from Alteryx into 10 columns in the Excel. Go ahead and amek sure you have only 10 columns in your Select tool!

MadhuraBuchake

I do want the last 3 columns in the excel sheet. I want all the 13 columns in the final sheet and the goal is to overwrite only the first 10 columns and keep the last 3 columns as it is, because they are manual entries. So in the select tool I need to select the 13 (A-M) columns and keep the range as A-J to refresh/overwrite.

alexnajm

Exactly - you want to keep them there so you don’t want to overwrite them, meaning you have to tell Alteryx not to overwrite them which you are doing by saying only overwrite A-J. You are only overwriting A-J, but you are trying to force in 13 columns into 10. Use the Select tool to only keep the first 10 and remove the last 3. I promise it will work!

MadhuraBuchake

I deselected the last 3 columns. But now I have only first 10 columns in my output sheet

MadhuraBuchake

I deselected the last 3 columns in the Select tool. Now I have only 10 columns in the output file

alexnajm

It worked for me, and your original configuration looks correct from one of the initial screenshots. Can you send over the workflow? Go to Options > Export Workflow and send the .yxzp.

MadhuraBuchake

Thank you for your help! Please find attached workflow

Expected output:

Columns1-10 (from Test Consolidated Data) Columns 11-13 from Static Sheet

alexnajm

This seems to be the .yxmd - can you send over the .yxzp as mentioned above?

MadhuraBuchake

Sorry, my bad. Attaching the .yxzp file.

Overwrite_Selected_Columns.yxzp

alexnajm

Thank you for sending it - however your workflow worked perfectly fine on my end and produced the expected behavior! After I deselected the 3 columns at the end of the Select tool and added the number to the range, it kept the 3 columns at the end as is. I re-saved it and attached it here just in case there is anything subtly different...

Overwrite_Selected_Columns.yxzp

MadhuraBuchake

Thank you very much for trying, I really appreciate it!! However when I opened your workflow in Alteryx last 3 columns were selected in the Select tool (not sure what's wrong), and I am still getting the same error.

In the browse tool I am getting only 10 columns (

Notworking.JPG

alexnajm

That’s correct - the browse tool being after the select means it will only display the 10 columns selected. If you want to see the data before the select tool, you can put a browse earlier in the workflow.

The Output function should be doing what is needed though - the Browse doesn’t reflect the sheet, just the data going into the sheet which is just those 10 columns.

MadhuraBuchake

My TestOutput1.xlsx is having only 10 columns after deselecting the last 3 columns in Select tool and executing the workflow. I checked all the settings in the workflow and they look good to me. I am not sure what's going wrong

alexnajm

Did your original TestOutput1.xlsx have 13 columns before execution? If so, then I am not sure I can help any further as the expected behavior is working on my end. I would check the release notes for your version of Alteryx to see if there is some sort of known bug, and consider upgrading to a more recent version of Alteryx if that's the case.

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