Don't load if file is already loaded

Question

I am in need of help. This may be more of a Server question but here goes...

I have a workflow that currently loads multiple files into different SQL tables. The workflow looks at the modified date from the directory and loads a day behind (i.e. for today 9/11 it loads 9/10).

The process is automated through Alteryx server to run daily but the files come at different times so it is difficult to set a standard run time. I know that I could set it to hourly but that's where my question lies.

How can I set it to where if the file is found at 8am for instance, it won't load it again at 9am when doing an hourly run.

Hope that makes sense :)

Please HELP!

Rags1982 · Answer

Hi @dngnc7 ,

You could pull the file info using the directory tool. then, append the date/time field to each record (another column in your output data).

A filter in your workflow is then used to state where server date does not equal file date. (Pull the latest server date using a max date group by sql query, should be fairly quick)

geraldo · Answer

@dngnc7

One way as long as possible is to change the file name or extension. If the alterys server user has permission to change the folder, use the run command tool and replenish all the files that were loaded during execution.