Issue with Alteryx Output Tool's "Preserve Formatting on Overwrite" Functionality

Question

Hi,

I have not encountered this issue before, but after changing the font in my template from Calibri to Arial, the "Preserve Formatting on Overwrite" functionality of the Alteryx Output tool is not working as expected.

My workflow utilizes a template where number formatting and other relevant settings have been predefined. Despite specifying the exact range for writing results in the output path, Alteryx partially overwrites the formatting in the template, causing the number format to change to General in multiple instances. This behavior is particularly strange because in some columns, the number formatting remains as it should be, while in others, it is overwritten.

Reverting the font in the template back from Arial to Calibri did not resolve the issue either. Do you have any insights into what might be causing this problem?

hwilander · Answer

Hello, I have found at least a temporary workaround for the issue. I changed the font of the first row of the report to a random font and then applied “Format Cells” → Font: Calibri Body, selecting the normal text option. I copied this formatting to the rows below by dragging it down and repeated the process on the other sheets, after which the issue was resolved. However, when my colleague made minor adjustments to the report’s descriptions and texts without altering the column data, the problem came back, and reapplying the same font trick resolved it once again. It appears that this workaround is effective, but I would be interested to hear if anyone has a reasonable explanation for the cause of this issue. Is it possible that Excel automatically changes formatting without user’s permission - for example, to save memory - or is the problem caused by Alteryx’s output function? I had not encountered any such issues until I changed the entire report's font to Arial for the first time.

apathetichell · Answer

Template.png shows G6 - not F6. what's the Alteryx value going in there? Is it a number? Output_Settings are correct. Filepath should be filelocation\filename.xlsx|||sheetname$range - with ` - yes ` if sheetname has special characters - but I'm 95% sure that isn't related to your issue. My hunches would be:

1) F6 has already changed.

2) Your Alteryx value is a string so Alteryx doesn't know how to handle putting a string into a numeric field in excel and some validation is off.

hwilander · Answer

Hi,

Thank you for your response. I have attached screenshots illustrating the issue. For data privacy reasons, I have hidden the top rows of the template and output, and only the final part of the output path is visible. I hope these provide enough context to help diagnose the problem.

I appreciate your support in resolving this, and thanks in advance for your help!

Output_Settings.png

Filepath_configuration.png

Template.png

Output.png