Create one variables to retrieve values from existing variables under certain conditions

rubylin0113

Hi, 

I am new to Alteryx. Right now I have one dataset with start date as an variable, I want to create one variable:

a) if it is later than January 2016, then assign value "January-2016"

b) if it is earler than January 2016, then let this variable equal to start_date.

How can i do this? 

thank you!

RyanNewsome

Hi Ruby,

Firstly, if you are new to Alteryx the best way to start out is by first reading about all the common tools highlighted in the easy to follow documentation on the Atleryx website. I found that 95% of the questions you will ask yourself as a new user can be answered by using this documentation.

Here are some that will help you achieve what you are after, that relate to using the Formula tool

https://help.alteryx.com/9.5/Formula.htm

https://help.alteryx.com/9.5/Reference/Functions.htm

Here is an example workflow to show you:

The Text Input tool at the start I created the following 2 values (1 value before 1st Jan 2016, and one after)

It then uses the following expression in the Formula tool to create a variable called "desiredvalue"

IF [startdate] > '2016-01-01' THEN 'January 2016'
ELSE TOSTRING([startdate])
ENDIF

startdate must be converted to a string using the TOSTRING() function otherwise there will be a data type mismatch error due to startdate being a DATE and 'January 2016' being a STRING.

This type of question probably belongs more in the "Data Preperation and Blending"  discussion section.

Hope this helps

ryan