Formula Function to Evaluate String as Expression

jasondika

In Microsoft Access, using the combination of the "Eval" and "BuildCriteria" functions, I can take three fields--[A], [Operator], [B]--build a string with these fields, and evaluate that string as being true or false.  Is there a similar way to do this in Alteryx?  For instance, can I somehow use the Alteryx Formula tool to concatenate the fields into a string ([A] + [Operator] + [B]), then evaluate that string as a boolean expression (true/false)?

[A] and [B] may be text strings or numbers, so I would build a preceding step to add quotes around any strings.  [Operator] may be '=', '!=', '<', '>', 'Like', 'Not Like', etc.  Examples:

IF [A] < [B] THEN 'Y' ELSE 'N' END IF

IF CONTAINS(["A"],["B"]) THEN 'Y' ELSE 'N' END IF

jdunkerley79

Sorry think Dynamic formula might not help this time - its more for a single expression for all rows.

If you just have an operator and two data fields you could try a switch statement to handle the universe of operators you need to cover:

SWITCH(Operator, NULL(),
   '=',[Data1] = [Data2],
   '<',[Data1] < [Data2],
   '<=',[Data1] <= [Data2],
   '>',[Data1] > [Data2],
   '>=',[Data1] >= [Data2],   
   'contains',Contains(ToString([Data1]), ToString([Data2]))
)

Attached a sample - happy to help build out further

EVAL Swtich.yxmd