XLS Dynamic Input

clarrock

Hi Team

I have a file that is in xls format.. And whose table name or sheet name changes everyday

How do I use the dynamic input tool to input the file from a directory

I seem to get errors when doing so.

Please do send a simple workflow with a template you used - it would be really helpful

Thank you

Workflow

Help

Accepted answers

PhilippK

Hello @clarrock ,

I build a dynamic XLS macro for you (see attached).

After the import, you need to customize some paths for your machine:

1.) change directory:

2.) open the macro and change the Run Command path:

Here you can read the details about its configuration (section 1C):

https://community.alteryx.com/t5/Alteryx-Designer-Knowledge-Base/How-To-Input-Excel-Files-That-Have-Encoding-Issues/ta-p/550181

3.) Run container "Step 1". After the successful run, your XLS is converted to a XLSX.

4.) Adjust the paths in Container "Step 2":

5.) Run the whole workflow.

The workflow assumes you have only one XLS stored in a folder. In case you have multiple files and you want to take the latest file only - this is a good article:

https://community.alteryx.com/t5/Alteryx-Designer-Knowledge-Base/How-to-dynamically-run-the-most-recent-file-in-a-file-folder/ta-p/24204

Please let me know whether this helps you.

Best regards

Phil

ChangeFileType.yxzp

All comments

Emil_Kos

Hi @clarrock ,

The solution that will take the newest file from a particular folder will work for you?

If yes please check this link for a sample workflow:

https://community.alteryx.com/t5/Alteryx-Designer-Knowledge-Base/How-to-dynamically-run-the-most-recent-file-in-a-file-folder/ta-p/24204

Qiu

@clarrock
I think this should work for you.

Spoiler

1013-porpergrey.yxzp

clarrock

@Qiu I think your taking a xlsx file from the directory tool not an xls file..as I get this error

mceleavey

Hi @clarrock ,

I've written a couple of useful macros for this.

I've attached the example workflow and the tools. The first macro dynamically reads in the sheet names from all .xlsx files (you'll need to change the extension references to .xls but the functionality is the same). These can then be attached to the fullpath field and fed into the second macro to load them in.

You can apply filters to remove the ones you don't want, and you can sort by creation date descending and sampling the first 1 to take the latest (grouping by name if you want the latest one for each filename etc.)

Anyway, I hope this helps.

Dynamic Multi File Sheet Names.yxmc

Import Multiple Schema xlsx.yxmc

Multi Sheet Import Example.yxmd

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