Question about Drop Down Tool/Action Tool to fill Column Values

Question

Hello,

I am attempting to use a combination of a Drop Down Tool and an Action Tool to fill numerical month values into a column called "Month1".

Starting with the Drop Down Tool, I have created a list of months in numerical value, 1 through 12, for the user to choose from.

On the Action Tool, I have selected Formula > FormulaFields > FormulaField > @expression - value="1" and "Replace a specific string" is set to 1. I have it set to this only because this is the first numerical month option.

I believe my problem lies with the Formula tool that all this feeds into. I currently have the output column set to [Month1] and simply a "1". I would expect this to change values as the user's input changes from the Drop Down Tool, but it doesn't.

I would like the user's selection from the Drop Down Tool to fill each row of the field [Month1]. I would expect it to look something like this.

However, when I run the workflow as an app, I get an error message saying there were no output files. If I selected, let's say 4, from the drop down, the values in field [Month1] remain 1. I would expect the column to be filled with 4's instead.

Where am I going wrong? Any help would be appreciated!

lp_hall · Answer

Hi again @JosephSerpis,

I have incorporated your workflow into mine and I believe it will work as intended but there are a few other pieces of the workflow I need to finish first before I can confirm it works. I will hold off on accepting your answer as the resolution for now but will definitely get back to you later. Thank you for your help thus far.

lp_hall · Answer

@JosephSerpis,

Thank you for your quick reply. I just updated my post to include a screenshot of what I have selected in the Action Tool. As mentioned before, I have selected Formula > FormulaFields > FormulaField > @expression - value="1" and "Replace a specific string" is set to 1.

I'm not sure I understand the benefit of the Numeric Up/Down Tool. Using the Drop Down Tool, I can limit the user's selection to only values between 1-12 just like I would be able to with the Numeric Up/Down Tool. The Drop Down Tool has a cleaner interface in my opinion.

JosephSerpis · Answer

Hi @lp_hall I think a numeric up and down would be a better choice of tool as you can limit the value users input to 1-12. I think the action tool needs to be looked as the option that is selected or highlighted controls what the action tool try to update. I mocked up an example of your workflow and attached to this post and my example was updating. Can you share your workflow with sample data?

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