Map Input Tool and Macro Input tool

Question

Is there such a thing as a 'map input tool'. I've done a search and nothing seems to come up but I have heard of the term.  Can someone explain what where I would find it, what it does and how it interacts with other tools?  Also, I have seen the term 'macro input tool' in the help documentation, but it is still not clear to me what it is and when and where you would want to use it.  I would appreciate any support on answer these two questions.  Thank you in advance.

davidskaife · Accepted Answer

Hi @pderwa12

The Map Input Tool can be found under the In/Out tab on the ribbon bar:

It essentially allows you to manually draw on a map/select map objects etc that can then be stored in the workflow and used further downstream. It is another form of inputting data into the workflow.

A Macro Input Tool is used when you are creating a macro (standard, batch, iterative etc) and require data to flow into the macro from a source 'external' to the macro itself. Consider you have built a workflow that extracts data from a source, performs some standard checks/transformations, and then pushes it downstream. You turn this into a macro as you want to be able to re-use this section multiple times without needing to write the tools over and over again, so you turn it into a macro which can then be used in your main workflow.

In order for the macro to work effectively it needs to know that it will be receiving data from outside of the macro, hence the Macro Input Tool is used.

There is more info here on macros -> https://community.alteryx.com/t5/Interactive-Lessons/tkb-p/interactive-lessons/label-name/Macros if you haven't been through them already.

Hope this helps!

DataNath · Accepted Answer

The tool itself is just in the 'In/Out' tool palette.

You can use it to select points on a map and/or draw polygons, which Alteryx will then use to build spatial objects. From here, you can use these in any other way you would normally i.e. if you pinpointed where you lived and wanted to compare it against another point, you could start bringing in spatial tools and do so using that. Likewise for polygons and lines, you could start to check whether things intersect/are inside one another and such from custom shapes you draw in vs spatial data that you may bring in from a file. I've included a very simple example below of me placing a point on a map - from this, Alteryx has generated a centroid which I can then break down to get the coordinates or begin working with in the ways I have mentioned above.

In terms of macro input, these are used when building exactly that - macros. They represent the 'left anchor' or input, much like that of most tools and will take in the data that you feed to that and then run it through the tools within your macro.

In the case of map input specifically for macros/apps, you could provide this to users in order to run a workflow based on custom selections, if the location they are analysing and/or comparing to can differ.

DataNath · Accepted Answer

The two are independent of each other. If you had a file that already contained spatial information then you would just bring that in (as a spreadsheet/csv etc from there), whereas if you want to create a spatial point/polygon to then use downstream then you would use the map input.

Regarding the macro, most people build out a working flow first, using the text input as a sort of ‘dummy’ which they test to see if the tools within are working as expected, then change to a macro input when finalising. Macros are just a collection of tools or independent workflows, condensed into one tool (which is why the majority are for tasks that people perform often - they can just quickly drag in the macro instead of building the same flow each time), and so you’ll actually build the macro as usual as a workflow and just save it as a macro (.yxmc) when it comes to finishing. In the workflow where you want to use the macro, you can then insert it by right-clicking the canvas > insert > macros, or finding it in your tool palette if you have it there.

Hope this helps but feel free to keep asking if you’re struggling - they can be pretty overwhelming at first! The knowledge base has great resources for learning, though, and there’s a bunch of great videos on YouTube if you have a search too!