Alteryx App or Gallery to save last run values

[terrence10]

Hello,

Is there a way to get Alteryx gallery to save the "last" run inputs after a simulation run?

e.g. I just my workflow with these 4 inputs successfully.

Next time I run the workflow - can these 4 inputs show up (instead of the default text value I have saved in the workflow)? 

Is there a way to save a workflow so the default input is "whatever ran last"?

Aside -- when running a workflow in the App - a user can save Analytic App Values to a file and load these values (*.yxwv) -- is there any way to load these app values when running a workflow from the gallery?

Thanks!

[KGT]

I'll address the second question first. The quick answer is "No, but you could work around it".

I don't know of any native way, and can't think how there would be one that I don't know about, to load a yxwv file in to a gallery interface. So, that brings it back to workflow design. You could have an option to either load yxwv file, or enter values. In practice, loading the yxwv file will be an input where you parse the data and then use the values, while the values entered would just be through the interface tools. It may take a little experimentation.

As for having the last entered values, that is not available, as the premise of running an app through gallery is that many people could be accessing at once, so, it would need to be that users last value, which makes it more nuanced, and tech as you would need to deal with the different auth methods etc to define a user, and then API calls or the situation where a system user kicks off the job running as a user profile etc. So, it's not as simple as just "the last run".

That being said, you could have the same setup, where a user loads their last values or enters new values. You could technically get these from the MongoDB, or via the gallery API, but an easier solution would be to build in an operation where you save the values each run. It's creating extra data, but it's not much.

A couple of things that would come in handy for this:

• Radio Buttons
  • Radio Buttons allow you to essentially have 2 interfaces (as one of their uses), and the user select between them. In the Interface Designer, you can nest options underneath the radio buttons and collapse group when de-selected.
• UserId
  • https://community.alteryx.com/t5/Alteryx-Designer-Desktop-Discussions/Get-username-Cloud-not-working...

[terrence10]

Thank you for the response, @KGT 

That does seem like a good idea - to write inputs to a file at end of workflow, and load these inputs as a step in the beginning of workflow. Will try to test out if there's a way to toggle between the two choices (e.g. file input or user type in input)

One question I haven't been able to figure out - I use these user inputs as workflow constants (user types in value, I reference in SQL query as '%Question.Company%'.)

If I go the file input route, how do I load in the workflow constants from a file? If I load in a txt file like below - how can I get Alteryx to load these into the workflow constants?

Or would loading in an excel file like this be easier for Alteryx to load into workflow constants?

 

[BS_THE_ANALYST]

Hi guys @terrence10. Love this problem, in fact, it's giving me some vibes of https://community.alteryx.com/t5/Engine-Works/Dynamic-Hard-Coding-Chained-App-Sorcery/ba-p/764585 where @mceleavey produced an amazing idea with @TheOC as the engineer behind it all 💁‍.

Can you check the GIF below to check if this is the sort of thing you're after?

 

Happy to talk through the build. Rough logic is:

1. Parse out entered value
2. Output this into a chained app which also reads in the parent workflow's XML into alteryx
3. Identify the default value in the XML. Replace this with the user's entered value in the initial app
4. Recompile the XML and overwrite the parent workflow's XML.

Will supply the workflow and some notes if this get's the job done.

[mceleavey]

Hire people smarter than you for the win. 

[terrence10]

Whoa cool! Yes, the steps that you illustrated in your GIF are what I'm looking for! Please share the workflow / notes @BS_THE_ANALYST if you are able to!

    From what it looks like - you're saving the user's input into a file, and then importing those values?

I'll also take a look at your linked blog post as well!

Thank you!

[BS_THE_ANALYST]

@terrence10, I'll get something across to you after I've finished work today. I think if I just send the workflows without an explanation, it could lead to some confusion.

[mceleavey]

@terrence10  get @BS_THE_ANALYST  to explain Project Asparagus. That should clear everything up.

M.

[terrence10]

Thanks @BS_THE_ANALYST ! Looking forward to your notes. Feel free to include whatever you want about Project Asparagus too.

[BS_THE_ANALYST]

@terrence10 apologies for the delayed response. Life got in the way! I'll get this straight across to you after work today.