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Alteryx Designer Desktop Discussions

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SOLVED

Append File Name ONLY (not table name) in Excel Output?

cbridges
11 - Bolide

I have a workflow where I'm outputting to 4 separate worksheets in the same Excel workbook, and I want to append the file with the current date when I run it.

 

Problem is, the output tool to do that doesn't seem to give me the ability to specify that I want to append the name of the file, not the name of the table (worksheet).

 

Is there a way to tell Alteryx to append the file name instead of the table name?

 

Change File / Table Name didn't work, and neither did Change Entire File Path as there is no longer a way to specify the sheet name if I'm trying to specify the name of the file.

 

 

@thizviz
20 REPLIES 20
cbridges
11 - Bolide

I'll give that a go... thanks!

@thizviz
cbridges
11 - Bolide

It's clear to me that this can work, although I'm still very inept at macros, so I can't get it to stop re-writing the worksheet for each record in the data set.

 

I'll get there, I'm sure.

 

Thanks!

@thizviz
michael_treadwell
ACE Emeritus
ACE Emeritus

The batch macro will loop for each record coming in to the control parameter input.

 

Use a Summarize or Unique ahead of the Control Parameter input to make sure there is only one record containing the file name.

cbridges
11 - Bolide

I haven't been able to figure out how to put anything ahead of the control parameter. It's got no input...

@thizviz
cbridges
11 - Bolide

OK, bingo. When I use summarize before my macro tool, so that the updated file name is the only thing there, it's working.

 

Thanks @michael_treadwell!

@thizviz
PCAM
7 - Meteor

I know this has been marked solved, but after much knashing of teeth, we got this process to work with just the formula tool and the output file path replacement. We finally figured out that the formula tool was truncating the file path name. Once we changed the length of the file path field from 64 to 260 characters, we were no longer getting the error "Must have a valid sheet name."

 

Hope this helps anyone looking for a resolution to this problem in the future.

Mika_IONE
7 - Meteor

Hi,

If the previous solution didn't solve it for you it can be done trough the table, layout and render tool.

 

Put each of your streams trough a table and then a layout tool (make sure one only one table go into each layout). In the layout tool select "vertical with section breaks". Far down in the layout node options you can set a "section name". Label it (or pick an available variable in your stream).

 

Union the layouts and add date to each row.

 

Render excel file and group into separate reports ->select the date as field to group on.

 

 

kind regards

Mika

 

 

 

 

 

lepome
Alteryx Alumni (Retired)

See also how to do it with Reporting tools or with a macro.

Lisa LePome
Principal Support Engineer -- Knowledge Management Coach
Alteryx, Inc.
swoodling
7 - Meteor

Would someone be able to provide an example of the Output tool in the Batch Macro? I am having the same issue as above.

GP2
6 - Meteoroid

Hi Michael,

 

I need to add the date to my output filename too instead of the tab on excel. I'm not too familiar with batch macros. Do you have an example workflow I could look at?

 

Thanks

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