Building a workflow where input file gets more columns each month

Question

I'd like to build a workflow to process an input file that has more columns every month, and have a formula that calculates the YTD average for the columns. I'm not sure if this can even be done, so am looking for ideas.  There's no option to have a separate input file for each month and then merging them in Alteryx before processing.

For example, in February there will 5 columns, and I need to create 2 new columns in the workflow to calculate the YTD averages for the first 2 months of the year. Then in March, there will be 2 more columns and the YTD will be for the first 3 months. And so on.

January January FebruaryFebruaryMarchMarchYTD AverageYTD AverageProductUnitsRevenueUnitsRevenueUnitsRevenueUnitsRevenueA        B        C        D        E

BS_THE_ANALYST · Answer

@Mwoolley this can most certainly be achieved. Alteryx can bring multiple files and process them at the same time in a variety of ways. The most common case is to use a batch macro. We tend to use this when the schemas aren't exactly the same for each file. If you're schemas are the same, you can bring multiple files in by simply using a wildcard. It will look in the folder and bring in the files the files that match the criteria you supply.

Your case could be more complex, of course. For example, how do you identify that you're working with the January file? Is the date on the document title or is it inside the document itself. If it's in the document title, you could extract this using a directory tool and some text parsing. If it's inside the document, we'd use a batch macro to bring it in most likely. We also have to imagine you've got multiple Januarys in one folder; unless you're folder structure is yearly.

FYI, Alteryx deals perfectly with growing numbers of columns etc. It's really depedent on the user's knowledge. Alteryx thrives on being dynamic.