Alteryx Designer Desktop Discussions

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Canvas Tool Alignment, Grid Unpredictable

kylecoleman
6 - Meteoroid

I've been designing the same workflow for two weeks, and after setting the grid size and using Snap Tools to Grid I've been intermittently struggling with tools automatically repositioning (sometimes far away) when inserting other tools. I opened the workflow this morning, and suddenly the grid acts like it has shifted, but it's weirder than that. Now when I click and drag any tool, it won't even go to the place it was when I opened the workflow. Obsessive as I am, every tool was aligned when I saved it yesterday. Single tools (existing or new) will snap to a certain nearby but misaligned grid, and multiple tools selected at once snap differently! This is really bothering me. Besides the fact that this morning it's completely changed (the file is on my local machine, and no other users have opened it), I don't understand why this is happening. I've changed the grid size, turned off and on Snap Tools to Grid. I have not been able to restore to the previous behavior. Even if I select all tools and move them to align to the "new" grid, inserting a tool snaps the new one somewhere different entirely and will not snap according to how everything else appears to be aligned. 

 

How can I fix this? If not, how can I play into the intended usage of these features to minimize seismic events?

 

Version: 2023.2.1.51

 

Original as SavedOriginal as SavedInserting a Select ToolInserting a Select ToolAttempting to Align Nearby ToolsAttempting to Align Nearby Tools

4 REPLIES 4
kylecoleman
6 - Meteoroid

When I duplicated the file (right clicked on the workflow name/tab that sits atop the canvas and chose "Duplicate") to continue building a messy workflow, my relative output data file paths changed to static full paths. Is this a bug? I don't consider that a duplicate if tool configurations are changed.

kylecoleman
6 - Meteoroid

Why can't I seem to disable Designer from suggesting and changing connections when I move a tool from location to location? I know it does this intelligently when you drag a tool on top of an existing connection. If I drag a tool near another one, it will change one or more connections nearby, sometimes connecting the output to the input of the same tool!

kylecoleman
6 - Meteoroid

It's actually easier to open my workflow in a text editor and align my tools by x and y coordinates using find and replace than it is in the native application.

kylecoleman
6 - Meteoroid

The arrow keys and Ctrl+arrow keys can position anything exactly as I want. HOWEVER, saving the file and opening again will CHANGE the position of SOME tools slightly. Even editing the x and y values in the XML doesn't guarantee they will not shift.

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