Comparing 2 data sets

[Jo_siem_E]

Hello everyone,
I am still quite new to alteryx and have been quite satisfied with my progress so far. I am currently working on a workflow which should compare and combine two data sets, but unfortunately I have been almost frustratingly unsuccessful with it the last few days... The workflow I currently have attached is rubbish but the input represents the data I have to work with quite well. The data is collected once per quarter (with different changes) and compared to the previous quarter's results. In the example, the data from Q3 would actually also be regarded as destination data (the comparison for Q4 could change this again, however). If someone could give me a nudge in the right direction I would be very grateful!
Kind regards

[Wesley Mendonca]

Can you provide more context for your question? It would be nice to see some sample as output.

[Jo_siem_E]

Thank you for your question. To give some context: We receive hardware and software data (sometimes more or less complete) from PCs and servers. Based on the reprocessed data records, we generate reports (already working) that make recommendations for updates (also for software/hardware).


My objective would be for my output to be something like this. Start combined and compared with Q1:

Role	Name	Order_nr	serial_nr	Software_version	Hostname	IP1	IP2	MAC 1	MAC 2	id customer
Server-A	DELL PowerEdge T330	S-7589	DL556699		Serv-A	10.100.125.125	10.100.125.100	0xddffssaa1122		ServA-17b16
	OS win-xp	win-1001			Serv-A					ServA-17b16
	RAM 8GB	Attribut_RAM_8GB			Serv-A					ServA-17b16
	IMAGE	IM-1005		10.004.00	Serv-A					ServA-17b16
	Patch 17.005.10	swp_17.005.10			Serv-A					ServA-17b16
	Patch 17.005.11	swp_17.005.11			Serv-A					ServA-17b16
	Patch 17.005.12	swp_17.005.12			Serv-A					ServA-17b16
	Patch 17.005.13	swp_17.005.13			Serv-A					ServA-17b16
	Patch 17.005.15	swp_17.005.15			Serv-A					ServA-17b16
	Patch 17.005.16	swp_17.005.16			Serv-A					ServA-17b16
	Patch 17.005.17	swp_17.005.17			Serv-A					ServA-17b16
	Patch 17.005.18	swp_17.005.18			Serv-A					ServA-17b16
	Sec Patch S25.08.00 for R6 SP4	secp_S25.08.00			Serv-A					ServA-17b16
	User-Software	US-4007		06.04.07.23	Serv-A					ServA-17b16

c&c_Q1 combined and compared with Q2:

Role	Name	Order_nr	serial_nr	Software_version	Hostname	IP1	IP2	MAC 1	MAC 2	id customer
Server-A	DELL PowerEdge T330	S-7589	DL556699		Serv-A01	10.100.125.125	10.100.125.215	0xddffssaa1122	0xddffssaa1123	ServA-17b16
	OS win-7	win-1001			Serv-A01					ServA-17b16
	RAM 8GB	Attribut_RAM_8GB			Serv-A01					ServA-17b16
	IMAGE	IM-1005		11.002.01	Serv-A01					ServA-17b16
	User-Software	US-4007		07.01.03.03	Serv-A01					ServA-17b16
	Patch 18.005.10	swp_18.001.10			Serv-A01					ServA-17b16
	Patch 18.005.11	swp_18.001.11			Serv-A01					ServA-17b16
	Sec Patch S26.01.00 for R7 SP1	secp_S26.01.00			Serv-A01					ServA-17b16

c&c_Q2 combined and compared with Q3:

Role	Name	Order_nr	serial_nr	Software_version	Hostname	IP1	IP2	MAC 1	MAC 2	id customer
Server-A	DELL PowerEdge T350	S-7593	DL787899		Serv-A01	10.100.125.125	10.100.125.215	0xddffsfb121a7		ServA-17b17
	OS win-7	win-1001			Serv-A01					ServA-17b17
	RAM unknown	Attribut_RAM_unk			Serv-A01					ServA-17b17
	IMAGE	IM-1005		11.002.03	Serv-A01					ServA-17b17
	User-Software	US-4007		07.01.03.03	Serv-A01					ServA-17b17
	Patch 18.005.10	swp_18.001.10			Serv-A01					ServA-17b17
	Patch 18.005.11	swp_18.001.11			Serv-A01					ServA-17b17
	Patch 18.005.12	swp_18.001.12			Serv-A01					ServA-17b17
	Patch 18.005.13	swp_18.001.13			Serv-A01					ServA-17b17
	Patch 18.005.14	swp_18.001.14			Serv-A01					ServA-17b17
	Patch 18.005.15	swp_18.001.15			Serv-A01					ServA-17b17
	Sec Patch S26.01.00 for R7 SP1	secp_S26.01.00			Serv-A01					ServA-17b17

Hope that makes it a little easier to understand.

[A1exW]

Seems like the Join tool and Union tool would help. You will first need to determine the join keys for your datasets and configure the Join tool. After the Join tool, use a Union tool to combine the data from all three output anchors of the Join tool. 

[Jo_siem_E]

Yes, it does indeed seem to be the way to go. I'll get back to you when I've found the time to finish it.