Database Output on a formatted Excel Sheet to write New Daily Files

[jmathew94]

Hello,

I have seen several posts around formatting sheets to an output which is then creating a new workbook within that format for daily reporting purposes. I am unsure whether these methods are the most effective approach.

Currently within my workflow there are two containers:

- 1st Container: Input from database to a template file overwriting a specific range to keep the formatting. 

- 2nd Container: Using Blob Input as the template file, a formula tool to timestamp the file and a blob output tool to change the file path.

This process I believe works but is there a simpler way of doing this within one workflow to where a new file is being written preserving the formatting so that the historical data is gathered to the final output location. I would like all daily files to be stored in the final output location.

Example of what I would want in the shared drive location:

Report 05-02-2023

Report 05-03-2023

Report 05-04- 2023

[Yoshiro_Fujimori]

Hi @jmathew94 ,

As an Alteryx user, I want to keep a distance from Excel things as long as possible.

But if I were forced to provide output data in Excel format, I would do it separately from data transformation process.

So the post below may not be what you expect, but here is an alteryative approach.

In your case, I would create two separate workflows.

1st WF is to input from database, add a filename for each row, and output to a .yxdb file.

2nd WF is to format it into a table (from scrach on Alteryx using Table tool) and output to .xlsx file with Render tool.

In most of the cases, I would be able to "mimic" the required Excel template with Table tool.

If not, I would negotiate with the user to use my format (which should be easier to maintain, and probably more concise😉).

[Raj]

There are a few ways to streamline this process within a single workflow:

1. Use the Directory Tool to dynamically generate the file name with the current date.

2. Use the Input Data Tool to read the template file into your workflow.

3. Use the Dynamic Replace Tool to replace the relevant data within the template file.

4. Use the Output Data Tool to write the modified file to the output location with the dynamically generated file name.