How to identify if field name used in the workflow?

[Nicholas_14]

Hi Team, 

I want to know if a field/ column name is being used in the workflow, when I say used, actually impacting the workflow with its use in join , formula, multi-row, filters, summarize, etc. 

Purpose: I have multiple workflows, so in the future, if there is an attribute name change, I want to find out how many workflows are getting impacted. What's the fastest way to identify it, instead of manually checking every workflow and all tools within the workflow to see if a field is being used? 

I know about the CTRL + F and searching for the field, and opening it via Notepad++ or VS Code. Is there any efficient way to do this?

Thanking in anticipation.

[jrlindem]

I'm not sure if this is any more "efficient" but if your workflows are all co-located you could use python (outside of Alteryx) to scrape the XML of all the .yxmd files, etc.

[Yoshiro_Fujimori · Accepted solution]

You can use Directory Tool and Dynamic Input to read yxmd files (or other yx?? files if necessary) and then search the XML with the field name.

[Ladarthure]

To add to what have already been said, you can also use the tool developped by alteryx and @jarrodthuener to parse the workflow xml and then check in the differenbt anchors if your field is being used.

https://marketplace.alteryx.com/en-US/apps/444941/workflow-xml-parser 

[dreldrel]

The other way you can use is field info. You can use this the check that you have all the required columns before the actual process and throw an error message if there is any column namesare missing

[Nicholas_14]

Thank you for the replies, folks! It's guys like you who make this platform more interactive and fun.