Ignoring Missing Data Connection for Union Tool

[umairmesiya1]

Hi All!

I am building a workflow that takes 3 different types of excel sheets and does a union on their data. I want to make it so that if any of the sheets is missing, it should still run. 

Currently, if any one of the input files is missing, my workflow outputs and error, and doesn't union the other two files.

Is there a way around this?

Thanks!

[ivoller]

Hi,

See this post and the solution from @MarqueeCrew. https://community.alteryx.com/t5/Data-Preparation-Blending/Join-occasionally-has-no-input-how-to-pro...

Iain

[umairmesiya1]

Thanks for the link!

However, this works if i have a file that has zero rows. In my case, sometimes the Input tool doesn't have a file at all and causes my Union tool to fail, stopping the rest of the workflow.

[ivoller]

Perhaps a macro that uses Directory Tool input to check for the existence of files prior to passing to a Dynamic Input tool is the way to go.

[kcgreen]

I'm stuck on the same problem.   I've attached a sample workflow in case anybody has an easy trick to solve it.

[dkchandana3]

I am encountering a similar problem. Were you able to fix in your case?

[kcgreen]

@dkchandana3:  Nope.  I have to delete a connection or two on the days when an input file isn't available.  

[AdamR_AYX · Accepted solution]

I think the attached is the trick you need

The dynamic input will not error if it receives no data.

[maxwarburg]

Hi, 

I have a workflow identical to this but instead its three connectors pulling from the JIRA API.  For pagination I need multiple connectors but if the number of tickets decreases and one of the connectors cant pull any tickets, I hit this same problem with the union too but without being able to resort to checking directories or any of the other solutions above.  Any ideas?

[martinoreb]

Hi Adam,

In your example, it appears that you do have data running through the dynamic input..  How do you get the union tool to work with no data (no file)?

Rebekah Martino