Is there a way to create a linked xml file list - similar to SQL?

Question

Hi,

I'm not sure if this is possible - but it would be cool if it is, which is why I'm posting this! :)

In a SQL database, we are able to have an XML field type which, when queried, creates a clickable link that produces a readable xml file.

Is there any way to do something similar using Alteryx, or would we need to create files for each of these XML outputs?

JohnJPS · Accepted Answer

Hello!

Just restating to clarify: while in SQL Server Mgmt Studio (SSMS), when sending results of a query to a grid right within SSMS, clicking an XML field type in that output will display the field as syntax-highlighted, pretty-printed XML right there in the main window of SSMS... I assume your question is how to achieve similar functionality in Alteryx: you pull the XML field and see it in the Results panel, and would like to easily view the XML for a given field with one click?

If so, unfortunately I think the best you can do is to double-click on any row (in the Results Panel output), which will open the "Cell Viewer" that shows the detail for that row.  That's pretty handy, but the downside is it will not pretty-print XML the way SSMS does, so for XML of even modest complexity the view is not as useful as that in SSMS.

When faced with a similar challenge, I used the XML Parse tool to convert the output into a .yxdb and then continued to use Alteryx against that in order to further analyze the data.  While inconvenient, it now works for XML of that particular format and the .yxdb is much easier to actually analyze.

Hope that helps!