Issue with Directory and Dynamic Input Tool

[MAT_84]

Hi, I'm using the Directory tool and the Dynamic Input tool to load from one folder multiple files. All of them are the exact same report with the same schema, just run for 3 different years from our reporting tool. So, no changes happen and no manipulation of the files. Just exporting them in .xlsx and then copy/paste them in the folder I want to use. And yet, 2 of them load fine and the 3rd one isn't because for some unknown reason it's deemed as having a different schema, which simply isn't true. To give a bit of background, the reporting tool has a fixed schema with set fields, field types, etc. and you can run it for different years using a prompt/filter at the start. So, it's not about ad hoc reporting dragging and dropping different fields. It's simply running the report from the system. Any thoughts of what else should I do as all three files definitely have the same schema? Feels li

[binuacs · Accepted solution]

@MAT_84 Use batch macro

https://knowledge.alteryx.com/index/s/article/The-Ultimate-Input-Data-Flowchart-1583459854309

[Gaurav_Dhama_]

There can be various reasons for that, but check if by any chance, column headers contain leading or trailing spaces or is any of the column in missing.

However, to deal with this kind of scenarios, you can always build a batch macro that will read the files and output it based on the field names.

[MAT_84]

Thanks, although I new to Alteryx so moving on to macro may take a while. I'll have a go though.

[apathetichell]

@MAT_84  -- hey - I can't stress how much more useful a Batch Macro is than Dynamic Input for your automation. The most common cause for your situation is that there is a column which is in all of the files --- but in one file all of the values are null. Alteryx will recognize the null column as the smallest possible type to conserve memory (think byte or boolean) --- even though this column is always string or datetime or whatever whenever it exists --- Alteryx in dynamic input won't mode won't track state between reading in files and this will create the error message.