Join , Union or Both - Need to combine 3 Data Files

[lennoxl]

Hi Community. I hope someone can help me figure out what I need to do for my first workflow...I'm stuck.

I am new to Alteryx Designer tool and need guidance on my first project. I have 3 separate files (source of my main data) in my workflow, of which 2 are identical in field names and structure. There are many fields included in file #2 & #3, which are not included in the file #1 one, but I am deselecting these fields via the Sort tool.

File #1contains the same fields I am keeping in other 2 files and it also contains fields which I am excluding via the Select Tool. 

File #1: Q4 & Q1 forecast (downloaded from separate data source)

File #2: Q2 forecast (received from internal department) 

File #3 :Q3 forecast (received from internal department) 

File #4:  Comm Rates approved by Customer/Product Combination

File #5: Exceptions for Comm Rate for 3 Customer/Product Combination

Goal: I need to combine files #1 - #3 into one data set, Perform a v look-up like function to apply a "comm" rate by customer/product combination using file #4. Apply the exception rule for the "comm" rate to 3 customers on approved products (file #5). Create a report mimicking a pivot to compare current foremast for each quarter to prior forecast.

I started by joining  file #1 

[cmcclellan · Accepted solution]

I would use a UNION on File 1,2 & 3

Then JOIN to File 4 (you might need to UNION left & join outputs to keep all the records)

Then JOIN to File 5 (you might need to UNION left & join outputs to keep all the records)

Then do the rest of your processing.

[lennoxl]

Thanks for the help. It worked like a charm. 👍