Output of Summarize Tool Appears to be Random, Not Sorted Properly

[mkeiffer]

Hi everyone,

It appears the output of my Summarize Tool, when I use the Group By option is not working correctly. My understanding is when you use the Summarize Tool with the Group By option, the output should be in ascending order based on the field you select to Summarize and Group By.

For example, if my source date for Customer Number is as follows:

03

01

05

05

02

02

The output of the Summarize Tool with the Group By option should be:

01

02

03

05

Does anyone know how I can fix this issue?  Should I uninstall Alteryx completely and reinstall it?  

Thanks in advance for your help!

Mike

[caltang]

First, check out your data type and see if it is a string. If it is a string, then you'll get a sort similar to that. 

In order to sort it, you will need to create another field using the Formula Tool that is using ToNumber() that OrderID you made, and use a Sort Tool to sort that new field, then use a Select Tool to remove it before the final output. 

Other than that, I believe the Summarize Tool is doing exactly what it was built to do based on your parameters mentioned.

Hope this helps,

Cal

[mkeiffer]

@caltang The first field I was grouping by was a date field type.  I am attending one of the training sessions at the Inspiration Conference here in Las Vegas, and my output with the Summarization tool was the random output I described.  Everyone else was getting the output in ascending order, including the instructor, and we were all using the same data sets and the same tools.  Yet, my output was the only one that was this random output so it does look like there is some sort of bug with my output. 

[caltang]

Perhaps you could export your workflow here and let us have a look? You may be right on your Alteryx having an issue, but it will be useful to see what you've done thus far.

Hope it helps,

Cal

[mkeiffer]

@caltang and to everyone else, here is a copy of my workflow that I am having the issues with.

I would love to see what the output of the Summarize tool is in the first container.  

Thanks for your help!

[caltang]

Hi @mkeiffer 

Kindly export like this: https://community.alteryx.com/t5/Alteryx-Designer-Desktop-Knowledge-Base/Export-Workflows-with-Attac... 

Otherwise I cannot use your workflow as there are no input assets. Thanks!

[mkeiffer]

@CA  Here is the packaged workflow.  So sorry about that!

[caltang]

Hi @mkeiffer 

I can't really see where your use case was in the workflow. But with regards to your question on Summarize Tool and sorting, please refer here:

https://community.alteryx.com/t5/Alteryx-Designer-Desktop-Discussions/Keep-the-order-for-the-row-aft....

and this:

https://community.alteryx.com/t5/Alteryx-Designer-Desktop-Knowledge-Base/Sorting-Processes-in-Altery...

I believe your Summarize Tool is fine and is doing what it is supposed to do. Perhaps you can retrace your steps and tell us what you aim to achieve?

Thanks,

Cal

[mkeiffer · Accepted solution]

@caltang I was finally able to determine why the order was changing with the Summarize tool and that is because of the new AMP engine.  

If the new AMP engine is used to run the Workflow, the order of the output of Summarize with the Group By option will be completely random.  If the AMP engine is turned off, or if you have the AMP engine turned on, but select the option "Engine Compatibility Mode", the order will be in ascending order, based on the values in the field you are using with the Summarize tool.

This explains the tools that are affected when the AMP engine is used, but the Engine Compatibility Mode is not enabled. 

Engine Compatibility Mode | Alteryx Help

Thanks again so much for your help!

[caltang]

Glad you solved it!