Output to Excel without Over-Writing or Appending

Hello, I'm using Alteryx to generate a mapping file in Excel which will be updated every time I re-run my workflow. I only see options to drop (delete) the Excel Table or Append it however I only want to append new records. What's the simplest way to do this with the least manual intervention in my workflow? Thanks.

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Accepted answers

patrick_digan

@mattlukoff It worked fine on my end! Here is what I would do:

1) Download the workflow and macro from my previous post to a folder on your computer.

2) Open the workflow (not the macro) and make 3 changes:

1) Change the Input tool to be whatever your data set is.

2) Click on the macro, and use the file browse area to change that to your mapping file (it needs to be an xlsx).

3) The list box should show you all the fields from #1 (your input data). You would select the fields that you want to join on in the mapping file. For your example, it was the field "fruit". I think you can use more than 1 field, but I haven't tested that.

Once you click run, you should get a results window like this:

It read in 5 fields from my example data, and it wrote 2 of the 5 to the mapping file. Note that this example data and mapping are the files you posted if you wanted to try it on your side.

All comments

Kanderson

One simple way would be to read from your target file and perform a join to your existing workflow. The records that do not meet a join criteria (would be presented in the left our right outputs of the join tool) would be your new records. You could then use the append option and achieve the desired result.

mattlukoff

Thanks, but then it's a matter of manually updating the target file with
the new records each time right?

SeanAdams

@Joe_Mako is exactly right - if you just want to append new rows at the bottom then this will work perfectly. If you also need to deal with updates (or deletions) then you have to rewrite the full set.

If you still need more guidance - feel free to mock this up like a weekly challenge (see https://community.alteryx.com/t5/Weekly-Challenge/Weekly-Challenge-Index-amp-Welcome/td-p/48275) and include some sample excel sheets and your desired outcome, and we can work together as a community to get you to a solution.

Cheers
Sean

Joe_Mako

If you only want to Append new records, and not update existing records, there is an option called "Append To Existing Sheet" with using the Microsoft Excel (*.xlsx) file format.

Is this not an option for you, or is it not behaving as expected?

mattlukoff

@Joe_Mako,

Thanks but it's not working as expected because the Append is adding ALL records, not just the new ones.

mattlukoff

Hi @ Joe_Mako,

It's not working as expected because Append is adding all records to my mapping file, not just the new ones.

Joe_Mako

One option is you can perform a Join just prior to output with your existing file, that way it outputs just the new records.

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