Output to an Excel template (file name and cell location)

[Sam7]

Hello

I have read the variation of articles on this subject, (this is probably the closest of what I need to do https://community.alteryx.com/t5/Alteryx-Designer-Knowledge-Base/How-do-I-output-to-an-Excel-templat...). I have a template in Excel which is branded, I want my data output to go into cell A15 (there are unknown amount of rows, but I know the columns BL15).

I want the same template to be used for multiple outputs, so is it possible to name the file too?

Thanks

Sam

[BrianR]

Hi @Sam7, perhaps you can use the option listed at the bottom of the Output data window - Take File/Table name from field. Somewhere in your workflow you can generate the name, and then you can use the option to change the table name, or even use the fully qualified name including directory - here's a good article on this topic - 

https://community.alteryx.com/t5/Alteryx-Designer-Knowledge-Base/How-to-Dynamically-rename-output-fi...

[32bit · Accepted solution]

Hi Sam,

I use the blob tool to create copies of templates to different file names and locations before outputting to them. This makes sure the template never gets corrupted or changes and takes care of the file name.

As far as putting out to a specific cell, Alteryx has never handled this to my satisfaction. You can see here that there is an acknowledged bug when trying to do this. What I like to do is output Alteryx data to its own tab and then use formulas/pivots on the formatted tabs. It's not a ideal setup, but quicker and better than other solutions I've found. I don't suggest using the reporting tools for Excel because page widths and cell sizes can truncate data if Alteryx calculates there is too much text to fit in a cell.

Alteryx shows outputting to Tableau or other reporting software in their advertising and there is a reason for this.

[benakesh]

Hi @Sam7 ,

Step 1 : Copy template using run command  or  check attached wf  for  blob tools example. 

Step 2: Check this  link to write to specific cell  in excel :  https://community.alteryx.com/t5/Alteryx-Designer-Discussions/Writing-to-a-specific-cell-in-Excel/td...  . The name includes sheet name and range  ex:  C:\Users\name\Documents\test.xlsx|||'Sheet1$B2:B3

[Sam7]

Thanks everyone for replying.

It is annoying that I can't do exactly what I need, but will see if I can work around with the blob tool (which I did not know about, so thanks!).

S7