Select a file for input based upon a date selected from the Date tool

Question

Hi,

I am very new to Alteryx (about one week old). I have a situation where I need your help with. Let's say I have the following files in a folder.

c:\Audit\User_Access\Testing

Active_Directory_Prod_04_01_2025

Active_Directory_Prod_05_01_2025

Active_Directory_Prod_06_01_2025

Active_Directory_Backoffice_04_01_2025

Active_Directory_Backoffice_05_01_2025

Active_Directory_Backoffice_06_01_2025

Payroll_04_01_2025

Payroll_05_01_2025

Payroll_06_01_2025

How can a user select a date (in this case 2025-06-01) from a Date tool with the Action tool to pick all the above files with 06-01-2025 in the file name? Basically I want to input all files with 06-01-2025 into Alteryx for further preparation and manipulation. I would highly appreciate it if you would help and guide me. Perhaps there are other ways to tackle this instead of using the Date tool and Action tool?

I am also thinking moving/copying the files with 06-01-2025 to another folder (e.g. C:\Audit\User_Access\Testing_Ready) and renaming them with 06-01-2025 removed. For example, Active_Directory_Prod_06-01-2025 will be renamed as Active_Directory_Prod. I can then input them into Alteryx from the new folder (Testing_Ready). I like to execute this process in a workflow.

Thanks for your help.

binu_acs · Answer

@audiolui The date tool always returns the date in the format YYYY-MM-DD. If your file name's date format is random, then you should use the text tool instead of the date tool. Additionally, to bring the selected files into Alteryx, you need to use the Dynamic Input Tool or Batch Macro. Here is the post for creating batch macro

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

audiolui · Answer

Hi binuacs,

I see you used Contains to find files that contain the date (2025-06-16).  But what if the user chooses different date like 05_01_2025?  I want to pick files that contain 06-01-025 and bring them into Alteryx using the Input Data tool.

binu_acs · Answer

@audiolui one way of doing this

Date_17062025.yxwz