Allow for a Directory and Dynamic Input to be exported more easily

[TheOC]

Hello!
Currently when you share a workflow that contains a Directory tool, it will instantly fail if you do not setup the directory tool to point at a similar folder structure. This is expected, but can make it painful to share workflows between multiple users, especially when a shared network drive and dynamic paths cannot be used. 

What I propose as an addition to Alteryx Designer would be the option to 'convert to yxdb' / 'cache and replace' any tools that are at the start of a workflow, similar to the cache and run workflow option:

What i expect this to do is to containerise the tools previously used, and create a new file within a temporary location, and replace the containerised tool connection with a new data input to that file:

Why this would be fantastic, is that it would allow me to now export the workflow, including the file that has been created:

and I could then share that with a colleague.

Kind Regards,

Owen

[cgoodman3]

I can see how this could be handy, but also at the same time how do you deal with this effectively by-passing any directory permissions and therefore allow sharing of sensitive data? 

[TheOC]

That's a good point @cgoodman3.
In my head the functionality exists already; as mentioned, I have previously shared workflows with directory/dynamic input tools by adding an output data tool to YXDB, then replacing the directory/dynamic input with the yxdb. Do you feel the suggested solution causes any additional permissions concerns than the pre-existing possible manual steps?

[cgoodman3]

My thinking is that by making it too easy for someone to share a workflow that way, they might not think about the consequences of sharing data that the recipient might not ordinarily have access to. So having a couple of steps to jump through helps provide the ‘thinking time’ of should I be sharing it.

[TheOC]

@cgoodman3 Great point, thanks for sharing your thoughts 😊

[SeanAdams]

@TheOC 

:-) I saw an idea recently where someone was thinking of something similar - allowing % file paths - like %OneDrive% so that this can be set by environment variables.

For this kind of situation where you need a path as a placeholder that gets over-written dynamically by every run (e.g. dynamic tool updates) - we would tell people to point it to a location that exists on every machine (e.g. c:\) and then clearly document that this is a placeholder.