Alteryx Designer Desktop Ideas

Currently Alteryx supports floating windows for some of the windows. But I would like to open multiple workflow at the same time. It is good for multiple display since I can view 2 workflows at once, 1 for main development and 1 just for testing a small part before putting in the main workflow.

Simple request to revert back to the functionality that generated an error at the onset of running the workflow.  

Using a wide-screen monitor and canvas, I typically initiate a workflow by clicking the RUN button.  But, in my canvas, I am usually working in the left or middle portion of the screen.  The Run button is to the far right and find myself moving to the right to click the button and then back to my workflow location. 

I'd like to be able to have this relocated or optionally functionality to move this button (maybe even creating a customized personnel quick access toolbar or button panel) to the left portion of the canvas window.  Sure, there is a key board shortcut, but if the button is provided, than it implies that it is a valid UI feature.  I've also seen and liked the ability to have this as a right-click menu enhancement. 

There are three places that provides the log information:

1) Regular results window:

Pro: In the process sequence so the user can understand the order of the process.

Con: Doesn't have info on how long each tool takes to process.

2) Workflow -> Runtime -> Enable Performance Profiling

Pro: Processes are sorted in the processing duration descending order which helps to identify the ones that took long to run.

Con: Doesn't show the process sequence.

3) Actual Alteryx log file:

Pro: There are timestamps for each process so the duration can be calculated.

Con: Not ready accessible and not user friendly to be seen from the interface. Not clickable to see more details in the workflow.

I think it will be SUPER HELPFUL to integrate all three together to show in the process order along with the running time.

I know we have the capability to copy a Tool, and paste it into a Connection. This step requires having to right click on the connection to select the option Paste In Connection. I don't know how many times I've tried to copy tool, click on connection, and do Ctrl + V to paste just remember that it does work that way. It sure would be nice if it did.

Hello,

Right now you can write a file into sharepoint. However, sometimes, you just want to upload a file. There is already the ability to download (for Sharepoint input). I would like the same for uploading a file (based on an path or workflow dependancies).

Best regards,

Simon

Currently the dynamic select tool let's you choose fields you want select or not, however it would be useful to have other features in the select tool i.e change data type/field size. This can be done via the multi field formula tool, but would be useful if it could be done via formulas/selection of a specific data type

Additional Dynamic Select Mode for All Native (Non-Macro) Tools with Select Functionality (with or without Data Type Selection)

This is the updated version of an idea I posted a while ago (which only included Multi-Field Formula), and after the release of Alteryx Designer 2025.1, which I found to be very successful from a new tool and functionality perspective, I decided to post about it.

My proposition is to add the Dynamic Select functionality* (at least the Select via a Formula mode) to all native (non-macro) tools in all tool categories that include a Select functionality (as an alternative, where the user would be OK with not being able to also change the field types of the selected fields, such as Join and Append tools, the opposite would apply to Multi-Field Formula, where the user would be able to dynamically select which fields the Multi-Field Formula would be applied to, in addition to changing the data type), including but not limited to (to account for any new tool with a Select functionality that might be added in the future):

Preparation Category

- Auto Field

- Data Cleanse Pro (added in 2025.1)

- Multi-Field Formula

- Multi-Row Formula (for Group By option)

- Rank (for Group By option)

- Record ID (for Group By option)

- Sample (for Group By option)

- Tile (for Group By option)

- Unique

Join Category

- Append Fields

- Find Replace

- Join

- Join Multiple

Transform Category

- Arrange

- Cross Tab

- Make Columns (for Grouping Fields (Optional) option)

- Running Total (for both Group By (Optional) and Create Running Total options)

- Transpose (for both Key Columns and Data Columns options, the tool would generate an error if the Dynamic Select formula written for both options are selecting the same field(s), as the Transpose tool is not supposed to allow it)

- Weighted Average (for Grouping Fields (Optional) option)

In-Database Category

- Select In-DB

Reporting Category

- Layout (for Group By and Per Column Configuration options)

- Table (for Group By and Per Column Configuration options)

Machine Learning Category

- Transformation (for Select Features mode only, as the other two modes with Select functionality (Clean Up Missing Values and One Hot Encoding) require Method and Missing Category Action specification)

Developer Category

- Download (for And values from these fields option present in Headers and Payload tabs)

- Dynamic Rename (for the Select functionality present in Formula mode)

Spatial Category

- Find Nearest

- Spatial Info

- Spatial Match

Data Investigation Category

- Pearson Correlation

Skipping Address and Demographic Analysis categories as they have tools that seem to be using a static input, therefore not requiring a Dynamic Select functionality.

Laboratory Category

- JSON Build (for Grouping Fields (Optional) option)

- Transpose In-DB (with a similar logic to the regular Transpose tool found in Transform category)

*The Dynamic Select functionality added tools that have more than one input anchor (such as Join and Join Multiple) could have new additional fields the users can utilize, such as:

- [Origin] (can have the values "L" or "R" for Join and Append tools)

- [Connection_ID] (can have the values 1, 2, 3 etc. for Join Multiple tool)

- [Unknown] (can have the values "True" or "False" for the Data Columns option of the Transpose tool, or any other tools such as Join that would have the Dynamic or Unknown Columns option as a part of their Select functionality)

In the regex tool, there is a checkbox called "copy unmatched text to output".

Unfortunately, if you are using regex from within the formula tool, this is not an option. It would be helpful if this could be added as an optional parameter in the regex formula i.e: 

REGEX_Replace(String, pattern, replace, icase=1, unmatched=1)

Without this, regex outputs can sometimes be confusing, as string characters not specified by the pattern (unmatched) appear in the output. This confusion would be alleviated with the optional parameter.

At a minimum one checkbox added to the Summarize tool, which would trigger the output to be automatically sorted in the order in which the fields were aggregated.

On a more elaborate level, it could allow the user to select a different sort order than that in which the fields were aggregated.

for iterative macro, generally it had 2 anchors, one if it is for iterative, and it normally no output (whether got error or not)

it good to have option to remove this anchor when using it in workflow. 

so other user no need to identify which one is the True output and which one is just iteration.

additional, if this can apply to input anchor.
(i just built one macro where i don't need the start input, but the input need to be iterate input)

I would love to see an option to run only one container without having to disable all others (and tools not in containers).

I've got workflows with MANY different queries/tools each in their own containers and some tools outside of containers.  Occasionally I need to run or re-run just one of the containers (usually several times when the datastream contains Crosstab or Transpose tools where some fields/options will not populate until the workflow has previously run).  Normally I'd either have to disable all other containers and/or select EVERYTHING that I do not wish to run an add them all to another container that I could then disable.  An option to disable everything outside of a specific container would be most welcome and save a lot of time!

Whenever I output the Count using the Summarize Tool I am unable to tell it to sort the results by Count and am forced to grab a sort tool.  It would be nice to offer a sort option from within the Summarize tool itself instead of requiring a subsequent sort tool or to use the Results window to manually sort it.

Hi is it possible to add sheet names (to spreedsheet files) to the output of a file directory tool

when you bring in a comment box or tool container to your canvas it should come in with your preferred defaults for  fill colors, font color & size, etc.  I have specific color schemes to identify what my comments are for and one scheme that I use most often has font size, position & color, and background color that I have to set every time i bring in a new comment box.

 I LOVE working in Alteryx it because unlike excel you set a "macro" to perform repeating operations once and then ignore them to do your real work.  This concept should extend to the little things within Alteryx, i.e. settings for preferred defaults for comment boxes & tool containers. 

Please update the Render tool to allow users to name the Excel sheet for the output. Alteryx currently errors when using same naming convention that works in normal Output tool.

After using the PCA can there be a model object to output to be able to "score" new data?

Similar to PCA transform here https://stackoverflow.com/questions/26182329/how-do-i-convert-new-data-into-the-pca-components-of-my...

As currently there is no way to use this model with new data

Hi currently if you use the cross tab tool and the names of the new fields should have special characters they end up being replaced in the new headers with underscores "_", and then need to be updated in someway. It would be great if this was all done in the tool. In other words the new headers have the special characters as desired

When working in the Designer, I sometimes have to undo changes. And this experience is quite often very confusing and annoying.

For every change in the workflow, you have to press undo once. However, quite often, one user interaction results in other actions such as automatic move of the donwstream tool, change of size of a tool container etc. In such cases, you have inserted a single tool but need to press undo a couple of times to get back to the original situation. It is, however, often not clear how often. In most cases, I fail using undo at the end and revert my changes by hand.

Please change undo towards undoing one user-action in one undo step.

In case there might be users who like the current behaviour, you might make this a user setting how to deal with the undo history.