Alteryx Designer Desktop Ideas

In the 20 years of my career I have built many automations using many tools. Alteryx is one of the best but lacks a key function that many others have. The File Browse Tool and the Folder Browse tool should be able to be configured with default values.

There should be an option under the File Specification that says "Default Location". When the user clicks browse button in the Analytical Interface it should default to opening that location ( eg.. \\ShareDrive\Reports\Finance\ ). If this location in inaccessible by the user or Account running the job then either an error should be thrown and the flow stopped or a default location open as in 2024.2

Users have requested this as when you have a large network browsing to the file you need can be slow and cumbersome. Ideally we should be able set the default location in the Designer to the folder where the file they want "most likely" is. Saving the user time and effort. This same concept applies to Folder Browse.

The funny part about this is when you ask Alteryx Co-Pilot  (or ChatGPT, or Microsoft Co-Pilot) how to do this. Even it figures this was a option that exists.  

Given that the current Iterative type Macro will hold each iteration output in memory, to merge it all at the end of the iterations, wouldn't it make sense to have a checkbox for "Large Data Sets" where each iteration's output is stored to a tmp file, to be merged after the iterations stop?

As it is, holding multiple iterations in memory may often be too much data for a PC, no matter how hefty.  By off-loading the memory objects to a tmp file and only holding the currently working iteration in memory, speed and efficiency would be gained.

This is especially critical when using Iterative Macros to cycle through APIs (pagination) and while each individual data pull may be small enough, they quickly grow in memory as each data pull is added to the in-memory object.

In CrossTab tool, it have Total Row and Total Column as option. 
For Total Row, it work all the sum, count, and avg etc.
but for "Total Column", it only sum (even i not select the sum)

To solved this I suggest to add Total Column for Count, Avg and etc.

version 2024.2

Is there a way to update workflow constants in analytic apps using an interface tool?

Whenever we upload a workflow in the Gallery, we have to manually unselect, one by one, all the workflow assets in order to avoid them being packaged, because we use absolute UNC paths everywhere: if an asset is packaged, there might be errors due to relative paths

It would save time to have the option to either "Select all" or "Unselect all" in the interface shown in the attachment (Capture.png)

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)

Hi,

I was wondering if would be great to have something like TEST RUN. Where it would check all settings of the tools. 

Example -  I have workflows that pull a lot of data, do some calculation and at the end they post to Tableau. It happens from time to time that my Table Token has expired so after running for like 3 hours I am getting error for the Tableau Tool. Or similar situation with output to excel to discovered that I have choose to Create not overwrite the sheet and have to re-run the workflow. 

It would save me a lot of time when I could just do a Test Run for all the tools to make sure that everything is set correct and I am good to run the workflow and start pulling down all the data. 

Not sure if this is possible but I am pretty sure that I am not the only one with this issue :)

Hello,

As of now, you can't choose the DCM connections to synchronize. It's either all or none.

However, I have one designer and two servers (Sandbox/Production). Most connections must be common, but not all.

Best regards,

Simon

I have to switch to using alternate software anytime I need to input a file where the spatial projection is not recognized by the input tool for a spatial object field.

I would really like to see an option added to the input tool that allows custom designation of a spatial projection. Allowing manually choosing the projection and being able to open a ".prj" (or something similar) for Alteryx to use when ingesting the data.

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.

As many Alteryx Designer users are already aware, there is an option to connect a tool to multiple tools at once by right clicking on it and selecting View Possible Connections.

I would like to suggest an enhancement for this feature, which I think will make it even easier to connect multiple tools.

Scenario 1

Suppose you drag & dropped many Append tools to existing connections as you realized you needed to add an extra information to your data. For example, a year input from a Text Input tool that is modified by the interface tool. If there were 30 Append tools, you would have to select all those available "ID - Append Fields S" checkboxes one by one.

Scenario 2

You added multiple Input Data tools to canvas but don't want to select them individually to connect them to a single Union tool.

Idea

If there were a group checkbox for each tool category on each side (Output Connections and Input Connections), creating multiple connections would be as easy as clicking on the group checkbox on the Append Fields category on the Input Connections side (for Scenario 1) or clicking on the group checkbox for Input Data category on the Output Connections side (for Scenario 2).

Hello,

A very simple idea : 
as of today, there are dedicated connectors to Sharepoint, OneDrive and Azure Data Lake.
For all these connectors, the files we can read are limited, very limited : xlsx, csv, yxdb

The location of the storage is not relevant, we should be able to read any already supported file on these locations (like parquet or shp or whatever).

Best regards,

Simon

For the Output Tool it would be very beneficial to be able to pass a password in order to populate a password protected Excel spreadsheet. It appears there is a decent amount of interest based on the Community feedback pertaining to the subject.

Currently, the Alteryx Designer canvas can only be extended to the right and downward. This restriction makes organizing complex workflows more difficult, especially when trying to insert new logic upstream or manage spatial layout more naturally. It forces users to design in a constrained directional flow, limiting flexibility and sometimes resulting in awkwardly stretched workflows.

Proposed Solution:
Introduce an Infinite Canvas option that allows users to pan and place tools in any direction: left, right, up, or down. This would:

• Enable more natural workflow layout and organization
• Allow insertion of tools before existing logic without major rearrangement
• Improve visibility and navigation for large, complex workflows
• Mirror the functionality of modern visual tools like Figma, Miro, or Lucidchart

Bonus Suggestion:
Include a toggle or setting in Preferences to enable Infinite Canvas mode, so users can choose their preferred design behavior.    

Impact:
Improved usability, better layout control, reduced time spent reformatting workflows, and a more modern, flexible design experience for Alteryx users at all levels.

In 24.1 the email tool was adjusted such that any error in the workflow prevents the email tool from sending any emails. Previously, if AMP was enabled, the email tool could still send emails even if the workflow contained an error, but this is no longer the case. There are many cases where this is not ideal, one example being:

In larger workflows, I have multiple data streams which, after a point, operate independently. Even if one stream errors, I would like emails to be sent from the other streams. I have tried nesting the email tool within multiple layers of macros, but if any of the parent or child workflows/macros contain an error, the email tool will not send any emails. 

I would like a checkbox option in the email tool or workflow configuration that will still allow emails to be sent if the workflow errors. Then, with the use of control containers, I will have full control over email distribution with errors. 

Allow the user to select which type of Join is happening in the join tool. Allow the J anchor to output the join type within a radio option in the tool configuration. Right now the J anchor outputs matches in both inputs. New suggestion would allow the user to select a Right Outer or Left Outer join without having to use a Union tool after the Join.

dynamic select have field information like [field number] and etc.
i appreciate it available in dynamic rename. 

since both also manipulate with header.

Currently SharePoint Input Tool allows downloading a file from SharePoint to local machine, then we can process it locally, this is great since the tool can only handle 3 types of files and won't support the rest like Zip or anything else.
SharePoint Output tool, only support the same 3 files type, but will not allow uploading to SharePoint a local file, similar to the input tool but in reverse. Why is this important:

1- We can create local files that is in a format like KML, KMZ, ZIP etc., which we can't upload it to SharePoint after.

2- updating multiple sheets on the same file, updating locally then uploading the file to SharePoint will be a lot faster and more efficient. 

it is easier to overcome above challenges if we use Alteryx Designer and Sync the SharePoint, or map it to local drive or folder. but it is impossible to do it when using and scheduling it on Alteryx Server.

Please update the SharePoint Output tool to allow uploading any type of file(s). Thank you.

1. Image Processing Tool functionality should be available in Reporting tools.

2. Image Output Location should allow for a temp file location

3. Image Processing should allow lock of aspect ratio when Cropping (like Scale)

4. Image Processing should allow for fieldname selection for Crop, Scale ...etc to allow for custom calculations.  Being able to generate custom values for width and height based upon the values generated in from image profile would be useful