Alteryx Designer Desktop Ideas

As you may know, the interrogation of Hive to get the Metadata is actually very slow on Alteryx

 

A first step of improvement (at least in the Visual Query Builder) has been proposed here

Smartest VQB

 

But the real issue for Hive is that the way Alteryx queries the Metadata : it passes "Show table" queries for all the databases. On our cluster, it means more than 400 queries that last each avout 0.5 seconds. The user has to to wait about 4 minutes.

A solution : using an API in java to ask the Hive metastore if it exists (it may be an other tab in the In database configuration). Our cluster admin has an example of a Thrift API in java that we can give you.

Result : 2 seconds for a 38700 tables in more than 500 databases !!

I know there's the download but have a look at that topic, the easiest solution so far is to use an external API with import.io.

 

I'm coming from the excel world where you input a url in Powerquery, it scans the page, identify the tables in it, ask you which one you want to retrieve and get it for you. This takes a copy and paste and 2 clics.

Wouldn't it be gfreat to have something similar in Altery?

 

Now if it also supported authentication you'd be my heroes 😉

 

http://community.alteryx.com/t5/Data-Sources/Extract-a-table-from-Wikipedia/m-p/14531/highlight/fals...

 

Thanks

 

Tibo

 Add native support of Python, C#, and Java

I have two use cases here:

1) A single tool that I want to connect to several tools (e.g. an input connecting to a number of selects)

2) Several tools that I want to connect to a single tool (e.g. several inputs connecting to a single union tool)

The current interface requires that I establish these connections by connecting the tools individually. It would be great to have the ability to have a right-click option. Simplistically, it might work something like this...

1) Select the tools that you want connected to a single tool (e.g. all the selects); Right-click; Get connection from Tool...{drop down list}

2) Select the tools that you want to get their connection from a single tool (e.g. all the inputs); Right-click; Connect to Tool...{drop down list}

Can the inputs to app interface tools update other interface tools within the same app?  Right now, I believe the only way to do this is with chained-apps, but I don't wish to go that route again.

 

Just one example:

 

Can a Dropdown interface tool update a listbox interface tool with an action?  

Right now, I have two interface tools in an app:

1. Dropdown
2. Listbox.  

 

For the Listbox tool , it references an external source file for the NAME:VALUE pairs, let's call this file:  Category1.yxdb.

 

I would like for the resulting dropdown selection to update this external source file to say, Category1.yxdb or Category2.yxdb or Category3.yxdb, etc.

The different .yxdb files here have different name:value pairs within them.

 

It doesn't seem like this possible at the moment, but please let me know if this is something that's currently supported within Alteryx.

 

Thanks,

Collin

Hello!

Currently when using the formula tool, you can create a string using the two following methods:

With speech marks, or an apostrophe being used respectively.

 

I would expect both of these methods to behave the exact same way, however what is interesting is that if you type within the apostrophes anything that would prompt a formula, this is still prompted:

This is not the case within the speech marks:

This can cause mistakes with autocompletion when typing within the field. I propose a small QoL change that the formula tool will recognise a string is being written when within two apostrophes. I believe the logic is already built for that, given that it behaves in every other way the same, and highlights green too. 

 

 

Cheers,
TheOC

Data Cleansing Tool:   There should be a sub-category on the "Punctuation" cleansing.  Ideally to have an option to "Include Only" or conversely "Exclude these characters" which would allow you for example to remove all characters except   "." from a dollar formatted field .  There are times when you need to clean almost everything except a certain punctuation or not. 

Please consider adding a new setting to the Render Tool, so the users can select or deselect if an existing File should be overwritten (Otherwise throw an error, like the Output Data Tool does, when configured to create a new Sheet and that Sheet already exists)

 

 

 

Trying to solve some use cases, I realized that I had to simulate the factorial behaviour.

Having a factorial formula can make this process easier.

Thanks!

Hello,

 

It would be very helpful to have a search box for field names in the summary tool, I think it would help decrease errors by selecting fields by mistake with similar names and will help gain a couple of seconds while looking around for a specific field, particularly with datasets with a lots of them.

 

Like this:

 

Would be nice if Alteryx had the ability to run a Teradata stored procedure and/or macro with a the ability to accept input parameters.  Appears this ability exists for MS SQL Server.  Seems odd that I can issue a SQL statement to the database via a pre or post processing command on an input or output, but can't call a stored procedure or execute a macro.  Only way we can seem to call a stored procedure is by creating a Teradata BTEQ script and using the Run Command tool to execute that script.  Works, but a bit messy and doesn't quite fit the no-coding them of Alteryx.

Hi,

 

It would be great if users have the option to display the number of records that go in and out of the different tools in your canvas. This allows users to very quickly see how many records are in their datasets, and especially quickly analyze the results of specific actions such as joins, filters etc. without the need to open each individual tool. Especially when performing joins this can be very useful to quickly see how many of your rows have been successfully joined. I think this will give users a feeling that they have more control over their data and a better understanding of what is happening in Alteryx. Also if you quickly want to review a complex workflow (especially when it is not your own) this could be a huge timesaver. Simply run the workflow and follow the numbers to see what is happening and identify tools that might cause issues.

 

Love to hear what you think!

 

 

 

 

Currently - in workflows which make active use of dynamic queries - if the record set is empty then we end up with errors such as "a record was created with no fields".   This creates issues  when a dynamic query pumps rows out to a macro output, or where dynamic queries go into a join.

 

Could we change the result of the dynamic query so that if it returns an empty record set it still has columns but no rows and therefore doesn't cause errors in workflows?

 

Let me know if we need to provide a worked example?

 

Thank you

Sean

Most of the finance industry is using HFM or Essbase finance solutions which is flexible in keeping the data and generating reports. Alteryx should create a direct connection with Hyperion or Essbase so that it's easier to connect with the data in those systems and it can directly feed other system reports.

Using the Snowflake Input and Output Connectors when Snowflake is setup to use Single Sign On generates a lot of browser windows as the connectors authenticate multiple times (opening a browser window each time) which is very disruptive and disctracting for users.  Any time the workflow interacts with the tools and it authenticates and the browser is opened.

This is driven by the Snowflake ODBC driver using the externalbrowser authentication method however it would be helpful if Snowflake and Alteryx worked together to refine how the connectors authenticate in order to reduce the number, or completely stop the browser windows and therefore greatly improving the user experience.

Currently the BROWSE tool shows numeric data in raw format.  It would be easier to evaluate a column of data if the data was right justified and formatted with the decimal point aligned.  

 

Thiwould change this

 

234.56788

12.0

.098

 

to 

 

    234.567

      12.000

          .098

 

 

Can we please have a tickbox (ideally one that remembers your preference to be ticked or unticked) on the Save to Gallery pop up that would allow us to save a (timestamped?) copy of that workflow on a local drive (perhaps one that is preset in the user settings)?