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SOLVED

Connect to CSV file on from web URL?

BigDataGeek
8 - Asteroid

I have a dynamic report that gets downloaded in CSV format by clicking a static URL link. 

 

How can I connect this as a data source?  

 

 

UPDATE:

 

Able to connect to the data using Text Input > Download workflow, but it's not reading the data right.  Seems to be taking all data and putting in one record.

 

Its a CSV file.  Its throwing all the data in a column called 'DownloadData'.   There are no headers in my data, just data.

13 REPLIES 13
KaneG
Alteryx Alumni (Retired)

You can either select to save it as a CSV on the 'Basic' tab of the download tool and then use a dynamic Input tool to bring it in, or you can just use the Text to Columns tool twice to parse the data. (Once with \n to split to rows, then split to columns on the comma.)

BigDataGeek
8 - Asteroid

Having problems getting either of these solutions to work, probably because I'm new to Alteryx.  Will keep trying though.

KaneG
Alteryx Alumni (Retired)

Take a look at the attached for an example of what I mean

BigDataGeek
8 - Asteroid

I'm still on 10.6 unable to open. 

KaneG
Alteryx Alumni (Retired)

Try this one then

BigDataGeek
8 - Asteroid

That works , thank you. 

 

Didn't know you really mean \n in the delimiter.  Also had to modify the download basic tab to "output' a string, which then developed the DownloadData column needed to convert text to column. 

 

Do you always need to know the number of columns or can you overestimate?

 

texttocolumn.png

KaneG
Alteryx Alumni (Retired)

You can overestimate, there are a few ways of dynamically removing Null Fields. Simplest is just to transpose, remove Nulls & Crosstab back. Attached is my version of that idea, that is a little more forgiving on large data.

BigDataGeek
8 - Asteroid

wow that looks intimidating.  I'll dig into that once I get the rest of the data sorted the way I need.  Thanks again!

Joe_Mako
12 - Quasar

Another option instead of manually parsing a CSV file, is to use the Download too to download to a temp file, and Dynamic Input to read in that temp file. as in the attached workflow.

 

large.png

 

Also, here is another macro from removing null rows and/or columns: https://community.alteryx.com/t5/Data-Preparation-Blending/Macro-to-Delete-Null-Rows-and-or-Columns/...

 

In that post is an example workflow that uses this macro. 

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