How can I take field types from another table?

[marco_zara]

Hi,

I'm trying to automate the feature selection process in our machine learning process, dynamically filtering out all variables that have only 1 value and the string ones that have over 32.

I managed to do most of the job using a few basic data profile tools, followed by some filters to exclude unwanted columns and a cross-tab to get it back to columnar format.

My problem now is that this way I loose the original field type and I need to find a way to reassign it before I do an union to actually select the final columns. Is there any way to do it in Alteryx?

Workflow attached.

Thanks in advance!

[JoeS · Accepted solution]

Hi @marco_zara 

There is a macro within the CReW macros that does exactly what you are after.

They can be found here: http://www.chaosreignswithin.com/p/macros.html

However looking into CReW_DynamicMetadata I noticed there was a bug/

So please find attached one that should work. Along with it's sub-macro (CReW_DynamicMetadata.yxmcbatch) and your workflow (all be it I had to change your input data tool)

@MarqueeCrew  - The bug is with formula 17 in the macro. It was:

iif(isnull([Scale]), tostring([Scale]), tostring([Size]) + "." + tostring([Scale]))

but should be:

iif(isnull([Scale]), tostring([Size]), tostring([Size]) + "." + tostring([Scale]))

[JoshuaGostick]

Hi marco_zara,

One option is that you can save the field configuration of your input as a .yxft file and then load that in a Select tool to replace the new field types to the original field types.

Save the field configuration in the select tool like below.

This will prompt you to save a .yxft file. Then, simply select Load Field Names & Types to update the Select tool.

The only problem with this is that it is not a dynamic process so let me know if you except the field names and types to change frequently.

Josh

[marco_zara]

Thank you very much, this should solve the issue pretty effectively!