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Alteryx Designer Desktop Discussions

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SOLVED

Open up existing tools?

DataPrepChad
10 - Fireball

Hello all!  Do we have the ability to open up existing tools (like Download) so we can see what is going on underneath the hood?  We have some proxy issues and need to create our own method using Curl, but also want to leverage some of the existing functions in the Download tool.

 

Thank you!

 

@TashaA

5 REPLIES 5
TashaA
Alteryx Alumni (Retired)

Hey @DataPrepChad,

 

The code for the engine of many of our tools is compiled, such as the Download Tool, and you won't be able to view it. 

 

Might I suggest creating the request you want, maybe in Postman, exporting it to cURL code, and then using the Run Command tool to execute. You could even wrap that up into a macro for a "download tool" - esque macro. 

LordNeilLord
15 - Aurora

Hey @TashaA

 

Do you know of any good blogs on using cURL in the run command tool?

 

If seen this offered as a solution a few times but not any explanation on how to utilise the run command and cURL together

DataPrepChad
10 - Fireball

@TashaA, gotcha, and we were kind of going a similar route but wanted to see if we could reuse and update portions, specifically for auto proxy configs.  On to the Idea Center, thank you! 

DataPrepChad
10 - Fireball

@LordNeilLord, I'd start with the cURL documentation.  The Run Command isn't the easiest to get to know, but once you get the hang of it, it's super powerful.  To me, it makes the most sense to look at it very linearly, meaning you start from the top of the config screen and work your way down.  

 

  1. Write Source - Any incoming data stream will first write out whatever you have specified here.
  2. Command - The external command is then executed (like curl.exe).
  3. Arguments - If there are any custom arguments, such as -o, -L, etc.
  4. Read results - Finally, the tool will read in whatever you specify.

The above all happen in order.  Ideally, you're first writing out data in the write source, then executing some command against that data that does something crazy and magical that Alteryx somehow cannot do.  This process creates some additional data, that you then read back into the data stream.  

 

In some cases, I've seen folks call the .exe directly in the command then enter your arguments.  The only issue is this is very static.  If you need this to be dynamic, you can wrap the tool in a macro, or actually create a full on, old school batch (.bat) script that has all of your arguments embedded.  

 

Hope this helps,

 

~ Chad

dataprepu.com

jrobiso2
8 - Asteroid

I would still like to rip into tools such as Download to see how it does the "Encode URL" stuff, to better make a DECODE URL tool !!

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