Updating Fields in One Input from Another Input Based on Criteria

[JoeDen]

All  - As my question will show, I'm quite new to Alteryx. I"m trying to update a field in one data source 'PatientInfo' based on whether or not the information appears in another data source 'PatientInfoUpdates'.   Sample data follows: 

Patient Info

Name	ID	Gender
Adam	1	M
Bob	2	M
Carol	3	F

PatientInfoUpdates

Name	NewID	Gender
Adam	4	M
Carol	5	M
David	6	M

What I'm trying to do is change ID in PatientInfo to reflect the new values in PatientInfoUpdate (assume the Name matches are unique). I can see the differences by using the join tool on name and seeing the results, but can't figure out how to write the new values back to ID in PatientInfo. I'm working with the results of the join tool,  which returned 2 rows, one for Adam and one for Carol as expected. I've tried a formula like this:

which errors out.  I'd appreciate any ideas you all might have. 

Thanks in advance.

[DanS]

Hey Joe, 

You are on the right track just need to add the ELSE statement and choose column - ID for the Output Column (to update):

IF [ID] != [NewID] THEN [NewID] ELSE [ID] ENDIF

That should work for you.

Thanks,

Dan

[Kenda · Accepted solution]

Hey @JoeDen! As you stated, since you are joining on the name field, you are under the assumption that they will be the same in order to come out the J. 

To fix your error, if you want to update the ID field, do not put a new field name in the Formula configuration for Output Column. Instead, select your ID field. Then, in the expression, you will want to take out the "[ID]=" portion. The way the if statement works in Alteryx, after the 'then' and before the 'else' you just have to put the value you want the output column you chose to be equal to. See the example below for a better visual. Hope this helps!

[JoeDen]

Thanks DanS! I appreciate your time and quick response.

[JoeDen]

Thanks! I appreciate the visual! You and DanS were both lightning quick. Looking forward to the day I can contribute as well.