Add List-Based Mode to Dynamic Select

[mcarrico]

A seemingly minor task that has popped up several times on my team is the ability to select a subset of columns using an input list.  Different people have achieved this in different ways (transpose/join/cross-tab, dynamic rename/select), but it seems like a common enough task to warrant a single-tool solution. 

R has a simple way to do this:

# create a vector of the columns we would like to select
columns <- c("column_b", "column_d")

# subset based on the column names we defined in our "columns" vector
df_subset <- df[columns]

We have built a macro to achieve this (attached), but I would love if there was a second input anchor on the Dynamic Select tool, with list-based select mode as an option in the dropdown.  

The macro currently has a minor annoyance, where the user gets a "RecordInfo::CreateRecord" error presented on their palette when they choose the "Keep Columns in List" entry.  This error goes away with a run or an F5 refresh, but if anyone has a suggestion for getting rid of this, it would also be appreciated.

Dynamic Column Select.yxzp

[jamurphy]

Hi - 

Thank you for sharing this macro; I too would benefit from being able to feed a list into the Dynamic Select tool.  I have a main output with 400+ fields, of which I only need 100-200 at a time.  It would be nice to have the ability to update an Excel file of what I want so that I can more easily re-run without having to manually go through a select tool and check/uncheck fields.

[jlefeaux]

a second input anchor on the Dynamic Select tool, with list-based select mode as an option in the dropdown.

Yes, please

[jlefeaux]

+1!

[Gayatree]

" a second input anchor on the Dynamic Select tool, with list-based select mode as an option in the dropdown." 

^ Yes, please. We'd very much like that.