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Be sure to review our Idea Submission Guidelines for more information!
Submission GuidelinesWe have discussed on several occasions and in different forums, about the importance of having or providing Alteryx with order of execution control, conditional executions, design patterns and even orchestration.
I presented this idea some time ago, but someone asked me if it was posted, and since it was not, I’m putting it here so you can give some feedback on it.
The basic concept behind this idea is to allow us (users) to have:
This approach involves some functionalities that are already within the product (like exploiting Filtering logic, loading & saving, caching, blocking among others), exposed within a Tool Container with enhanced attributes, like this example:
The approach is to extend Tool Container’s attributes.
This proposition uses actual functionalities we already have in Designer.
So, basically, the Tool Container gets ‘superpowers’, with the addition of some capabilities like: Accepting input data, saving the contents within the container (to create a design pattern, or very commonly used sequence of tools chained together), output data, run the contents of the tools included in the container, etc.), plus a configuration screen like:
This should end a brief introduction to the idea, but taking it a little further, it will allow even to have something like an Orchestration layout, where the users can drag and drop containers or patterns and orchestrate them in a solution, like we can do with the Visual Layout Tool or the Interactive Chart tool:
I'm looking forward to hear what you think.
Best
This has probably been mentioned before, but in case it hasn't....
Right now, if the dynamic input tool skips a file (which it often does!) it just appears as a warning and continues processing. Whilst this is still useful to continue processing, could it be built as an option in the tool to select a 'error if files are skipped'?
Right now it is either easy to miss this is happening, or in production / on server you may want this process to be stopped.
Thanks,
Andy
I surprisingly couldn't find this anywhere else as I know it's been discussed in person on many occasions.
Basically the Formula tool needs to be smarter in many ways, but this particular post focuses on the Data Type component.
The formula tool, should not always default to V_String as the data type when entering data or a formula into the formula tool, it should look at the data type and estimate the most likely option.
I know there are times where the logical type might not be consistent in all fields, but the Data Preview and the Function of the formula should be used to determine the most likely option.
E.G. If I type a number or a date directly into the formula tool, then Alteryx should be smart enough to change the data type from the standard V_String to Int, Double or date.
This is an extension to the ideas posted here:
I often need to create a record ID that automatically increments but grouped by a specific field. I currently do it using the Multi-Row Formula tool doing [Field-1:ID]+1 because there is no group by option in the Record ID tool.
Also, sometimes I need to start at 0 but the Multi-Row Formula tool doesn't allow this so I have to use a Formula tool right after to subtract 1.
So adding a group by option to the Record ID tool would allow the user not to use the multi-row formula to do this and to start at any value wanted.
Love the new updates to the Browse tool in 2019.2! However, if you choose the option Open results in new window, which I do often so I can see my whole dataset, the search/filter/sort functionality goes away. Would be great if that new functionality also worked in the new window. Thanks!
Can't wait for the new base maps!
In-app screens, lot of space is wasted because components/tools can just be stacked one below the other.
It would great if we could also insert them horizontally.
Thanks !
Arno
Tags : screen, app, macro, layout, tools, UI
Please add ablity to globally, within a module, forget all missing fields.
Hi
Wanted to control the order of execution of objects in Alteryx WF but right now we have ONLY block until done which is not right choice for so many cases
Can we have a container (say Sequence Container) and put piece of logic in each container and have control by connecting each container?
Hope this way we can control the execution order
It may be something looks like below
This is a pretty quick suggestion:
I think that there are a lot of formulas that would be easier to write and maintain if a SQL-style BETWEEN operator was available.
Essentially, you could turn this:
ToNumber([Postal Code]) > 1000 AND ToNumber([Postal Code]) < 2500
Into this:
ToNumber([Postal Code]) BETWEEN 1000 AND 2500
That way, if you later had to modify the ToNumber([Postal Code]), you only have to maintain it once. Its both aesthetically pleasing and more maintainable!
I've seen this question before and have run into it myself. I'd like to see a new tool that would allow a developer (of a workflow) to choose a path of logic based upon criteria known only during the execution of a module.
If LEFT INPUT Count of records < 10,000 THEN Path1 (e.g. use a calgary join)
ELSE Path 2 (e.g. use a standard join)
endif
Thanks,
Mark
Right now we can create Tableau extract files (.tde), but cannot read them into Alteryx -- this limits the partnership of these two companies.
Please add the functionality to import .tde files,
Best,
Jeremy
I'd like to see Alteryx allow a second install of your license on a second, personal machine. Tableau allows this and IMO is why there is such a robust online / blog community around that product.
For those of us that work at mid-size to large organizations, there are often strict rules governing internal data and use of cloud-based data sources. If I discover some new trick I'd like the share with my fellow Alteryx analysts outside of my company, I have no clear way to do that the same way I can with Tableau where I can do it at home not using my company's data.
Being able to learn new features and test things out on commonly available public data (ever notice that Superstore data set everyone who gets Tableau has?) would accelerate what we're able to do with the community site here and the larger analytics blogging community.
in our organization people are moving away from network drives to BOX for file repository and they needs to use to connect to BOX using Alteryx as an Input and Output platform where they should be able to access files to read and write.
Currently few of the users are able to use the BOX as a repository using BOX Sync tool (Map BOX as a network drive) but that is not at all useful when they try to save into a gallery and run or schedule on the gallery. A connector for BOX will be of great help.
Ever tried to copy a field rename from one select tool to another, or from one summarize tool from another.
Have you noticed that it doesn't work?
I think it should. 🙂
i.e., if you click on the rename box ("Total") and enter ctrl-c, when you enter ctrl-v in the other tool, it pastes this:
Field2 Sum Total
not just the name "Total"
Instead of just the renamed field "Category", the select tool pastes this:
True Field1 String 1 Category
I constantly find my using pre and post SQL Commands in the Output tool to run SQL when I don't actually have any data to output.
One example is when I load data into S3 and want to load it into Redshift. I have SQL code to run but no data to Output - I end up running a dummy row into a temp table.
So can we have an SQL tool that simply acts the same as a Pre-SQL command without the associated data output. Once the command is run we should be able to continue the workflow, so the tool should have an option input and output, like the Run Command tool.
I think I'm liking the new UI, but I think it's necessary to bring back save, undo and re-do buttons....
1. Frequent saving of workflows is crucial and not everyone uses keyboard shortcuts
2. The ability to undo (lots) of changes is a key part of iterating and rapidly building workflows in Alteryx and again not everyone uses keyboard shortcuts to do this.
Looks like there's potentially space to add this to the right of 'help' (I suspect this might be technically quiet difficult) or to the left of 'run', 'schedule' and 'active documents' as seen in the image below.
Out of interest, where has the 'documents' terminology come from?
The "Manage Data Connections" tool is fantastic to save credentials alongside the connection without having to worry when you save the workflow that you've embedded a password.
Imagine if - there were a similar utility to handle credentials/environment variables.
Example Entry Tableau:
Alias | Tableau Prod |
Description | Tableau Production Server |
UserID | JPhillips |
Password | ********* |
+ |
Then when configuring a tool you could put in something like [Tableau Prod].[Password] and it would read in the value.
Or maybe for Sharepoint:
Alias | TeamSP |
Description | Team sharepoint location |
UserID | JPhillips |
Password | ********* |
URL | http://sharepoint.com/myteam |
+ |
Or perhaps for a team file location:
Alias | TeamFiles |
Description | Root directory for team files |
Path | \\server.net\myteam\filesgohere |
+ |
Any of these values could be referenced in tool configurations, formulas, macro inputs by specifying the Alias and field.
It would be nice if we can arrange some tools on the canvas neatly by one click and having them distributed evenly (horizontally/vertically).
See this picture which worth thousand words.
Can you put a check box on the container title bar to make it easier to enable/disable containers in the process window? And can you make the minimize/maximize option for a conatiner a separate option from enable/disable?
At the moment containers either expand and overlap other tools, or you have to leave space for them (defeating the original purpose of using them). Is there a way we can have the containers expansion shift the workflow so the others tools shift down / right to account for this expanision?
I'm not sure if this will ever be possible, but I know that it would greatly benefit me and I'm sure thousands of other users. In my work place I am constantly working in a conference room and at my desk. At my desk I am wired into an Ethernet connection while in the conference room I am wireless. When I start my workflows after working with my team in the conference room, I can't go back to my desk until the workflow is finished running because I am changing internet connections and I lose connection to the databases. With the pause button it would become possible to run a workflow and then change my internet without losing connection to the databases.
Another use for this would be while testing a workflow with a new tool. There are times I run a workflow that can take a few hours, but then I realize there is a mistake somewhere in my workflow, where the data hasn't reached yet. I think it would be very helpful to be able to pause the workflow and add the new tool in, while seeing results from tools it has already passed through.
But yet again this is just an idea that relates to me, I wonder what the rest of the community thinks.
Idea: Prompt the user to find a missing macro instead of the current UX of a question mark icon.
Issue: When a macro referenced in a workflow is missing, then there is no way to a) know what the name of the macro was (assuming you were lazy like me and didn't document with a comment) and b) find the macro so you can get back to business.
When this happens to me know, I have to go to the XML view and search for macros and then cycle through them until I find the one that's missing. Then I have to either copy the macro back into that location or manually edit the workflow XML. Not cool man.
Solution: When a macro is missing, the image below at the right should be shown. In the properties window, a file browse tool should allow the user to find the macro.
The SQL Editor window could have a better presentation of the SQL code; two issues observed
I understand that going between the Visual Query Builder and the SQL Editor is bound to have some issues; nonetheless the "idea" is to allow a user friendly display in the SQL Editor window:
My "implementation ideas" are based on a couple minutes with google, so hopefully this is a very feasible request; my user base is very likely to spend more time in the SQL editor than not, so this would be a valuable UX addition. Thanks!
Currently Alteryx does not support writing to SharePoint document libraries.
However there are success sometimes but not at other times.
Please see attachment where we ran into an issue.
See this link for additional information.
We need official support for reading and writing to SharePoint document libraries.
It's an important Output target, and will becoming more so, as Alteryx enhances its reporting capabilities.
Tools within a workflow needs to be able to run in parallel whereever applicable.
For example: Extracting 10 million rows from one source, 12 million rows from a different source to perform blending.
currently the order of execution is the order in which tools are dragged into the canvas. Hence Source1 first, Source2 second and then the JOIN.
Here Source1 & Source2 are completely independent, hence can be run in parallel. Thus saving the workflow execution time.
Execution time is quite crucial when you have tight data loading window.
Hopefully alteryx considers this in the next release!
The bak file that is automatically created (and re-created if deleted) really clutters up our folders.
Please allow us to either turn it off, or specify a different location to hold our back up files.
Thanks
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