Find and Replace function causes default tool annotations to disappear

[KenL]

Find and Replace function causes default tool annotations to disappear

 

Environment Details

 

When Find and Replace function is applied in Designer with the default search setting, tools with matching text in their configuration will no longer display their default annotation after clicking on the same tool.

 

• Alteryx Designer
  • Version 2021.3.1.
• Additional Behaviors
  • If the search filter is set to include Annotations only, the result is expected, that is the annotations update correctly and the tool configuration does not change.
  • If the tool annotation contains a specific, non-default input, then it is not affected and it behaves normally.

Cause

 

After applying the Find and Replace function, the default tool annotation text is cleared and not regenerated. This behavior is expected.

Resolution

 

The default tool annotation text can be easily regenerated with these steps:

 

1. Select the affected tool.
2. Make any change in the tool's Configuration window that is easy to undo.
3. Click once on the canvas outside of the tool.
4. The previous annotation should now display. You can go back to the tool and undo the change in step 2. The annotation will update correctly.

Additional Resources

• Designer: Find and Replace
• Tool Mastery | Find Replace

[someotherguy]

@KenL i have been having this issue for a while, just searched the Community and found this, Thanks for helping me restore my annotations!

[DavidMorrissey]

"This behavior is expected." Why on earth would this behavior be expected? As a user, I certainly don't expect it.

Find-Replace is a great feature, but it is especially useful on large, complex workflows where replacing something across multiple tools would be very time-consuming. It's awesome that we can now make an update like that with one click, but not if it's going to leave a path of destruction in its wake. The annotations are not trivial--they are crucial to the legibility of the workflow.

I appreciate the suggested workaround & will make use of that technique. But it basically means going into each tool and making 2 changes (do-undo) in each. If we have to take the time to do all that manual work anyway, we might as well have not used Find-Replace at all. This really compromises the utility of an otherwise great feature.

[someotherguy]

The easiest thing to change is the record limit since it is the to row, change it to 1, click on the canvas, click back on the tool and delete the 1 from the record limit field.

[KenL]

Hi @DavidMorrissey ,

Thank you for the feedback. To clarify, the behavior where the default tool annotation text is cleared and not regenerated after performing the Find and Replace function is a result of the current Designer product design, so in that context this behavior is expected. Unfortunately, this does not always line up with the user's expectation, as in this case. I can see how this causes issues for you.

For now, I would suggest bringing this up with your Alteryx Account representative as a feature request. They can help to get the process started.

Thanks,

Ken