Dropdown list from SQL Table in Analytic App on Gallery

[nicolasdeldalle]

Hello, 

I'm building an Analytic App that I need to publish on my Gallery, and the app needs to show some dropdowns tools that need to be connected to a SQL Server table (the options of the drop down tool should vary depending on the SQL table).

For example, I have a drop down tool in my App that should be connected to the a table in my SQL Server instance, so that the end user can select which information he wants from the SQL table, and then continue running the App. 

I configured my drop down tools with External Source and my query works fine when I run it from outside the Gallery (as a regular Analytic App), but whenever I try to run it from the Gallery, the drop down do not show the options (it stays empty). 

OBS: I have already configured my SQL Server connection to my Gallery and have access to it (I managed to write data in my DB from the Gallery Analytic App). 

This is how I configured my Drop Down tool with a List Values from an External Source:

And this is the result I get from the regular Analytic App running from my server, which shows that the drop down is reading the SQL table: 

When I publish my App on the Gallery (which is on the same server), the drop down options don't appear: 

Is there any way my App on the Gallery will connect to the SQL Server instance and show the drop down options from the live SQL table?

Thanks in advance! 

[nicolasdeldalle]

Hi WilliamR, Thanks for your answer. 

I also tried to connect my Input data tool to the dropdown as you mentioned, but I found out that whenever my table is updated with some new records, the app doesn't update with the modified information.

Did you find the same problem? 

[WilliamR]

hello @nicolasdeldalle , this is a standard behaviour of the dropdown.

[nicolasdeldalle]

I understand. So is there any initiative to make some improvements for this? I think having a dropbox directly connected to a database table would be a great feature...

[WilliamR · Accepted solution]

You can try this approach: https://community.alteryx.com/t5/Alteryx-Designer-Discussions/Drop-Down-does-not-Refresh/td-p/67747

and if you are able to use the Crew Macro (runner and conditional runner), you can extract first your list and in a second step run the workflow with the extraction as a source for the dropdown.

If this post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly.