Tool Mastery | Comment

[JordanB]

This article is part of the Tool Mastery Series, a compilation of Knowledge Base contributions to introduce diverse working examples for Designer Tools. Here we’ll delve into uses of the CommentTool on our way to mastering the Alteryx Designer:

Now everyone loves to talk about theirworkflow masterpieces, however, the notion of documenting themdoesn't always hold the same appeal. TheComment Toolwould be happy to help and can make documentingand structuring your workflow easy and straight forward.Whether you want to include images, text descriptions or categorize parts of your workflow, the Comment Tool can act as a great refresher when revisitingworkflows and make it far more intuitivefor work colleagues to follow along. This article provides a few examples on how.

• The CommentTool will allow you tojot down notes, explain processes and share external references such as website links, internal Sharepointsetc.
  
  
• Within Excel color coding particular functions such as calculations, V-Lookups and Pivot Tables is common. Within the Comment Tool you have the ability of adding color tothe comment box, as well as adding annotations so it clear to seewhat processes are being performed as you move along your workflow.

• When adding a comment box it willas default appear in front of the tool icons however, you can use the functionality of 'send to back' for the icons to appear in front of the icons themselves (right click on the comment box).

• Some additionalfunctionality within the comment box tool includes shaping the box, colorof the text, alignmentof the text, and specifying a background image.
• Adding an image to the comment box can be very useful when helping users visualizehow a tool can be configured.

By now, you should have expert-level proficiency with the CommentTool! If you can think of a use case we left out, feel free to use the comments section below! Consider yourself a Tool Master already? Let us know at community@alteryx.comif you’d like your creative tool uses to be featured in the Tool Mastery Series.

Stay tuned with our latest posts every Tool Tuesdayby following Alteryxon Twitter! If you want to master all the Designer tools, consider subscribingfor email notifications.

[wenjuanchen]

Thanks for the introduction @JordanB! Can you upload a video to the comment tool?

[vinothdeva]

Can i update comment tool dynamically while running the workflow?

[JordanB]

Hi @vinothdeva

I don't believe this is possible after some research and attempt within the designer. What is the use case and potentially I could suggest a workaround.

Best,

Jordan

[StephenPeaster]

Great article, the image functionality is great to know about. 

[tonypreece]

I keep seeing two comment boxes side by side that look like one, with a vertical border removed. How do I remove the border to achieve this look?

Edit: No sooner had I asked the question than I figured out the answer for myself.  One enlarged comment box with a border and a smaller comment box on top of it with no border. #Cheats!

[MatthieuArzel]

Did anyone found a way to lock the comments so you can work in your workflow without selecting it all the time?

[MDeck]

@tonypreece  Can you share how you managed to turn off borders for a comment box? I don't see the setting.

[tonypreece]

Hey @MDeck, it's not very obvious but you need to set the shape to none in the comment tool config panel.  You can only set it to none after you've entered some text (or changed the background colour), so that it doesn't get lost in your workflow.

[Rujin05]

Hey! @JordanB 

Do you know if we can set comment text to be "center" justify automatically/by default?

Currently it's always "top center" by default, and I didn't find a way to change the detault.

Thank you!!

Rujin

[tabletennisfernweb]

Great article, however I have noticed a few spelling issue, mostly forgetting to space in between words, this makes reading a little bit hard, would appreciate if this can be corrected.

[alteryxck]

Thank you for the helpful article, it could use some spaces though, here is an example:

Now everyone loves to talk about theirworkflow masterpieces, however, the notion of documenting themdoesn't always hold the same appeal.

Also, the link to the Comment Tool Mastery page is missing in Interactive Core Cert Prep Guide - Alteryx Community .

[_enrique_javier]

Hi, @JordanB,

The link to the Comment Tool used in the post, https://help.alteryx.com/10.6/index.htm#cshid=TextBox.htm, is incorrect; it refers to a very old AYX version and leads to a 404 error. I suggest you use this link https://help.alteryx.com/current/en/designer/tools/documentation/comment-tool.html, which should not become obsolete for a long time.

Stay safe,

Enrique

[hlannguyen]

Thank you. The attached files have errors. Much appreciated if the professionals also have a video for each tool.