Tool Mastery

You've gotten your long dataset and you want to combine it with another dataset for additional information. Your dataset is nice and clean. Everything is formatted the same, no null values... The whole package. You open up the data to join to and right away you see a ton of clean up that needs to happen: nulls to replace, strings to format appropriately, extra characters, white space, the list goes on. You launch the Designer, and while fast and accurate, you have to set up a new Multi-Field Formula Tool for each situation you need to fix. If only there was a single tool that did it all.

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 Record ID Tool on our way to mastering the Alteryx Designer

The Dynamic Rename Tool is part of the developer category of tools. It allows the user to quickly rename any or all fields within an input stream by employing the use of different methods.\n  \n The user has the option to rename only certain fields, all fields, or even dynamic/unknown fields at runtime (e.g. after a Cross Tab Tool). The option for renaming fields are: 

The Date Time Now Tool is part of the Input Tool Category and it is actually a macro encapsulating other Alteryx tools. To use it, only one selection needs to be made: an output format. That's it, then you can go about your business. You also have the option to output the time with that date.

Fact: workflows are the best. Look it up. They’re all about getting things done and, with hundreds of tools and the ability to integrate external processes, there’s no shortage of things you can get done. We know that there are some areas of analytics that require a little extra firepower, however, and that’s why you can leverage your workflows in apps and macros for added functionality.

There’s a lot going on in the world of analytics. Endless data stores and insight are at the other end of an internet connection and, as analysts, we’re always in on the action. Being in the thick of the fray with data whizzing by at lightning speeds, being equipped with the right tools is a must. Like you, Alteryx also likes to live dangerously, and we’re always ready for action.

Tool mastery series - Message Tool

The Create Points Tool is the ‘Bonnie’ to your Clyde of any spatial analyses. The Create Points Tool allows you to take your latitude and longitude, often the spatial fields included in datasets, and convert them to a format that can play with Alteryx Spatial toolset. If your dataset lacks the latitude and longitude fields needed there are numerous free websites, geocoders, or geocoding APIs where this information is available.

The Drop Down Tool is part of the Interface Tool Category and can be used when creating Apps. This tool has many great configurations from loading data from within the workflow to using outside sources to update tools. Hopefully, after reading this article and looking at the samples you will feel more comfortable using this tool in your app user interface.

Let's start with the basics of how to create a report map in Alteryx.  To start off, ensure that the layers you want to show in your map have a spatial object field. This can be checked by placing a select tool and confirming that there is a column of type 'SpatialObj.'

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 Tile Tool on our way to mastering the Alteryx Designer

Base contributions to introduce diverse working examples for Designer Tools. Here we’ll delve into uses of the Control Parameter Tool on our way to mastering the Alteryx Designer

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 Image Tool on our way to mastering the Alteryx Designer

When it comes to spatial analyses, few tools come up more than the Trade Area Tool. Whether you’re looking to pad polygons around your spatial objects in distance or drive time, you won’t need to make a trade-off - just the Trade Area Tool.

The Auto Field Tool: a tool so easy you don’t have to do anything – just put it on your canvas and viola. Automatically optimized data types. If you’re running into data type related issues and errors in your workflows, or just looking to add some speed or reduce the occupied disk space your data is hoarding – look no further than the Preparation Tool Category’s Auto Field Tool, which reads through all the records of an input and sets the field type to the smallest possible size relative to the data contained within the column.

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 Render Tool on our way to mastering the Alteryx Designer

With all the bells and whistles to play around with in the Reporting Tool Category, it’s hard not to leave some out of your reporting workflows every now and again. Just don’t forget about the Report Text Tool – the tool that’ll help you painlessly add text to your reporting objects, presentations, or documents to help spruce up their readability or formatting.

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 Charting Tool on our way to mastering the Alteryx Designer

The last reporting element in your reports or presentations, the footer certainly isn’t the least. Add footers without a hitch with the Report Footer Tool, and save the best for last!

You know what they say; the devil is in the details. Precious little separates a good report from a great one and it often comes down to just a few details. Don’t let a report header be the detail you left out – use the Report Header Tool to painlessly add header reporting elements to your reporting creations!

Binary Large OBject (BLOB) data types are often used to store images, audio, and other multimedia files/objects in a single, standardized, format for simplified database management - making them a frequent filetype in the Alteryx Designer. Fortunately, with the Blob Convert Tool, along with the Blob Input and Blob Output Developer Tools, working with BLOB objects is no more difficult than the file types they represent!