Dynamic fields selection bases on a list of fields

[Vanderleck16]

Hi,

I am started to use alteryx and I am dealing with an issue. 

I would like to use a dynamic fields selections bases on a list of columns. I know it's possible to use a dynamic selection, and specify name or field number but I want to specify a list of multiple fields.

I don't know if there something to do this, like a looping or macro.

For example there is my data :

ID	Personal	Cars	School	City	Father_relationship	Mother_relationship	Sister_relationship	Brother_relationship	Job
ID 1	Person 1	Cars 1	School 1	City 1	Father 1	Mother 1	Sister 1	Brother 1	Job 1
ID 2	Person 2	Cars 2	School 2	City 2	Father 2	Mother 2	Sister 2	Brother 2	Job 2
ID 3	Person 3	Cars 3	School 3	City 3	Father 3	Mother 3	Sister 3	Brother 3	Job 3
ID 4	Person 4	Cars 4	School 4	City 4	Father 4	Mother 4	Sister 4	Brother 4	Job 4
ID 5	Person 5	Cars 5	School 5	City 5	Father 5	Mother 5	Sister 5	Brother 5	Job 5
ID 6	Person 6	Cars 6	School 6	City 6	Father 6	Mother 6	Sister 6	Brother 6	Job 6
ID 7	Person 7	Cars 7	School 7	City 7	Father 7	Mother 7	Sister 7	Brother 7	Job 7
ID 8	Person 8	Cars 8	School 8	City 8	Father 8	Mother 8	Sister 8	Brother 8	Job 8
ID 9	Person 9	Cars 9	School 9	City 9	Father 9	Mother 9	Sister 9	Brother 9	Job 9
ID 10	Person 10	Cars 10	School 10	City 10	Father 10	Mother 10	Sister 10	Brother 10	Job 10
ID 11	Person 11	Cars 11	School 11	City 11	Father 11	Mother 11	Sister 11	Brother 11	Job 11
ID 12	Person 12	Cars 12	School 12	City 12	Father 12	Mother 12	Sister 12	Brother 12	Job 12
ID 13	Person 13	Cars 13	School 13	City 13	Father 13	Mother 13	Sister 13	Brother 13	Job 13
ID 14	Person 14	Cars 14	School 14	City 14	Father 14	Mother 14	Sister 14	Brother 14	Job 14
ID 15	Person 15	Cars 15	School 15	City 15	Father 15	Mother 15	Sister 15	Brother 15	Job 15
ID 16	Person 16	Cars 16	School 16	City 16	Father 16	Mother 16	Sister 16	Brother 16	Job 16
ID 17	Person 17	Cars 17	School 17	City 17	Father 17	Mother 17	Sister 17	Brother 17	Job 17
ID 18	Person 18	Cars 18	School 18	City 18	Father 18	Mother 18	Sister 18	Brother 18	Job 18
ID 19	Person 19	Cars 19	School 19	City 19	Father 19	Mother 19	Sister 19	Brother 19	Job 19

And my list of fields :

Fields

ID

Personal

School

Sister_relationship

Job

So I would like to keep, only this fields in my data. 

i gave you a little example, but imagine I have thousand of fields, I can't use a formula base on a name (name="Id" or Name="Personal"....) nor even using the fieldnumber. 

I can't not also transpose my columns from the data into rows and join both, because i will have millions of rows.

So i am looking for a solution which will not necessarily change the data structure.

Thank you for your help.

[PhilipMannering]

A lot of people will tell you to transpose your data and join Name to your list, but here's what I like to do,

Add the column name as a description -> select fields with a description. See attachment,

[AngelosPachis]

Hi @Vanderleck16 ,

You can find an answer to your question in this thread :

https://community.alteryx.com/t5/Alteryx-Designer-Discussions/Deselecting-columns-due-to-a-separate-...

The only difference is that you don't want to exclude the fields that come from your list of fields, rather include them. A small tweak was necessary in the batch macro, to set the dynamic select tool expression from NOT IN to IN.

In your instance, this will be the workflow you are after

Hope that helps, let me know if you have any questions.

Cheers,

Angelos

[AngelosPachis]

That is amazing @PhilipMannering  🤯

[PhilipMannering]

Thanks @AngelosPachis. 🙂 Came up with it myself. I can't believe it's not more straightforward to select fields based on a list, but this is a good start.

[Vanderleck16]

@PhilipMannering

Thank you so much, It is very helpful. You're solution is easy to use.

I have a question that comes to my mind, for example, if in my list there is a field that is not in the database, what happens for this field, is it still added in description ?

Thank you again for the solution that works wonderfully.