double-click from tool pallet

[MarqueeCrew]

The following idea might not be as valuable as some of @SeanAdams posts, but it would save this user precious fractions of time.   When I leave the canvas with my mouse (point A) to go up to the pallet I select and drag the tool down to the canvas.  Sometimes I do right-click and go through the menus to add the next tool, but generally I go through that labor only when I'm inserting in-stream the tool.  So here is my idea:

Double-Click your NEXT tool and it "Alteryx-ly" appears on your canvas in proximity to the hi-lighted (last) tool.  Better yet, connect it!  Now I can move from the pallet to the configuration panel directly without having to move my mouse down to the canvas and then over to the configuration panel.

Hopefully, my friend @Hollingsworth will find this time-saving idea worthy of a star.  Speed demons like @NicoleJohnson and @BenMoss might not need this turbo boost, but at my age it is worth the ask.

Cheers,

Mark

[Hollingsworth]

Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Very small enhancements like these could make a huge difference in workflow creation speed. Please adopt soon!

[Gopinaath]

It would be interesting to know how you would like it to connect to a tool that has multiple outputs. Please elaborate 

[mestevez1]

This can add some speed when developing workflows.

[Gopinaath]

I think this should be implemented as an opt-in function to be enabled in user settings. Not everyone would prefer this to be active depending on how they use Alteryx. I would prefer to drag the tool to the canvas myself as it is common for me to have multi-input/output tools in my canvas workflows. For multi-output/multi-input tools like tools that do joins, filters or matches, I would like to control the input/output anchor that gets connected rather than have it randomly attach to an input/output anchor on double-click and then me having to reattach it to the right point.

[Simha]

Currently, double clicking on a tool in the tools window doesn't do anything. Why not put it to a good use by placing that tool on the canvas when you double click on it. Additionally, it can be joined to a tool that's the end of the workflow.

[seven]

What if there are multiple "ends" of the workflow? What if Alteryx picks the wrong "end" to make a connection? That entails more clicks to sever the connection and drag the tool to where it should go. Even if the workflow is a simple one with just one "end", how much time do you really save by double clicking?

[seven]

This is also a duplicate of https://community.alteryx.com/t5/Alteryx-Designer-Ideas/double-click-from-tool-pallet/idi-p/519060.

[seven]

I fail to see how anyone could utilize this "feature" to save time. Are you telling me that the Grand Prix winners want this? There are a host of problems to address, such as some pointed out above of how Alteryx will know which output of a multi-output tool like a join the user wants to connect to. There will be assumptions and in those cases, the user has to sever the connection or undo the second-guessing of Alteryx.

[MarqueeCrew]

With multi-outputs, the anchor selected is where the tool would be joined.  As for @seven 's comment about "host of problems", there is no prioritization explicitly stated or implied as to where Alteryx development resources should be assigned.  The ideas page is where to post thoughts for improvement.  For objective time savings estimates, I can't provide data to prove my theory that this feature might improve performance in the Grand Prix.  I simply know that for the thousands of tools that I place onto the Alteryx canvas each week, that I'm using extra energy.

Cheers,

Mark

[Simha]

Hello,

Thank you for your feedback. I did try to check for duplicates multiple times, but found none. May be I should have tried by shortening the description.

Now, how a double click can be useful:

1. You are working with Alteryx on a laptop and touch-pad isn't the quickest way to drag and drop a tool. Not everyone works on Alteryx sitting in front of a desktop. Sometimes, not both hands are free to do stuff (try dragging and dropping using a touch-pad with single hand). UI design considers many different usages of a tool.

2. Your workflow is large enough that it has already occupied the entire screen. In that case, you need to drag the tool to a vacant place (so that you don't disrupt the existing layout).

3. Most importantly, click and double click are most intuitive and should be utilized where possible.

4. I can probably think of more scenarios given time.

Important thing here is to make the user interface experience as intuitive and easy as possible, especially when you can. 

Thanks

Simha