Posting for Fastest Possible Solution

[SeanAdams]

So – you’ve run into a problem, and you’re stuck.    You may be struggling with a problem that others have solved before, or you may have identified a new bug.  

You need help! 

What I’ve found, both in this community and other contexts, is that the structure and information provided on the original post strongly determines how quickly a solution can be found that actually addresses the problem - and you really want to get from problem to solution with as few as possible cycles or false starts or clarifications.    

So - I’ve put together this guide to share some ideas that I’ve found helpful when I’ve been on both either of the discussion, and my hope is that this will give you some tips / ideas on how to post your issue in a way that will have the quickest possible path to solution; to get you back on the road again!

Define what you want:

The starting point is to define what you want, and the problem you’re having in getting there (specifics really help).   @JoeM & @DanM  have a very useful structure for defining this for the weekly challenges, where the starting & ending data are provided, with notes about what the process should do.

 

Where to log it?

Capturing your issue /question / idea in the right place is key to getting a good response.     Here’s a guide to where to post different topics on the community site:

The site is broadly broken down into:

• Getting Started with Alteryx and Community
• Alteryx Platform Components (Connect-Designer-Server-Promote)
  
  • Each platform component has sub sections that contain
    • Discussions
    • Knowledge Base
    • Ideas
• Academy
• Blogs
• Alter.Nation
• Culture & Events

The knowledge section in each platform component is owned by the Alteryx team and is used to create articles that help the broader community. Culture & Events are where updates on Alteryx events are published (again, owned by the Alteryx team).  The blogs section contains authored content from the Alteryx team or the community (Analytics blog; Engine Works blog; and Alteryx community news, and the Data Science Blog) – this is moderated by the Alteryx team.

The key areas where the community may be posting then are Discussions & Ideas

Section	Topic	Notes
Ideas	Product ideas	Any thoughts you have about how to make the product better – mockups are always valued, as are a descriptions on how this would help you or your team.
	Improve the Community Experience	How could the community be improved?
Discussions	Designer	Questions and Errors related to all functions within the DESIGNER product. Including: Spatial, Reporting, Advanced Analytics, Macros, Apps and Data Sources
	Server	Questions and Errors related to the SERVER product. Including: setup and configuration, Scheduler, troubleshooting and adding workflows from Designer.
	Connect	Questions and Errors related to the CONNECT product
	Promote	Questions and Errors related to the PROMOTE product

Note: If you’ve spotted a defect, and you are able to replicate it – the best way forward is to report directly to Customer Support.

Take stuff out:

When you’re having trouble, you can try taking things off in order to isolate the problem.     This will also help the support team and community to quickly focus on the core of the problem.

Before:

After: 

Stub it out:

You can replace pieces of your Alteryx logic which is not needed to create the issue or which you cannot distribute (e.g. a database connection), with a simple “stub”.   What this means is that you take out all the complex logic and replace it with something simple and predictable like a Text Input control.

For example, if the problem is in a complex flow which involves pre-processing; database reads etc. – and the error is occurring in a final write tool – you can replace all the connectivity or complex logic with a simple text input.

Example:   This takes sales headers; details and products from a publicly available database; and summarizes to find the top 5 products by quantity.   However I’m having trouble with the reporting piece, trying to get it to look right.

Before:

Instead of sending this whole flow (which will not work anyway because folks don’t have access to my database connections) I can stub-out the entire flow up to the sample tool, and pop the data that is currently in the browse tool into a text input.

After:

This flow is now simpler, focusses on the problem area, and is independent of your database connection and/or any sensitive or proprietary firm information (since you can change the data to hide the true sales figures when you publish).

NOTE: Please be careful about your company’s and client's intellectual property, and where possible use mocked up or altered data to demonstrate the problem.

Do it AGAIN!

For a bug / defect – the key is to be able to re-create the issue, so that the developers and other support teams can look into this to understand what went wrong as quickly as possible.   So – the more information you can provide to replicate the issue the sooner that the bug can be isolated (and hopefully fixed)

Examples of helpful info:

• The Alteryx flow itself
• Screenshot of the error
• Copy of the input data (preferably within the flow)
• If this is an issue in a database, the table definitions would help
• Any critical version info:
  • What version of Alteryx are you on
  • If it’s an issue connecting to a database – what database and version are you on
  • Database driver versions (go into ODBC administrator – screenshot below)

Hopefully this guide gives you some tips on how to post your issue to get the best possible chance of a quick solution!

Request: If there's anything that you think needs to be changed / added / or any other useful tips that we could add to this guide, please feel free to comment below - Let's make this a living document.

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[kharikumar]

Hi, 

I'm not able to use the Alteryx free trial version in my system. I am using my official laptop, prior to this my colleague had used the trail version in this system. Could you please help me out to solve this issue as I need the trail version to complete the workflow which is left over. Could you please connect to someone live

[Kefa]

Hello Team,

I have this challenging situation. I need to eliminate a few rows that will meet the Criteria as per different columns.

The situation is like I need to flag any two rows if Column 1 (Reference) and Column 2(Code) match and the Sum of Column 3 ( Value) of the two rows is equal to Zero.

Reference	Code	Value	Flag
SIICURL 13-21	50548648	114,069.12	Flag as Duplicates
SIICURL 13-21	50548648	-114,069.12	Flag as Duplicates
80557	385035	-93,920.00	Flag as Duplicates
80557	385035	93,920.00	Flag as Duplicates
SI00339/21	385862	3116202.08	No Flag
91705192	385862	2262186.66	No Flag
91659909	381591	2000770.97	No Flag

[kuj2022]

Hello, i'm getting The FileID does not match the Fileheader. i have checked the File format (*yxdb) to the header and it matches but i'm still getting the error. Anything i'm doing wrong? Thx! 

[Rahul_Analyst]

Hi all,

I have more than 100 excel files with same column number, data type and structure. I just want to delete the very last col from all the files and keep all the files as it is in output.

Please help me by giving your invaluable insights of Alteryx.

Thanks in advance!

[Rex_04]

Hi,

I would like to delete the highlighted sheets from my output file but every time I also delete the output function into my flows, data from other sheets also affected.

Do you have any idea to fix this? Thanks in advanced.

[Soraju]

Hi, I am looking for a conditional statement like :

If Todays date minus A certain date from a column is greater than 30 then add "current" else "future"

I tried to use TodayDateTime as sysdate equivalent and that did not help.

[MSugantha]

Hi 

I'm trying to read some Mainframe data file(txt format) with few packed decimals in Alteryx. I have created xml from the copybook and read the data file by specifying the xml. I'm able to read the text contents from the input file but the packed decimals are showing as special characters .

Could any of you guide me if there is any menthod availabe in Alteryx to read such columns? Thanks in advance.

[nayeksayantani]

How to update the data from one data table to another data table using "in database" tool? 

[WillM]

Hi All!  These comments will likely get much more traction in the Designer Discussions area of community, as most members won't be looking to the Resources area for questions.

[Shrivas7]

Hello All,

need a quick help, would like to know how can I rename my private studio in alteryx 2020.4 version.

I renamed it using old version and would like to change the name but option is just not coming up like usual in myprofile.

[kuj2022]

Hello All

I just switched my home internet provider (from AT&T to T-Mobile) and I wasn’t able to run the Alteryx program as it was taking me longer than normal although my VPN runs OK.

Does Alteryx require a certain internet speed or connection to run the program?

Thanks,

[DD_45]

I passed the Alteryx Designer Core exam on May 5, 2022, but have yet to receive my certificate. I also sent an email to certification@alteryx.com, but I have yet to receive the certificate. I respectfully request that the certificate be sent as soon as possible.

[JayshriKolte]

Hi Team,

Need Help!

I am new in Alteryx. I have a Standard workflow which is accepting CSV file as input And I am looking for how to pass dynamic file path to CSV file in workflow through .Net by using AlteryxApi.AlteryxRunModule2. Is there any way to set runtime path ,

I can set Workflow path and able to execute it, But I am not able to set the input file path from coding.

Please help me in this situation with possible ways. Thank you!

AlteryxApi.AlteryxRunModule2(strXmlModule, strPathContext, pCallbackToolProgress, pCallbackMessage, userData);

[tapanrastogi]

Input

Can I get help on this pls?

I am not able to post the query on the discussion, hence posting here