Alteryx Designer Core key terms

A tool that connects a workflow to an outside source such as a file, folder path, or database table and streams its records onto the canvas. Its configuration sets the connection, the sheet or table, and how field types are read.

A tool that writes the incoming data stream to a destination file or database. Configuration covers file format, output mode such as overwrite, append, or create new sheet, and which fields to include.

A tool that lets you type or paste a small table of values directly into a workflow, without any external file. It is commonly used for lookup lists, reference codes, parameters, and quick testing.

A tool that reads a stored input configuration as a template and repoints it at different files, sheets, or queries at run time, so one tool can read many sources in sequence.

A tool that returns a table describing the files and folders at a given location, including name, full path, size, and creation or modified dates. It is often paired with tools that then read each listed file.

Alteryx's native file format, which stores records together with their field types and metadata. Reading and writing it is fast, and the original data types are preserved without re-guessing.

The category assigned to a column, such as String, Integer, Double, Date, or Boolean. It controls allowed values, how the value is stored, and which functions and comparisons will work correctly.

A pass-through tool for managing columns: choosing which fields to keep, renaming them, changing data types and sizes, and reordering the output. It changes structure, not the number of records.

A record is a single row of data, and a field is a single column that holds one data type. Together they form the rectangular table that every tool receives and passes onward.

A configurable tool that standardises messy text in one step: replacing nulls with values, trimming whitespace, removing unwanted characters, changing case, and dropping null rows or columns.

A tool that splits one text field into two or more fields, either at a delimiter such as a comma or at fixed character positions. It is used to break combined codes and labels apart.

A tool that applies regular expressions to text in order to parse, replace, or tokenise it. It can extract matched groups into new fields, making it useful for pulling patterns out of free text.

A tool that converts text into Alteryx date and time values, or converts existing date and time values into formatted text strings using a chosen format specification.

The absence of any value in a field, which is different from an empty string, a space, or zero. Many calculations that involve a null return null, so nulls usually need explicit handling.

A warning raised when a value cannot be represented in its field's data type, such as letters in a numeric column. The offending value typically becomes null and the tool reports the problem.

Removing unwanted whitespace or specified characters from the beginning and end of a text value, or sometimes all occurrences. It is available inside the Data Cleansing tool and as a function in expressions.

A tool that creates new fields or updates existing ones using written expressions. Each output is given a name, a data type, and a size, and multiple expressions can be added in one tool.

A tool that computes values referring to other records in the same field, such as the previous or next row. It supports running totals, differences between rows, and filling missing values downward.

A tool that applies one expression to several selected fields at once. It can overwrite the chosen fields or write the results into new fields, which saves repeating identical formulas.

A tool that evaluates a single expression against each record and routes rows to a True output and a False output. It splits one stream into two so each path can be handled differently.

A tool that orders records by one or more fields in ascending or descending direction, with options for case and locale handling. Output order matters for tools that depend on record position.

A tool that returns only part of the incoming data: the first or last N records, every Nth record, a random sample, or a percentage of the records.

A tool that splits a stream based on selected key fields, sending the first record of each combination to the Unique output and later duplicates to the Duplicate output.

A tool that groups records by chosen fields and produces aggregations such as count, sum, average, minimum, maximum, or concatenation, replacing many detail rows with summary rows.

A tool that pivots data from rows into columns, turning each distinct value of a key field into a new field and aggregating the remaining values into those cells.

A tool that unpivots data from columns into rows, producing a name column holding former field names and a value column holding the corresponding values.

A tool that combines two streams on matching key fields. Matched records go to the Join output, while unmatched records from each side go to the Left and Right outputs.

A tool that joins three or more inputs on shared key fields within a single tool, with a configurable join type applied across all of the incoming streams.

A tool that stacks two or more streams vertically into one, aligning fields either by name or by position, with options to keep all fields or only those that match.

A tool that searches a field in one stream for values located in another stream, then appends the associated values or replaces the found text with them.

A tool that combines every record of one input with every record of another, producing a Cartesian product. It is typically used to attach a small table of constants or parameters to a larger dataset.

A tool that identifies records that are similar rather than exactly equal, generating match keys and similarity scores so near-duplicate names and codes can be grouped or merged.

A tool placed at the end of a branch that displays the data reaching it in a results grid, along with column metadata and profiling information such as distribution and null counts.

The sequence in which tools execute, determined by the connections between them. A tool runs once all of its inputs have run, and independent branches may be processed in parallel.

A tool that visually groups other tools on the canvas. It can be disabled so the enclosed section is skipped at run time, and it can carry a caption to document that part of the workflow.

A saved workflow with defined input and output anchors that behaves like a single tool when placed on the canvas. Batch and iterative versions repeat the same logic across records or in a loop.

Question tools such as text boxes, drop-downs, and file browse buttons that prompt the user when a workflow is run as an analytic app, feeding the answers into the workflow as values.

Custom text attached to a tool or the canvas to explain what the logic does. Annotations do not affect processing but make a workflow easier for others to review and maintain.