Alteryx Essentials flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Solid vs dotted wire

A solid wire carries a data stream between tools; a dotted wire carries only field metadata (names and types) with no records.

Run Workflow from Here

A tool context-menu option that executes the workflow starting at the selected tool, using cached upstream results instead of recomputing them.

V_String vs String

String has a fixed maximum size set at configuration; V_String is variable length and grows as needed, using memory only for actual content.

Fixed Decimal type

An exact numeric type defined by total digits and decimal places (e.g., 19.2); unlike Float and Double it avoids binary rounding artifacts.

First Row Contains Field Names

An Input Data option for delimited files that treats the first record as column headers rather than as data.

DateTimeParse and DateTimeFormat

DateTimeParse converts a string to a DateTime using a format string; DateTimeFormat converts a DateTime to a string using a format string.

Data Cleansing tool scope

One tool can replace nulls, trim whitespace, change case, remove punctuation, and strip unwanted characters from selected fields in a single pass.

Multi-Row Formula offsets

The tool references other records using Row-1, Row+1, or Row-2; grouping fields restrict the row window so offsets do not cross group boundaries.

Unique tool outputs

The Unique tool splits input into a unique stream (first occurrence per key) and a duplicate stream containing all subsequent matching records.

Filter True and False outputs

Records satisfying the expression go to the True output; records failing it, including null results, go to the False output.

Join tool three outputs

The Join tool produces Join (matched records), Left (unmatched from the left input), and Right (unmatched from the right input).

Union Auto Config by Name

Union aligns fields by matching field names across inputs; fields absent from an input receive nulls for those records.

Append Fields tool behavior

Append Fields creates a Cartesian product, pairing every source record with every target record; large inputs require enabling all appends.

Join key type requirement

Both join keys must share the same data type; a String key and a numeric key must be converted before the Join tool will run.

Transpose tool shape change

Transpose pivots wide to long, turning each selected field into a Name/Value row pair for every input record.

Crosstab tool shape change

Crosstab pivots long to wide, using a name field for column headers, a value field for cells, and group fields for rows.

RegEx Parse named groups

In Parse mode, named capture groups written as (?<fieldname>pattern) create one new output field per group.

Summarize Concatenate action

Concatenate joins multiple values from grouped records into one string, separated by a delimiter such as a comma.

Text to Columns splitting

This tool splits one field into several output fields using a delimiter or fixed width, with the column count set explicitly.

Spatial Match relationships

Spatial Match joins records by geometric relationship, including Intersects, Contains, Within, Touches, and Within a specified distance.

Trade Area tool

Trade Area builds a polygon around a point using a radius or drive-time, producing an area used for spatial matching.

Find Nearest tool

Find Nearest returns the closest records from a target stream within a maximum distance, with a configurable number of matches per record.

Predict tool role

The Predict tool applies a saved model object to new records, producing a predicted value or class per record.

Batch macro control parameter

A Batch Macro runs once per incoming group; the Control Parameter supplies the current group value to the macro's tools.

Iterative macro Condition tool

An Iterative Macro repeats until the Condition tool's boolean expression evaluates true, ending the loop.

Action tool purpose

Inside a macro, the Action tool modifies a downstream tool's configuration, such as a filter expression or file path, using the incoming value.

Block Until Done tool

This tool sequences branches so an upstream operation such as writing a file finishes before a dependent branch reads that file.

IIF function syntax

IIF(condition, value_if_true, value_if_false) returns one of two values based on a boolean test and is commonly used for conditional fields.

Performance Profile

A workflow run option that records elapsed time and record counts per tool, identifying the slowest steps in a workflow.

Cache and Run Workflow

This option stores upstream tool results so downstream tools can be re-run without recomputing the entire preceding branch.

Browse tool performance cost

Browse writes its input to a temporary file for display, adding I/O overhead; removing Browse tools speeds up large production workflows.

Push filters upstream

Placing Filter tools before heavy Joins, Spatial tools, or Sorts reduces record counts and is a primary workflow optimization technique.