The Dynamic Select tool allows fields to be selected (or de-selected) either by field type or via a formula. Additionally dynamic or unknown
fields will also be selected by field type or via formula at runtime.
It is very easy to end up with a stream with no fields. Most tools can't handle that and produce an error. The
Transpose Tool is among the few tools that can handle having no fields on input.
Look at the Data Statistics App \Program Files\Alteryx\RuntimeData\Analytic_Apps\DataStatistics.yxwz for a good example of usage.
Configure the tool
Choose the mode for field selection. There are 2 modes for selection:
Select Field Types: Fields are selected based on their field type. Check the box to the left of the field types to add to your selection.
Select via a Formula: Fields are selected based on criteria specified via the formula processor.
Use the Formula Processor to construct the expression that will result in field selection.
FINDSTRING([Name], "ID")>-1 only selects fields with "ID" in the field name.
The following field information data fields are available for building the expression:
Name: Field names within the data stream
Type: Type of Data Field
Size: Length of the
data field
Scale: With respect to Fixed Decimal data types , scale refers to the digits of precision.
Source: Contains the tool or the file the field came from. May also contain additional Metainfo such as a specific dataset from a plugin. The tools that report metainfo would be Allocate Input and Allocate Append, CASS,
Geocoder, and tools that calculate drivetime such as Trade Area, Distance, Find Nearest.
Description: May not contain information. If data is appended from Allocate for example, the descriptive longer field name will be contained here. Additionally the user can add their own field description via the Select tool and this information will stay associated with the field.
IsNumeric: Boolean value tests for a number data type - Integer, fixed decimal, float, double, etc.
IsString: Boolean value tests for a string data type - String, V_String, WString, V_WString.
IsFloat: Boolean value tests for a float data type.
IsInteger: Boolean value tests for an Integer data type.
IsStringOrDate: Boolean value tests for any string or any date data type.
IsDateOrTime: Boolean value tests for any date or Time data type.
IsDate: Boolean value tests for any Date data type.
IsBinary: Boolean value tests for a Binary data type.
IsSpatialObj: Boolean value tests for a Spatial data type.
FieldNumber: Field number position.
Data fields appear in this order: A, B, C. FieldNumber==1 returns Field A.