Message Tool

Select at which time the message is written and sent to the results window.

• Before First Record
  1. The Message tool receives the first record to its input connection.
  2. The Message tool writes the message.
  3. The Message tool passes the record to its output connection.
• Before Rows Where Expression is True
1. The Message tool receives a record to its input connection.
2. The Message tool evaluates the given expression, which may depend on fields in that record.
• If the expression evaluates as true, the Message tool writes the message before passing that record to its output connection. See Expression Editor.
• If the expression evaluates as false, the Message tool does not write the message.

All records are passed through regardless if the expression is true or false.

• After Last Record
1. The Message tool passes all records to its output connection.
2. The Message tool writes the message.

Use this option to capture the row count with the Message tool.

• After All Down Stream Tools Have Completed
1. All downstream tools have finished processing the passed records.
2. The Message tool writes the message.

Use this option to generate a message after an output has completed.

Message Type: Select the type of message the tool writes. For more information see the Results window.

• Message A standard Alteryx message. Messages appear as standard black text:

RegEx(9): 12 records were successfully parsed and 0 were not.

• Warning An Alteryx warning message. Warnings appear in gold text:

RegEx (22): The Value "22 Purple Haze" had too many parts to fit # of output fields.

• Field Conversion Error An Alteryx field conversion error. Conversion errors appear in orange text.

Formula (13): Code: "12 Alteryx Blue" was truncated

• Error An Alteryx error message. Errors appear in a red bold text:

Append Fields (9): The Source must have a valid connection

• Error - And Stop Passing Records Through This Tool An Alteryx error message. Once the Message tool outputs a message of this type, the workflow no longer passes records to the Message tool's output connection. After the standard error message, a second error message displays to indicate that the workflow was cancelled. Both errors appear in red bold text:

Browse (13): Missing Incoming Connection

Browse (13): Workflow was Cancelled by Properties Setting

• File Input (Path|Description) A standard Alteryx message referencing an input file with a custom description. Path names are required. File Inputs without a description output a blank clickable field. File Inputs appear as standard hyperlinks:

Message (15): Example Test Input File

• File Output (Path|Description) A standard Alteryx message referencing an output file with a custom description. Path names are required. File Inputs without a description output a blank clickable field. File Inputs appear as standard hyperlinks:

Message (15): Example Test Output File

Message Priority: Determine the behavior of the tool when it is used inside Macros.

• Normal The message is only written when:

  • the Message tool is included in the workflow which is being run.
  • Show All Macro Messages is checked.
  .  If the message tool is inside a macro which is contained in the running workflow then it will not be written.

• Medium The message will only be written when the tool is included in the workflow which is being run OR inside a macro in the workflow. So it will output if it is up to one level deep in a macro.

• High The message will always be written regardless of how many levels of macros it is contained in.

Conversion Errors and Errors message types are always High Priority.

Transient: When checked, the message replaces an existing message issued by the same tool. This is useful for messages which report tool progress, such as reporting the number of rows that have been processed.

Type the message that will be displayed. This message can be fixed text or can be built up from data fields.

Because this tool includes an expression editor, an additional input anchor displays when the tool is used in an app or macro workflow. Use the Interface tools to connect to a Question anchor. See Interface Tools.

[_RecordNumber_] variable

• Before First Record: [_RecordNumber_] always equals 1.
• Before Rows Where Expression Is True: [_RecordNumber_] equals the row number of the expression being calculated. 

• After Last Record and After All Down Stream Tools Have Completed: [_RecordNumber_] equals the total number of records passed through the tool.

  "Amount of records generated by Text to columns tool: " + TOSTRING([_RecordNumber_]