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Import Basics

Designer Cloud can import data from a variety of flat file formats and other distributed sources.

Note

does not modify a source. Instead, a set of metadata is associated with the source data, which enables transformation of the source. On export, a new version of the data is written to one or more specified output destinations.

Steps:

When data is imported, a reference to it is stored by the platform as an imported dataset. The source data is not modified. In the application, you modify the recipe associated with a dataset to transform a sample of the imported data.

Note

Any user with a valid user account can import data from a local file.

  1. Login to the application.

  2. In the menubar, click Library for Data.

  3. Click Import Data.

  4. To add a dataset:

    1. Select the connection where your source is located.

    2. Upload:

      1. Select Upload to upload a file from your local desktop. You can select multiple files to upload. For this example, select only one file.

      2. Navigate and select the file or files for your source. Click Open.

    3. Backend storage, such as S3:

      1. Navigate and select the file or files for your source.

      2. To queue the dataset for uploading, click the Plus icon next to its name.

      3. You can select multiple files.

    4. Select the Add to new flow checkbox. This option creates a new flow, which is a container object for your Alteryx assets. Your imported dataset is added to it.

  5. To begin working with your dataset, click Continue.

  6. The imported dataset and its containing flow are created.

  7. You can begin working with the dataset in the Transformer page. For more information, seeTransform Basics.

Tip

If you are interested, you can create a visual profile of your source data before you begin transforming. For more information, see Profiling Basics.

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