C:\Users\Alteryx\Example\ sales*.csv = Alteryx would input the two files that start with “sales” and end with “.csv” above.C:\Users\Alteryx\Example\ *.csv = Alteryx would input all of the files that end in “.csv”.C:\Users\Alteryx\Example\ *.csv = Alteryx would input all of the “.csv” files in the folder location.To further illustrate how it works, the screenshot below will be used as an example: When using this functionality, the input tool pulls all the files in the specified folder location that meet the wildcard criteria and unions them into a single data set. The asterisk works as a wildcard, meaning that it matches any set of characters. To do so, you need to configure your input tool as if you were inputting a single file, but then you replace part or all of the filename with an asterisk (*). The first way to accomplish this task is by utilizing a “wildcard” in your input tool configuration. A frequent example of this is storing monthly sales reports on a shared drive.īelow I have outlined the two most common ways to accomplish this task. The need to analyze all of this data at once occurs regularly and can be handled with ease using Alteryx. In my experience, loading multiple files of the same format is a common Alteryx use case because many companies store various data sets/reports in shared storage locations over specific intervals of time (daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, etc). Alteryx allows you to use a single input tool to load multiple files at once, as long as they have the same data structure.
Do you need to input multiple similarly structured files into an Alteryx workflow? Does it seem crazy to put a bunch of input tools into the same workflow to load identically formatted files? Alteryx thought so, and they have a solution.