Leveraging Triggers In Alteryx Workflows

Your workflow may have dependencies or ordered steps built into it for it to execute properly, whether it is the download of a file, a needed sequence of events, or any number of other reasons why controlling the order of the execution is important. However, the first item in that set of tools has no input or any mechanism to control when it will start. Not implemented properly, the workflow may not execute correctly.

What Is The Solution?

The only way to handle this is to use a batch macro function as a triggering mechanism, allowing for more control of the sequencing and timing to ensure your workflow can execute as intended.

Example

The concept is straightforward. The portion of the workflow which needs to be delayed until the workflow is ready for it should be put into a macro; then, you simply place a Control Parameter in it.

In the below example, I have created two separate macros (Child and Parent) utilizing a Control Parameter to delay the execution of the input tool until the last record has arrived at the point in the workflow in which I want to process the input.

The Control Parameter can be labeled whatever you like, and you can pass any column into it because you are going to do nothing with the value.

Child Macro

In the parent macro workflow, I need to reduce the workflow to one record before executing the child macro so that it executes only once. There are a number of ways to do that, in this example I used the Sample tool to get the “Last 1” records.

Parent Macro

The formula fields in the example simply illustrate that it is working as intended. The Browse Tool timestamps indicate that the module delayed execution until the record hit it.

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