The following section describes the loading of the SAP extraction data from Alteryx.

Requirements #

The Xtract Universal Alteryx plugin for the Alteryx Designer is required to use the Alteryx destination.

Installation using the Xtract Universal Setup #

The Xtract Universal setup installs the Xtract Universal Alteryx plugin if there is a valid Alteryx installation on the current system.
If you install Alteryx after installing Xtract Universal, run the Xtract Universal setup again.

The Xtract Universal setup creates the following entries and extensions in the installation directory of that Alteryx installation:

  • Alteryx\Settings\AdditionalPlugins\XtractUniversal.ini
  • Alteryx\bin\RuntimeData\icons\categories\XtractUniversal.png
  • Alteryx\bin\RuntimeData\DefaultSettings.xml

Note: Run the Xtract Universal setup on every machine that needs the Xtract Universal Alteryx plugin. If there is more than one Alteryx installation on your system, the Xtract Universal setup only detects one installation.

Connection #

Adding a Destination #

  1. In the main window of the Designer, navigate to Server > Manage Destinations. The window “Manage Destinations” opens.
  2. Click [Add] to create a new destination. The window “Destination Details” opens.
  3. Enter a Name for the destination.
  4. Select the destination Type from the drop-down menu.

Destination Details #

To use the Alteryx destination, no further settings have to be made.

alteryx-create-destination

Settings #

Opening the Destination Settings #

  1. Create or select an existing extraction, see Getting Started with Xtract Universal.
  2. Click [Destination]. The window “Destination Settings” opens. Destination-settings

The following settings can be defined for the destination:

Destination Settings #

alteryx-configuration

Column Name Style #

Defines the style of the column name. Following options are available:

column_name_style_options

  • Code: The SAP technical column name is used as column name in the destination e.g., MAKTX.
  • PrefixedCode: The SAP technical column name is prefixed by SAP object name and the tilde character e.g., MAKT~MAKTX
  • CodeAndText: The SAP technical column name and the SAP description separated by an underscore are used as column name in the destination e.g., MAKTX_Material Description (Short Text).
  • TextAndCode: The SAP description and the SAP technical column name description separated by an underscore are used as column name in the destination e.g., Material Description (Short Text)_MAKTX.
  • Text: The SAP description is used as column name in the destination e.g., Material Description (Short Text).

Date conversion #

Convert date strings
Converts the character-type SAP date (YYYYMMDD, e.g., 19900101) to a special date format (YYYY-MM-DD, e.g., 1990-01-01). Target data uses a real date data-type and not the string data-type to store dates.

Convert invalid dates to
If an SAP date cannot be converted to a valid date format, the invalid date is converted to the entered value. NULL is supported as a value.

When converting the SAP date the two special cases 00000000 and 9999XXXX are checked at first.

Convert 00000000 to
Converts the SAP date 00000000 to the entered value.

Convert 9999XXXX to
Converts the SAP date 9999XXXX to the entered value.

Settings in Alteryx #

Using Xtract Universal Tool in Alteryx #

  1. Add the the Xtract Universal tool to your Alteryx workflow. XU_alteryx_plugin
  2. Specify the following settings for the Xtract Universal tool in the Alteryx Designer:
    • Connection
    • Parameters

Connection #

Server
The name, IP or domain and port to access the server within the network.
Format: [Server]:[Port].

Extraction
The name of the desired extraction. When clicking the arrow next to the text area, all available extractions are loaded into a drop-down menu. Only the extractions with Alteryx as destination type are displayed. You can define the destination type in the Xtract Universal Designer.

Note: Make sure the Xtract Universal server is running.

Send SAP credentials (3)
Mark the checkbox Send SAP credentials, if the Require SAP Credentials to be explicitly supplied for execution checkbox is also marked in the SAP source settings in Xtract Universal.

The setting Send SAP credentials can be useful in self service scenarios. When each extraction needs to be executed using an individual user’s SAP credentials instead of the globally defined credentials.

Authenticate using current Windows user
Mark the checkbox Authenticate using current Windows user to use the Windows user that runs Alteryx for authentication.

Parameters #

In the tab Parameters tab, the Xtract Universal tool can load the available parameters for the specified extraction.

Example 1: Overriding Custom Parameters with Static Values #

In the following example, an extraction of SAP customers contains the city parameter defined in the Custom Defined Parameters. The city parameter can be overwritten with a static value (here: Stuttgart). To override the parameter city, mark the checkbox Override and entering a new value.

alteryx-custom-parameters

Example 2: Overriding Custom Parameters with Dynamic Values #

The Xtract Universal tool can also receive inputs, e.g., via the Input Data Tool. The data input can be dynamically used to override the custom parameter in Xtract Universal.
In the following example, an extraction of SAP customers contains the city parameter defined in the Custom Defined Parameters. The parameter can be set dynamically. To override the parameter city, mark the checkbox Override and the checkbox Map. Select an item out of the drop-down list in the field value.

alteryx-custom-parameters

For more information on custom parameters go to User-Defined Variables.

If the connection to the specified Xtract Universal server is not established and no errors are shown, the Xtract Unversal tool has a tooltip in the following format: [Extraction] @ [Server].

alteryx-full-workflow