Spatial functions in Alteryx

Next week I will be running a teaching session about Spatial tools in Alteryx. While prepping for this session, I came across some underrated functions in Alteryx: Spatial Functions.

Say you had latitude and longitude fields and you wanted to create spatial points from them. In the past, I would have dragged a ‘Create Points’ tool onto the canvas, like this:

Today I learned that instead of doing this, you can use a formula tool to create a point using the ST_CreatePoint function:

Two things to note are:

  • The latitude and longitude need to be in number format (not string)
  • The data output type needs to be a Spatial Object

This was just a simple example, but there are many other spatial functions available in Alteryx.

In case I have failed to convince you that spatial functions in Alteryx are really cool, here are some more reasons you should use them:

  • You can include many steps inside one tool. Instead of dragging various spatial tool onto the canvas, just insert one formula tool and create many spatial formulas within it.
  • There are awesome spatial functions like ST_Random which returns a random point within a spatial object

For another Alteryx spatial trick using the Summarize tool, have a look at this blog.

Hope you have fun with all things spatial in Alteryx. If you want to get in touch, you can find me at on Twitter at @MBedarida

Author:
Micol Bedarida
Powered by The Information Lab
1st Floor, 25 Watling Street, London, EC4M 9BR
Subscribe
to our Newsletter
Get the lastest news about The Data School and application tips
Subscribe now
© 2025 The Information Lab