Alteryx Foundation Micro-Credential Practice Exam

What tool combines two or more data streams into one based on similar structures?

1. Join

2. Union

3. Sample

4. Sort

The correct answer is: Union

The tool that combines two or more data streams into one based on similar structures is the Union tool. The Union tool is specifically designed to append data sets together, operating under the principle that the data sets need to have the same structure or schema (i.e., the same number of fields and matching field types) to be combined effectively. When using the Union tool, it aligns the incoming data streams by their fields and merges them, accommodating cases where some fields may not exist in every data set. This capability is especially useful when aggregating data from multiple sources that share common data structure characteristics, enabling users to consolidate datasets into a single stream for subsequent analysis. The other choices serve different purposes: the Join tool combines data based on key fields, creating a new data set that includes matched records; the Sample tool is used to extract a subset of data, and the Sort tool organizes data according to specified criteria.