Lock Workflow To prevent accidental changes to tool settings

Does anyone know if it is possible to locak a workflow so that tool settings can not be changed unless the workflow is unlocked again?

I have read this article: https://help.alteryx.com/20213/designer/lock-your-workflow, but it is not quite what I am looking for.

The intention here is not to lock out a workflow so that only the original creator can unlock it. Anybody should be able to unlock and change the workflow when intentionally needing to do so. This is just to prevent accidental changes. Here is a good use case:

I was recently demoing a workflow that I am passing on to a colleague. When doing so, I accidently changed one of the fields in a sort by tool which caused some havoc. To prevent this in future, I'd like to be able to lock my completed workflows, and pass them on in the locked state. If future requirements change, then the current owner should be able to unlock and make the changes required.

Thanks in advance for any answers.

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danilang

hi @Jason_

There is no way to lock a workflow from within Alteryx so that it can be unlocked and edited. The Lock workflow option (Encrypt workflow in previous versions) is a one way operation. Once a workflow is Locked(encrypted) it can't be edited, or even viewed, by anyone, not even the original owner. The License option only allows you to specify who can Run the workflow.

As work arounds you can

- Set the workflow file to read only in Windows. This will stop users from accidentally saving changes that they make to a workflow. It doesn't stop users from opening it, making changes and running the changed workflow, so read-only files can still change prod data. But using this method would have stopped your sorting change example from being passed on to the next user. The read only flag can be inadvertently be reset though, by copying the file to an ftp site, or other methods.

-Have a hybrid approach where you lock workflows and keep an editable copy in a secure location, preferably with check-in/check-out auditing. Users will run the locked version, unless they specifically need to make changes/debug, etc. In this case they modify the secure version and create a new locked version when done.

-Use Alteryx server, where you can define permissions levels so most users will only be able to run workflows, but authors can change and upload new workflows.

Dan

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apathetichell

you can lock a workflow - options - advanced options - lock workflow.

HomesickSurfer

Hi @apathetichell

FYI, that option is not available in 2020.2.3

apathetichell

Interesting - so the setups pre-Python change might not be able to access it. I see it in 2020.4

HomesickSurfer

I think so...

Jason_

All replies above refer to the article I already referenced. Locking that way means that only I can unlock, or others that I give access to at the time I lock the flow. I'm looking for a way that enables anybody in the future to unlock. These workflows can live a long time, and often seldom require changing. What happens if I lock it today and someone needs to make changes in 5 years time when I am not around any longer and the machine with this serial number is possibly not around either? What does the company do then?

Jason_

I see the serial numbers thing is optional. I'll try it out with a colleague and see if this works. If it does, I'll reply here and mark this as solved.

apathetichell

I think what you are really looking for is better version control - not locking. Like if you accidentally save a change in a demo you want to roll back that change - you aren't looking to lock/unlock it. At least that's how I'm reading it.

HomesickSurfer

Hi. We've accidentally modified and saved workflows. The fix was to use Windows feature to restore previous versions...right-click .yx* file, Restore Previous Version...

KaneG

The serial numbers option should work by memory, however can maybe get a little messy in order to get right. There's no other way that I can think of, however there are other options available to get around these types of issues that may be easier considering this would ideally be a rare occurrence.

By default, autosave is set to every 10 mins and 30 days memory, so you should be able to find the old workflow in there.
When you save a workflow, a .bak file is created that is the previous saved version of the workflow. You can change this file extension to yxmd and open that as your workflow.

danilang

hi @Jason_

As work arounds you can

-Use Alteryx server, where you can define permissions levels so most users will only be able to run workflows, but authors can change and upload new workflows.

Dan

Jason_

Thanks @danilang.

This is so far the best solution. It will prevent users accidently changing and overwriting a workflow without intention. I will be making use of it as a best option for now; however, it is far from ideal. This will not stop a user accidently changing a setting then running a workflow since workflows don't need to be saved before running.

I think this would be a very useful feature, and will make a suggestion to add the functionality. Here is another use case:

Assume a large complex workflow needs a change, but the user is not absolutely sure where and needs to review tool settings on a few tools before finding the one they want to change. While doing this, they could accidently change a setting somewhere introducing a new bug. If the tools were locked for editing while reviewing, then unlocked once the correct tool was identified, this scenario would be preventable.

KSassone

Thankyou @HomesickSurfer - ran into this issue today; searched Community; found this post and your response was the resolution I was looking for ! Than kyou !!

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