Input File Exceeds Limit

[jiriwkrecek]

My colleague and I run on V2020.2 and our workflow is throwing an error for her, which I do not get when I try to run: "The file size exceeds the limits allowed and cannot be saved."

• Our input tool is reading an Alteryx DB file (60MB with 82 columns and 75k records)
• Mine runs fine, but when my colleague runs it she gets the above error at the very beginning of the workflow
• We've tried to troubleshoot and even trying to open this YXDB file in a new workflow by itself totally fails for her
• As a workaround I've output the YXDB file into XLSX for her and that runs just fine
• I want to use the YXDB file for speed and efficiency instead of Excel

Anyone know why we would get a limit error while using an Alteryx DB file on input??? 

Thanks!

JK>

[DavidSkaife · Accepted solution]

Hi @jiriwkrecek 

Where is the YXDB file saved, it's not on sharepoint by any chance is it? Just been doing some investigating on the issue - could you try reducing the size of the file to under 50MB and test if that works?

Cheers,

David

[IraWatt]

@jiriwkrecek your error doesn't sound like its erroring due to the input. The error says "cannot be saved" Excel and other file types do have limits what are you saving  to?

[jiriwkrecek]

Thank you! I was worried you'd say say that. I should have mentioned that this indeed was stored on a SharePoint site and each of us maps this library as a network drive in Windows. We use the same path and same drive letter to precisely match our Windows Explorer addresses. Since we are in different regions (AD domains), SP is the only way for us to collaborate and share the files in real time. We do not have access to OneDrive (yet).

• I have no control over the data, but will try your suggestion to cut part of it out to get under 50MB and see, if that prevents the error.
• I just prefer working in YXDB as there is no conversion going on and it is native to Alteryx. And fast!
• What surprised me was that the error is talking about saving the data when we are not saving - we are reading the file, that's al we are doing

[jiriwkrecek]

Thanks! That is the weird part! 

We are not writing anything. My colleague merely points to that file in the Input Tool and  the error shows up before we even try to run it! We are reading data from the file for reference and we are not writing into it.
YXDB file is on SharePoint and is 60MB - works for me, but not my colleague

XLSX file (with the same data set in it) is also on SharePoint and is 40MB - works for both of us

I did not know there was a threshold in file size this low when SharePoint was used, because our SP collections can easily handle files 250MB and up.

I cannot figure out what is causing this error for my colleague who is in the EU and I'm in U.S. and would much prefer using the YXDB as it triples the speed of my workflows (albeit being a larger source file).
Unfortunately, because of our geographical distance, SharePoint is the only solution we have to work together on the same source files.

[DavidSkaife · Accepted solution]

Hi @jiriwkrecek 

There is a thread from 2019 on this issue, which has a solution on it that worked if you're able (and willing) to edit the registry on your colleagues machine - https://community.alteryx.com/t5/Alteryx-Designer-Discussions/Size-limitation-Sharepoint-Online-File...

[jiriwkrecek]

Yep, that is the culprit! My colleague runs on a legacy VDI platform and I am on the latest iteration of a VM, which apparently has higher file size threshold (I only assume here), so I've suggested her to request a move of her session. We do not have permissions to RegEdit and this being a VM, we'd have to change this registry key every time we reboot a session, so that is a non-starter.

Big thanks for pointing me to that article!!! I will keep that 50MB limit in mind while hunting for a better file sharing solution and really want to stick to the YXDB file instead of CSV where I get all sorts of data conversion warnings.