Lock Workflow To prevent accidental changes to tool settings

[Jason_]

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.

[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.