Performance Issues with Google BigQuery Input Tool in Alteryx Designer

[esar]

I'm reaching out to seek advice and potential solutions for a recurring issue I've been experiencing with the Google BigQuery input tool within Alteryx Designer. While the data processing speed once the workflow runs is satisfactory, the interaction with the tool during the design phase is leading to significant performance bottlenecks. Specifically, I'm encountering stalls and periods where Alteryx becomes "not responding" for durations of 20 to 40 seconds under the following circumstances:

1. Adding tools to the canvas: Whenever I try to add a new tool, there's a noticeable delay that disrupts the workflow design process.
2. Adjusting tools' configurations: Making adjustments to the configurations of any tool, but particularly the Google BigQuery input tool, results in prolonged unresponsiveness.
3. Accessing and amending settings: Opening and modifying settings within the tool causes similar delays.
4. Moving tools around: Simply rearranging tools on the canvas is met with sluggishness and temporary freezing.
5. Copying and pasting tools: The act of copying and pasting, which is typically a straightforward task, becomes tedious due to the slow response time.

These issues not only slow down the development of workflows but also affect the overall usability of Alteryx Designer when working with BigQuery data. I have tried a few troubleshooting steps such as checking for software updates, ensuring my system meets the recommended specifications, and even reinstalling Alteryx, but the problem persists.

I'm keen to hear if anyone else has faced similar issues and, more importantly, if there are any known fixes, workarounds, or optimizations that can help alleviate these performance issues. Any insights into optimizing the interaction with the Google BigQuery input tool or adjusting Alteryx Designer settings to improve responsiveness would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance for your support and suggestions!

[oyes2704]

Hi @esar ,

I'm currently working with Google BigQuery data as well and trying to narrow down performance issues. Some Alteryx components like transpose are notorious for not being able to propagate metadata well and are very slow on workflow updates. I would suggest breaking a workflow into several stages if possible.

How many tools does the workflow have?

How many input tools for BigQuery?

How many transformation tools that potentially cause metadata asynchronization?

If you found some good tips since you posted a while back - would appreciate if you could share.

Thanks,

Oly

[oyes2704]

Found another useful list of tips:

1. Only use browse tools when truly needed, since it shows 100% of the data (you can deactivate all browse tools at once in runtime tab of workflow's configuration: https://help.alteryx.com/current/designer/workflow-configuration
2. Use the minimum amount of blocking tools as possible: For example: join, sort, summarize, cross-tab, transpose. These tools need to have all the data before passing the data to the next tool: You can find all the blocking tools here: https://community.alteryx.com/t5/Engine-Works/The-Periodic-Table-of-Alteryx-tools/ba-p/64120
3. https://help.alteryx.com/current/designer/workflow-optimization