Small Output Data taking longer than Large Output Data is it Block Until Done Issue?

[jjames12]

Hello,

I am a new user to Alteryx. I have a workflow that I would like to speed up the runtime. I have two sheets output to the same excel file. The part that I am not understanding is that the sheet that is writing over 200k+ records is running quicker than the other sheet that is only writing 1 record (a few sums based on columns of the first sheet). I used the Performance Profiling function in Alteryx and it shows the Output node for the sheet producing one record took 42% of the runtime while the output node for the sheet with 200k+ records took only about 24% of the total runtime. Is this due to using the Block Until Done? Or is there something else slowing this down that I am not understanding? If this is due to the Block Until Done is there any alternatives to using this that might speed up my workflow?

Any help and guidance is appreciated, Thanks!

[binuacs]

@jjames12 The block until done waits for the first operation to complete to execute the second. If you are writing in the same Excel and different sheets then try to write without using the block until done tool

[caltang]

If you are on version 2023.1, you can consider Control Containers to suit your needs other than a Block Until Done.

Kindly refer here: https://community.alteryx.com/t5/Alteryx-Designer-Desktop-Discussions/Saving-Multiple-Outputs-to-the...

There's a few workflows attached and three ways to resolve your need. It also touches on what @binuacs suggested. Hope it helps @jjames12 !

[apathetichell]

try swapping hte block until done anchors and see the effect that has on the performance profiling...

[jjames12]

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@binuacs wrote:

@jjames12 The block until done waits for the first operation to complete to execute the second. If you are writing in the same Excel and different sheets then try to write without using the block until done tool

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@binuacsthank you for your response. I understand that is what the Block Until Done is doing. Unfortunately, if I do not use Block Until Done then I get an error saying that the file is open and the workflow stops running because Alteryx is attempting to write to 2 different sheets in the same file at the same time. Also, a different part of the workflow is writing to the same sheet at different ranges so I am using Block Until Done to accomplish this, but I think it may be slowing down the workflow significantly.

[jjames12]

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@apathetichell wrote:

try swapping hte block until done anchors and see the effect that has on the performance profiling...

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@apathetichellI will try this and see what happens. I am guessing that whichever output is 2nd in the Block Until Done will be slower, but I will try this and see what happens. Thank you for the suggestion.

[jjames12]

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@caltang wrote:

If you are on version 2023.1, you can consider Control Containers to suit your needs other than a Block Until Done.

Kindly refer here: https://community.alteryx.com/t5/Alteryx-Designer-Desktop-Discussions/Saving-Multiple-Outputs-to-the...

There's a few workflows attached and three ways to resolve your need. It also touches on what @binuacs suggested. Hope it helps @jjames12 !

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@caltang  thank you for the suggestion. I looked at the link you shared and I do think Control Containers could be helpful in this scenario; however, I have an older version of Alteryx that does not have the Control Containers and unfortunately due to my work I cannot upgrade to the newer version of Alteryx yet. Do you have any experience with Block Until Done causing writing to files to slow the workflow down significantly? Is there any other alternative to accomplish this other than Control Containers? Thank you for the help!

[jjames12]

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@jjames12 wrote:

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@apathetichell wrote:

try swapping hte block until done anchors and see the effect that has on the performance profiling...

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@apathetichellI will try this and see what happens. I am guessing that whichever output is 2nd in the Block Until Done will be slower, but I will try this and see what happens. Thank you for the suggestion.

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@apathetichell  -update : I did try switching these and the runtime was still greater for the Summary tab that is only writing one row. Not sure I understand why this would be. Maybe it isn't the Block Until Done, but if it isn't then I don't understand why the small 7kb output would take longer than the roughly 28mb output to write.