Auto Save on Run is coming - that's a bad idea

[Brad1]

I hope that there will be a radio button or a check box where Auto Save on Run can be disabled.  Auto Save on Run is a bad idea.  I often go into workflows and only need one report - so I break a bunch of connections to other reports, maybe I make some other small adhoc or one-off type changes and then Run the workflow.  I get my one, maybe modified, report and close without saving.  So the next time I open the workflow it's as it should be. 

With Auto Save on Run - I'd have to undo everything I changed.  What if it's not my workflow to be changing?  If there is no option to turn it off:  I'd have to make a copy of the workflow, open and make changes, then run, then close, then delete the workflow.

In general, you should never be saving unless it is a deliberate act performed by the user.

[ARich]

Hi @Brad1,

Thanks so much for this feedback.  You have made us aware that the vocabulary we're using is not quite accurate and "auto-save" actually means something different in Word. Not to worry, what we're currently calling auto-save will never overwrite your deliberately saved files. While we are auto-saving on a run, this is only so that if your computer crashes and Alteryx is unexpectedly closed without work being saved, we will be able to recover the last auto-saved version of your file/workflow. We'll present this auto-saved version of your workflow as an option to open when you re-open Alteryx. It's the same concept as auto-recovered files in word or powerpoint. You don't have to accept or open the auto-saved workflow and it will never overwrite your deliberately saved workflow.

That being said, auto-recover is probably a more intuitive term to describe the above concept, so we're looking at changing our vocabulary to make it more clear. Thanks so much for pointing this out to us!

Best,

Alex

[Brad1]

Oh, that's great!

Brad Shannon
Financial Analyst - Geo Analytics
Express Scripts

[jpoz]

It doesn't actually save your workflow, it saves a copy of your workflow as a .bak file. If you choose to open it it will open as a normal yxmd/etc., but it doesn't ever save over the original file it is backing up.

[Brad1]

Works for me.

Relieved to find out it doesn't save over a workflow, that it is really a recovery if Alteryx crashes or the power goes out.

I often go in, make changes, run and exit w/o saving.