One click "Cache all file inputs"

[haraldharders]

I am working with complex workflows which use multiple files as input, located on network drives. Input tools are Input Data, Directory, Wildcard Input, Wildcard XLSX Input (from CReW macros).

Regularly, I experience very slow Designer when working on the workflows, and slow progress when running the tools mentioned above, especially when working from home. Switching off Auto Configure did not really help because I the column list sometimes does not converge even after pressing F5 multiple times, and when actively working on workflows, I have to press F5 all the time...

In order to speed up both working on workflows and running the workflows, I would like to propose a function "Cache all File Inputs" which loads and caches all file inputs at once. To achieve this state, I now have Cache and Run workflow once per every file input.

[DavidP]

This is an awesome idea!

[AudreyMcPfe]

I LOVE this idea..  especially since designer doesn't seem to like when you ctrl-select some types of tools like a Text Input in with a Data Input.  I have taken to putting all Data Input tools into containers and shading them a consistent color.  That way I can zoom way out and distinguish which ones I want to ctrl-click - but a one button "cache all" would be way better.

I would go one further regards to caching.  I would take advantage of caching tools beyond the inputs more often if there was a way to selectively un-cache individual tools.  If I cache 80% of my tools while working on the last bits but find there is one cached tool I need to tweak, I lose the whole cache.  With big datasets, recaching the data can be quite time consuming.  Maybe decouple caching data tools from transformational tools could work well.

[cgoodman3]

@haraldharders this would be a fantastic extra feature to add, maybe now there is an option for better controlling outputs with the ability to enable and disable outputs (as announced in 2022.3), better control over inputs is the next logical step.

[marcusblackhill]

@haraldharders totally agreed. That could be an option in the workflow settings, like the other one, to disable all outputs. Currently, I manually select all the inputs to cache them all, but that turns the Designer really slow when I have tons of inputs. A simple check box would speed up that process.

[Jonathan-Sherman]

This is a great idea! Would love to see the optionality to cache all inputs in the click of one button. If a large proportion of your runtime is reading in files it would still allow you to make changes to the tools and give you full flexibility later in the pipeline rather rather than caching after the final input has been joined to the main branch.

[DMV]

Yes please!

[BenB]

New user to Altervx_. Has this function been added yet? Thanks, BB