Version Control for Alteryx Designer

[jordancarson18]

Currently if one wants to compare different alteryx files or different versions of the same file - one needs to compare the XML files. If you are not very familiar with navigating XML, this poses a risk as one may not be able to identify all changes.

It would be a great addition to Alteryx to integrate Alteryx with Git, Subversion, CVS, Mercurial, and GitHub as this tool is becoming the go-to tool for data processing for data analysts and even programmers.

This additional functionality to compare previous versions (diff) and also to merge alteryx workflows if two people are working on the same workflow, and also to easily see what changes have been committed/ made by other developers and when would make Alteryx a much more powerful tool and would open doors to other types of users, as essentially you can run anything through Alteryx.

[kevinbird15]

It would be cool if Alteryx had some integrated version control.  I am imagining something similar to Visual Studio's version control where it is just a sidebar and you can check-in, check-out, and rollback changes.  Ideally it would hook up to GitHub and everything would be stored there so if there was a workflow that needed to go back to a production version, it would be easy to do.  

[KoryC]

Thanks for the feedback, @kevinbird15! Have you had a chance to check out the new version control available within 10.0? We introduced the ability to more easily save and open workflows to a Gallery, both the Alteryx Analytics Gallery as well as Private Galleries. Each time a workflow is changed and saved, it is saved as a new version, with the history of a workflow available to go back and see who has been making the changes, rollback to previous versions, and more. It'd be great to hear your thoughts on that functionality to see if it meets your needs, or any new capabilities you would like to see from that. As far as the GitHub integration, we've been taking some looks in that area. Nothing on the roadmap just yet there, but it is on our radar.

[kevinbird15]

I have used the version control in 10.0 and it is good, just wish that it were brought down to the desktop version.  I also think that allowing a user to save over a specific gallery would help solve this some.  

[KoryC]

Thanks, @kevinbird15. We'll be taking a look at what we can do to improve the saving-over portion and will keep you in the loop as we come up with some ideas around that. I'll also update this thread when some more around Git or SVN integrations is available. Keep the ideas rolling in!

[Harbinger]

@koryC, any news on this? I didnt see anything at Inspire this year. We have a lot of clients who ask about this! 

Cheers, 

John

[Atabarezz]

Probably version controlling on desktop won't be as easy as it sounds,

due to not having a common point of view in a central repository,

If  we can

1. track changes
2. track ownership with licence hashes and then
3. Be able to merge two different versions of a workflow and enable to follow a branch

that would bring it almost there don't you think? I'm sure most of you are aware of apache's subversion (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apache_Subversion) here is a   link on how it's use for SAS Datasteps http://www.phusewiki.org/docs/2011%20Papers/2011%20Presentations/pp18%20presentation.pdf

[Harbinger]

@atabarezz-- The common point of view is what I am looking for. I would like an integration with some source-control system. This would even enable automated deploys to advancing environments with enterprise deployment tools!

This is useful for bigger and/or advanced (company-wide adoption, strict agile analytic standards, separated server/gallery environments (dev, QA, Stage, and Production)) shops.

The arrangement would go as follows: develop on desktops, once a piece of functionality is completed, it would be checked in to a dev repository. This dev repository would then (perhaps simultaneously) be promoted to the dev server on some predetermined schedule or manually as the developer checks it in. At some point, when that functionality is ready for QA, it is promoted to the QA repository and server-- again, perhaps manually, or automatically. After the functionality is approved by QA, it moves to staging, and so on all the way through advancing environments and, ultimately, to production at the end of a sprint. Does that make sense? 

[Atabarezz]

For the centeralized solution we already have the Alteryx server...

The gist here is if we'll have a solution on designer

• Should be able to work without a server or
• A web based source control system...
• Be able to handle offline working
• Thus be able to tackle with manual interventions, updates etc.
• No need for an admin, a hierarchical system etc.

or it will become a autocracy system...

What I believe and understand from the need is, it should be a democracy in which everybody can branch out

and can merge if likes to, that is innovative, don't you agree...

[JohnJPS]

What I'm going for here is integration with one or more well-known source control systems such as GitHub or TFS (or SVN, etc).

Bonus points for the ability to manage defects and/or projects, (SDCL / ALM concepts)... such as is available in TFS or Jira). The most common use case here would be, for instance; a user has an issue that will be resolved by modifying a workflow in Alteryx.  Pulling that workflow from Source Control and checking it in once finished with the ability to tick that defect somewhere during the check-in process.... this would allow for better defect tracking and  control.

Similarly for projects... building out a backlog n advance and then having a code repository associated with the project, and the ability to knock off backlog items formally as part of the code check-in process, via integrated features in the app (Alteryx) itself.  Example: Microsoft Visual Studio with TFS for the source control and project/defect ALM tool is very good at this.