Teradata Sessions

[rkgudde]

Hello, and thanks for taking my question.  I am a teradata DBA, so very unfamiliar with Alteryx.  We have a group which is building workflows which access teradata.  The workflows themselves take many hours (24+) prior to getting to the teradata sql needing to run.  The problem is the teradata sessions are established at the beginning of the workflow and sit idle until the workflow needs them.  This means we have idle sessions for 24+ hours (and now they say 36 hours).  Can someone please explain the reasons behind this and if there are any tweaks that can be done so the sessions are established when needed rather than at the beginning of the workflow.

any guidance would be greatly appreciated

[TrevorS]

Hello @rkgudde 
Typically the Input data is loaded in first for multiple reasons.
But the simplest reasons are:

1. They usually take the longest to run due to the fact that they are the data source.

2. Since other tools pull from the Input data, and are used to manipulate data within the workflow, they are pulled at the start so that the data doesn't come into formatting issues if grabbed downstream as well.

If you are trying to speed up the workflow runtime while troubleshooting and building, you can cache the workflow at the data source, which will store the data locally. ( I would recommend doing this with a sample data size if you are dealing with large-scale datasets.) This will greatly speed up your workflow runtime while doing your inital troubleshooting and build.

There currently isnt a way to stop input data tools from not running until downstream, but you can submit an idea for this here.

Thanks,
TrevorS

[SeanAdams]

hey @rkgudde 

If I'm not mistaken, you can prevent an input tool from running on the canvas until the upstream stuff has completed by wrapping in a batch macro.   Batch macros are unique in that they are controlled for execution order, and so this is a simple workaround that you may want to use.

there's some good training on Batch Macros in the academy here: https://community.alteryx.com/t5/*/tkb-p/interactive-lessons