Sorting Processes in Alteryx

[MattD]

Any tool that performs a Sort will increase processing time.

Many tools in Alteryx utilize a sorting process as a facet of their inherent functionality or if a group by option is used. The Summarize tool does this, for example. Alteryx has the ability to remember Sorts, or said another way, it knows if data has already been sorted upstream. This is a behavior that you can take advantage of as yet another means of optimizing your module’s processing. In the example shown, the process in Green is more efficient, as sorting will only be performed on the data once. For the process in Red, sorting will have to be performed twice.

Tools that Sort

Tools that use Sorts:	Tools use Temp Files and/or Internal Sorts:
Cross Tab	Spatial Process
Dynamic Input	Block Until Done
Join	Auto Field
Multi Row Formula	Distance (Guzzler Only)
Running Total	Trade Area (Guzzler Only or Non-Overlapping)
Sample	Run Command (Temp files only)
Tile
Unique	Use Temp Files and/or Internal Sorts at the Process level:
Allocate Report	Location Optimizers
Chart	Batch Macros (for secondary inputs)
Layout	Iterative Macros (for secondary inputs)
Render
Table
Behavior Create Profile
Buffer
Find Nearest
Generalize
Poly Build
Smooth
Spatial Match
Summarize
Charting
Join Multiple
Sort
Calgary Loader
Make Group
Fuzzy Match

[eliaskurian]

Just curious about why a dynamic input tool sorts the data connected to its input anchor.