Question: In order to perform tasks like sorting, loading or some other tasks does Alteryx create temporary files?
Answer:
Yes - if you select the Workflow-Configuration, Runtime tab you will see the path used for writing out Temporary files for your individual workflow.
To set your Default Temporary Directory, Click Options-User Settings-Edit User Settings, and change the Default Temporary Directory.
Advantage:
- You can either configure the temp file path globally in your user\system settings or per-workflow on the workflow configuration tab
- You can write output to the temp file path using %Engine.TempFilePath% (e.g. %Engine.TempFilePath%MyFile.yxdb)
- When your workflow finishes and you close Alteryx, content in %Engine.TempFilePath% is deleted -- this is a great way to let Alteryx clean up interim content without your intervention.
Some things to be aware of:
- If a process 'dies', the temp file isn't necessarily cleared out. It's a good idea to check the temp file path periodically for abandoned temp files/folders.
- Temp files must be stored on the machine running Alteryx (e.g. you can't put the temp files on a network drive).
For more information, search the Alteryx help (F1) for %temp%!