Partial Runs

When caching is turned on, running a translation causes data to be cached at every part of the workspace. In subsequent runs, those caches can be used instead of having to re-run entire sections of the workspace.

Here, for example, a workspace has been run with caching turned on:

Now the author makes a change to the AreaCalculator parameters:

Notice that the caches change colour (to yellow) on the AreaCalculator and subsequent transformers. This colour denotes that caches are stale; their data contents no longer match what the workspace would produce.

To get the new results, the author must re-run the workspace. However, they do not have to re-run the entire workspace; they can start the workspace at the point of change - the AreaCalculator:

TIP

The keyboard shortcut F5 runs the workspace from any existing caches, instead of running the entire workspace, which you can do with Shift + F5.

Run From This causes the workspace to run from that point only, using data cached up until that point. Notice how hovering over the option causes all "downstream" transformers to be highlighted. They are the only ones that will be run. That makes the translation quicker.

The other option is Run To This. The author could use that option on the writer feature type and get much the same effect:

...but notice how the second branch from the StatisticsCalculator does not get highlighted. It will not be run. That shows how you can avoid running a particular section of workspace, in much the same way as if that connection had been disabled.

TIP

A partial run is particularly useful in avoiding re-reading data from its source; especially when the data comes from a slow, remote location such as a web service.

Also, caches can be saved with the workspace, when it is saved as a template. That means the workspace can be re-run using the caches from a previous session or even from another author!