Save Query Results

Alation Cloud Service Applies to Alation Cloud Service instances of Alation

Customer Managed Applies to customer-managed instances of Alation

Each time you run or execute a query, Alation saves (caches) the results and makes them available in the catalog. Alation deletes the results after seven days by default, unless you take action to preserve them permanently. For more information about saving, deleting, and preserving query results, see below.

Save Query Results

Alation automatically saves the results anytime you run a query and anytime a scheduled query is executed.

Alation has an upper limit on how much data can be saved for a given query result. The upper limit is 16 MB of data by default. Data in excess of the limit will not be saved. When downloading query results, only saved data that’s under the limit will be downloaded.

To change the upper limit, see Configuring Query Result Size. To control the ability to export and download results, see Manage Access to Data Export and Download.

Delete Query Results

Alation automatically deletes all saved results after seven days by default. To prevent query results from being deleted automatically, see Preserve Query Results Permanently below.

The length of time before results are automatically deleted is configurable by a Server Admin. Admins can also delete previously saved query results. See Managing Space: Purge Query Results.

Preserve Query Results Permanently

If enabled by an admin, you can preserve query results permanently so they aren’t deleted. To preserve query results permanently:

  • Click the Preserve Data link on the Results tab in Compose.

or

  • Click the Preserve Data button on a query results catalog page.

Note

If the Preserve Data button or link is not visible, it may be because:

  • The ability to preserve query results has been disabled by an admin.

  • You clicked the button or link already, so your query results are already saved.

  • An admin has made it so query results are preserved automatically if they’re under a certain size, and your results qualified.

Admins can configure this feature in different ways: