The Alteryx database file format .yxdb is a file type that can hold data fields, values, and spatial objects. The .yxdb format is the most efficient file type for reading and writing in Alteryx because it has no size limit, is compressed for maximum speed, and includes additional metadata that references the source of the data and how the data was created. While there is no limit to the number of rows or file size, there is a size limit of 2GB in a 64-bit environment. All Alteryx products have read and write support for .yxdb files.
Why is a .yxdb file the most efficient input/output file type?
A .yxdb file uses the exact same column types, structures and formats as Alteryx does internally, so it works best with the program. There is no row limit so you can have greater than 2 billion rows. There is not any other file format, other than text, that supports as many rows.
What if a .yxdb file has a spatial object field, but there is no spatial process in the workflow and I want to simply pass the spatial object through and do a transformation on other data. Would it still be most efficient to use a .yxdb?
Yes, but in this case you would want to turn off the Spatial Index in the advanced options so you don't waste any time and space creating it.
What other information is stored in a .yxdb file?
When Alteryx writes to a .yxdb file, the data in the Source and Description columns are saved in the file so you will always know how a field was created or the what vintage of the underlying data values are. See the Field Info Tool for an example of this metadata.
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