***Note from Migration:***
Original Title was: After running a workflow, restart it from any point in order to skip initial processing
Problem
When I'm developing a larger workspace (~50+ transformers) it's common that there is there is an error or misconfiguration deep into the translation (e.g. after 30 transformers and 10 minutes of run-time). I want to make a quick change and then restart the translation right before the configuration change (i.e. I don't want to wait 10 minutes to see if what I did makes it better).
Workaround
Currently, I can achieve what I want with the following workflow:
- pick a spot in the translation where you want to continue from,
- insert a Recorder transformer to save a FFS file,
- run the workspace once,
- disable the reader, and
- insert a Player transformer and pick the FFS file.
Caveats
This is great, but not ideal:
- The process requires a number of manual steps.
- I generally have to add this after I realize I have a problem.
- I can only choose one spot where I can continue.
In general, these caveats cause me to struggle through for sometime incurring the extra time. It's only when it gets bad enough that I will deploy the player/recorder pattern.
Idea 1
I know that there is a very nice feature called "Run with Full Inspection". It actually saves the FFS files at each spot in the workspace so that you can inspect the data at any point. My idea is to allow the translation to be started from ANY point.
Idea 2
If that idea means that too much unnecessary data will be saved, then allow us to easily mark points in the workspace where we want to be able to continue. Then allow us to start the translation from those points.
