Quick BI:Configure the Quick Engine

Prerequisites

The target data source is connected. Connect to a data source.

Limitations

• Only users with the Developer user type and a workspace role that includes permissions to create or edit datasets can use the acceleration configuration feature.

• Cross-data-source datasets do not support incremental updates.

• Manually triggered acceleration tasks do not support incremental updates.

• If a dataset contains placeholders, extraction acceleration supports only the Accelerated Placeholder type.

Direct connection mode

Direct connection mode is the default Quick engine mode. All queries run directly on the underlying database or data warehouse. All databases connected to Quick BI support this mode.

1. Log on to the Quick BI console.

2. On the Quick BI homepage, go to the dataset edit page.

   

3. On the dataset edit page, create a dataset. Create a dataset.

   

   After you save the dataset, data analysis queries based on this dataset use the direct connection mode by default.

Extraction acceleration

When direct connection mode overloads the database due to high query volume or large data size, consider extraction acceleration. Key features:

• Periodically extracts data into the Quick engine. Ideal for offline data with daily granularity.

• Supports incremental and full updates in two modes: full table acceleration and pre-calculation.

• Free extraction storage included:

  • Quick BI Enterprise Standard provides 2 GB of extraction acceleration capacity.

  • Quick BI Pro provides 10 GB of extraction acceleration capacity.

• Single dataset extraction limit: 100 million rows.

• You can expand extraction acceleration capacity for Quick BI Enterprise Standard and Quick BI Pro:

  • Storage must be purchased in 5 GB increments ($1,000/year), up to a maximum of 100 GB.

  • If you upgrade from Quick BI Enterprise Standard to Quick BI Pro after expanding capacity, the paid capacity remains unchanged, and the free capacity increases from 2 GB to 10 GB.

Configuration steps

1. An organization administrator enables extraction acceleration.

   1. Log on to the Quick BI console.

   2. Enable the Extraction acceleration switch.

      

   3. Click the icon to set the dataset extraction limit.

      Note

      Set a maximum row limit per dataset. This applies to all datasets in the organization. If the row count exceeds this limit, the extraction task fails. Maximum: 100,000,000 rows.

      

2. A data developer enables and uses the extraction acceleration feature for a target dataset.

   1. On the Quick BI homepage, go to the Datasets page.

      

   2. In the dataset list, find the target dataset and click Acceleration Configuration.

      

      In the Acceleration Engine area, enable the Quick engine and configure the parameters:

      

      If the dataset has multiple logical tables, switch between them to configure extraction scopes and update methods.

      

      • Extraction settings

        Parameter	Description
        Extraction mode	Supports two modes: Full table acceleration and Pre-calculation. Full table acceleration: The system extracts and accelerates all data. Accelerates all queries. Requires more storage. If storage is sufficient, select Full table acceleration. Pre-calculation: The system extracts and accelerates a portion of the data. Pre-calculates results for frequently run queries and returns them quickly on report access. For example, for a partitioned ODPS table, pre-calculation extracts only a portion of the data, saving storage and improving efficiency. Note Pre-calculation is not supported for datasets with multiple logical tables.
        Execution frequency	Supports two methods: Manual trigger and Scheduled acceleration. Select Manual trigger to run extraction acceleration tasks manually. Select Scheduled acceleration and set a schedule. Extraction runs automatically on a monthly, weekly, daily, or hourly basis.
        Extraction scope	You can extract data from the Full table or a Specified date range. Full table: Updates the full table. The update method is full update. Update by specified date range: You can set a date field, date range, and an update method to customize the date range for acceleration. The Quick engine retains data only within the selected date range, such as the last 365 days, to save storage space.
        Date field	When the extraction scope is Update by specified date range, you can set the Date field. The date field and its format must match the field format in your database.
        Date range	When the extraction scope is Update by specified date range, you can set the Date range. T represents the latest partition time for the data extracted on the current day. The current day is T-0, yesterday is T-1, and the day before yesterday is T-2.
        Update method	For Full table scope, the update method is fixed to full update. For Update by specified date range, choose full update or incremental update. Full update: Each acceleration extracts all data within the selected range. Incremental update: The initial extraction covers all data in the selected range. Subsequent updates incrementally add data from the latest N partitions.
        Update range preview	When the extraction scope is Update by specified date range, you can preview the update range. If the update method is full update, the update range preview shows a full update. If the update method is incremental update, the update range preview shows Existing data and Incremental update.
        Number of incremental partitions	When the update method is incremental update, you can set the number of incremental partitions. Ensure the number of incremental partitions is within the specified date range.
        Extract calculated fields	Select this option to extract calculated fields. This option is selected by default.

      • Dependency settings

        Define dependencies for tables in the dataset by specifying the date field, date format, and offset. Updates trigger only when dependency conditions are met.

        Note

        • If you disable "Ignore Empty Extractions," acceleration tasks that extract zero rows will be marked as "Failed," and you cannot configure acceleration dependencies.

        • After you enable acceleration dependencies, if the upstream data is not updated, the Quick engine polls the upstream data status every 10 minutes for up to 2 hours.

        • Turn on the acceleration dependency switch.

          

        • Click the plus sign (+) on the right to add the required configurations.

          

          Parameter	Description
          Dependent table	Select a table from the current dataset. Search is supported. Hover over a table name to view the corresponding data source name.
          Date field	Select a date field from the current table.
          Date format	You can select YYYY, YYYYMM, YYYY/MM, YYYY-MM, YYYYMMDD, YYYY-MM-DD, or YYYY/MM/DD.
          Offset	Set the business date for the polling task to check. The range is from T-0 to T-10000.

        • Click the plus sign (+) on the right to add more dependencies.

        • You can delete a dependency setting.

      • Exception settings

        Note

        If an acceleration task fails, the system automatically retries it three times at one-hour intervals.

        Parameter	Description
        Ignore Empty Extractions	If you enable this option, tasks that extract zero rows are marked as "Successful." If you disable this option and a task extracts zero rows, the task is marked as "Failed," which can trigger a failure alert. You need to monitor the upstream data generation status.
        Failure Alerts	When a task fails, you can configure the notification method and recipients for alerts. The supported notification method is Email. Recipients: You can select multiple recipients at a time. Recipients must be Alibaba Cloud accounts within the same organization. If a recipient's name is grayed out, it indicates that no email address is configured for that account. Ensure the recipient has configured an email address. For instructions, see Configure recipient email addresses.

   3. After you click Save, the Quick engine acceleration configuration is complete.

      You can perform Data Backfill (①), Accelerate Now (②), View Logs (③), or Modify Configuration (④) for the dataset.

      

      Parameter	Description
      Data backfill	When the dataset schema changes, the system syncs the latest schema to the Quick engine automatically. Set the backfill range to Full backfill or Specified range. Full backfill: Clears all existing data in the engine and re-extracts it. Specified range backfill: Supports adding multiple date ranges. Note If the dataset's extraction scope is set to the full table, you cannot backfill a specified range. For datasets with multiple logical tables, backfill the entire dataset or specific logical tables. If you select dataset, a full backfill is performed for the entire dataset by default. If you select specific logical tables, you can select which logical tables to backfill and define their respective backfill ranges. Note For logical tables where the date range is set to the full table, you cannot specify a custom range for backfilling.
      Accelerate Now	Runs the acceleration task for the dataset immediately.
      View Logs	View the execution logs for the dataset, including time, status, and duration.
      Modify Configuration	Modify the existing configuration of the Quick engine. The changes take effect after you click Save.

      While a task is running or pending, you can terminate the task.

      

3. Organization administrators and workspace administrators manage acceleration tasks. For more information, see Manage extraction acceleration tasks.

4. Data analysts create reports and analyze data.

   After configuration, create reports and perform data analysis, such as ad hoc analysis.

   

   Create an ad hoc analysis.

Query result caching

Dataset caching accelerates report access and reduces database load. With caching enabled, subsequent requests within the cache duration are served from cache without re-querying the database.

Query result caching works best for datasets with repeated queries, large data volumes, or slow database performance — especially dashboards with many repeated queries. Avoid this feature when data updates frequently and reports must show real-time data.

You can configure different cache durations. If hourly freshness is not required, a 12-hour duration is recommended.

1. Log on to the Quick BI console.

2. On the Quick BI homepage, go to the Datasets page.

   

3. In the dataset list, select the target dataset and configure its cache duration.

   

   You can choose to Follow global caching policy or set a Custom cache duration.

   1. When you create a new dataset, the cache configuration defaults to the global caching policy. For information on how to configure the global caching policy, see Global cache configuration.

      

   2. You can also customize the caching policy for each dataset.

      Supported cache durations: 1 minute, 5 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours, 4 hours, 8 hours, 12 hours, and 24 hours.

      • After the cache duration expires, a new cache generates on the next report query. Subsequent identical queries then use the new cache.

      • Caching operates at the dataset level. Clearing a dataset cache also clears all associated chart caches. After the cache duration expires, all chart caches for this dataset are automatically cleared.

      • If underlying data updates while the cache is still valid, manually clear the cache to retrieve the latest data.

4. Click Save for the query cache to take effect.

Clear the cache

1. Automatic cache clearing

   The cache automatically expires after the configured duration.

2. Manual cache clearing

   1. Clear the cache for a single dataset

      On the acceleration configuration page, click the Clear Cache button next to Query Result Caching to clear the query result cache.

      

   2. Clear the cache in batches

      On the Datasets page, select the checkboxes next to the names of the datasets whose cache you want to clear, and then click the Clear Cache button to clear the cache for the selected datasets.

      

Dataset caching FAQ

• Why do two charts in the same dashboard show different data even though they use the same dataset fields and query conditions?

  This occurs when caching is enabled and charts were added at different times. The first chart uses cached data, while a newer chart loads fresh data from the database. To resolve this, disable caching or manually clear the dataset cache.

• If I enable global caching, will it apply to existing datasets?

  Yes. When you enable global caching, it applies to all existing datasets, which will then follow the global caching policy. New datasets will also have global caching enabled by default.

• The data in the source database table for my Quick BI report has been updated, but the report is not showing the new data. Why?

  Report data comes from a dataset, so first confirm that the dataset's data is up to date. If it is not, check whether the dataset is configured with query result caching or extraction acceleration. If either is enabled, queries will prioritize retrieving data from the cache or accelerated storage instead of connecting directly to the database.

  Solutions

  • Disable query result caching to have all queries go directly to the database, which ensures data consistency.

  • Manually clear the dataset's result cache. The next query will fetch the latest data from the database and create a new cache.

  • Adjust the cache's automatic clearing time based on your business's data update frequency to ensure the latest data is fetched.

  • Rerun the extraction acceleration task or disable it, then refresh the dataset preview.

• A dataset that used to load data in real time now requires me to manually clear the cache to see the latest data. What happened?

  Your organization administrator likely enabled global caching, which caches all datasets without a custom policy. To resolve this, disable global caching or set a custom caching policy for the dataset.

• Where is the dataset cache data stored?

  The cache stores query results on Quick BI's in-memory servers.

Dimension value acceleration

Configure dimension value acceleration for dimension fields frequently used in query controls and ad hoc analysis. For example, to query transaction details by customer name and product name, configure acceleration for the "Customer Name" and "Product Name" fields in the Order Details Table dataset.

Assume these two fields exist in the database tables customer_info and product, with the corresponding field names user_name and product_name.

1. Log on to the Quick BI console.

2. On the Quick BI homepage, go to the Datasets page.

   

3. In the dataset list, follow the steps in the figure to select the target dataset and configure dimension value acceleration.

   

   After enabling dimension value acceleration, configure the fields you need. For the Order Details Table dataset, configure acceleration for customer name and product name.

   

   Assume the customer name and product name fields exist in the database tables customer_info and product, with the corresponding field names user_name and product_name. In this case, the configuration would be:

   • Dataset dimensions: Customer Name and Product Name.

   • Configuration tables: customer_info and product.

   • Table fields: customer and product_name

Global cache configuration

Organization administrators of Quick BI Enterprise Standard and Quick BI Pro can configure a global caching policy. Global caching is disabled by default for new organizations.

1. You can navigate to the global cache configuration page as shown in the figure.

   

2. Enable global caching (①), then set the cache duration for identical queries (②) and the Auto Clear Time (③).

   

   Note

   The cache duration for returning cached results for identical queries can be set to 1 minute, 5 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours, 4 hours, 8 hours, 12 hours, or 24 hours.

   The cache is automatically cleared every 30 minutes.

3. Click Update Configuration to save the settings.