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Carlos Gutierrez

06/01/2021, 3:21 PM
Hi all šŸ™‚ I have a question regarding the usage of
flow.serialized_hash()
for flow change detection in automated flow register processes. I found out that whenever a flow is registered with a particular task, lets say
task_A
, and then I update the values of the parameters passed to the task (imagine for instance
task_A(var='typo_string') --> task_A(var='correct_string')
), the
serialized_hash()
will remain invariant and thus the flow will not work according to the last changes because it will not bump a new version to the server. Would like to know if there is a better way to do this or I might be using the wrong approach
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Kevin Kho

06/01/2021, 3:24 PM
Hey @Carlos Gutierrez, yes those parameters are not part of the flow schema saved. You can force the re-registration or you could override them through the UI parameter settings
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Carlos Gutierrez

06/01/2021, 3:26 PM
Thank you @Kevin Kho for your help. Do you happen to know why the task parameters are not saved to the flow schema? Is it because any task should be designed in such a way that the task call may not be modified at all?
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Kevin Kho

06/01/2021, 3:32 PM
I believe what we keep in the flow schema has to do with respecting privacy and not holding data in general. For tasks specifically, it looks like we just keep the inputs but not default values. It might catch the difference if you use the Prefect Parameter.
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Carlos Gutierrez

06/01/2021, 3:38 PM
To put you in an example, my case scenario is as follows: I have a task defined in such a way that:
Copy code
@task
def reusable_task(section: str, uncontrolled_var: str):
    execute_section(section=section, arg=uncontrolled_var)
And then in the flow I would do something like:
Copy code
with case(some_parameter, True):
    reusable_task(section="one", uncontrolled_var=some_parameter)

reusable_task(section="two", uncontrolled_var=some_other_parameter)

reusable_task(section="three", uncontrolled_var=some_other_other_parameter)
so what I understand, and makes sense, is that changing the
uncontrolled_var
for another parameter would detect the change, but if I change any
section
to, for example
section="four"
this would make no effect in the flow schema
that last part is a bit confusing because the task call indeed changed and therefore the flow schema should be considered as different, imho
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Kevin Kho

06/01/2021, 3:58 PM
My bad! I see what you’re saying now. I thought it was just a task definition default input. I’ll ask someone in the core team and get back you. It seems like this should work
@MarvinĀ open ā€œCalling the Same Task with Different Inputs Does Not Change Flow Serializationā€
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Carlos Gutierrez

06/01/2021, 4:11 PM
Great! Thank you very much @Kevin Kho šŸ˜„
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