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Create queries to list Batch resources efficiently

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Most Azure Batch applications do monitoring or other operations that query the Batch service. Such list queries often happen at regular intervals. For example, before you can check for queued tasks in a job, you must get data on every task in that job. Reducing the amount of data that the Batch service returns for queries improves your application's performance. This article explains how to create and execute such queries in an efficient way. You can create filtered queries for Batch jobs, tasks, compute nodes, and other resources with the Batch .NET library.

Note

The Batch service provides API support for the common scenarios of counting tasks in a job, and counting compute nodes in Batch pool. You can call the operations Get Task Counts and List Pool Node Counts instead of using a list query. However, these more efficient operations return more limited information that might not be up to date. For more information, see Count tasks and compute nodes by state.

Specify a detail level

There can be thousands of entities like jobs, tasks, and compute nodes in a production Batch application. For each query you make about the resources, a potentially large amount of data goes from the Batch service to your application. Limit how many items and what information your query returns to improve performance.

This Batch .NET API code snippet lists every task that is associated with a job, along with all of the properties of each task.

// Get a collection of all of the tasks and all of their properties for job-001
IPagedEnumerable<CloudTask> allTasks =
    batchClient.JobOperations.ListTasks("job-001");

Apply a detail level to your query to list information more efficiently. Supply an ODATADetailLevel object to the JobOperations.ListTasks method. This snippet returns only the ID, command line, and compute node information properties of completed tasks.

// Configure an ODATADetailLevel specifying a subset of tasks and
// their properties to return
ODATADetailLevel detailLevel = new ODATADetailLevel();
detailLevel.FilterClause = "state eq 'completed'";
detailLevel.SelectClause = "id,commandLine,nodeInfo";

// Supply the ODATADetailLevel to the ListTasks method
IPagedEnumerable<CloudTask> completedTasks =
    batchClient.JobOperations.ListTasks("job-001", detailLevel);

In this example scenario, if there are thousands of tasks in the job, the results from the second query typically are returned more quickly than from the first query. For more information about using ODATADetailLevel when you list items with the Batch .NET API, see the section Efficient querying in Batch .NET.

Important

We highly recommend that you always supply an ODATADetailLevel object to your .NET API list calls for maximum efficiency and performance of your application. By specifying a detail level, you can help to lower Batch service response times, improve network utilization, and minimize memory usage by client applications.

Use query strings

You can use the Batch .NET and Batch REST APIs to reduce how many items that a query returns, and how much information the query returns for each item. There are three query string types you can use to narrow your query: $filter, $select, and $expand.

For the Batch .NET API, see the ODATADetailLevel Class properties. Also review the section Efficient querying in Batch .NET.

For the Batch REST API, see the Batch REST API reference. Find the List reference for the resource you want to query. Then, review the URI Parameters section for details about $filter, $select, and $expand. For example, see the URI parameters for Pool - List. Also see how to make efficient Batch queries with the Azure CLI.

Note

When constructing any of the three query string types, you must ensure that the property names and case match that of their REST API element counterparts. For example, when working with the .NET CloudTask class, you must specify state instead of State, even though the .NET property is CloudTask.State. For more information, see the property mappings between the .NET and REST APIs.

Filter

The $filter expression string reduces the number of items that are returned. For example, you can list only the running tasks for a job, or list only compute nodes that are ready to run tasks.

This string consists of one or more expressions, with an expression that consists of a property name, operator, and value. The properties that can be specified are specific to each entity type that you query, as are the operators that are supported for each property. Multiple expressions can be combined by using the logical operators and and or.

This example lists only the running render tasks: (state eq 'running') and startswith(id, 'renderTask').

Select

The $select expression string limits the property values that are returned for each item. You specify a list of comma-separated property names, and only those property values are returned for the items in the query results. You can specify any of the properties for the entity type you're querying.

This example specifies that only three property values should be returned for each task: id, state, stateTransitionTime.

Expand

The $expand expression string reduces the number of API calls that are required to obtain certain information. You can use this string to obtain more information about each item with a single API call. This method helps to improve performance by reducing API calls. Use an $expand string instead of getting the list of entities and requesting information about each list item.

Similar to $select, $expand controls whether certain data is included in list query results. When all properties are required and no select string is specified, $expand must be used to get statistics information. If a select string is used to obtain a subset of properties, then stats can be specified in the select string, and $expand doesn't need to be specified.

Supported uses of this string include listing jobs, job schedules, tasks, and pools. Currently, the string only supports statistics information.

This example specifies that statistics information should be returned for each item in the list: stats.

Rules for filter, select, and expand strings

  • Make sure properties' names in filter, select, and expand strings appear as they do in the Batch REST API. This rule applies even when you use Batch .NET or one of the other Batch SDKs.
  • All property names are case-sensitive, but property values are case insensitive.
  • Date/time strings can be one of two formats, and must be preceded with DateTime.
    • W3C-DTF format example: creationTime gt DateTime'2011-05-08T08:49:37Z'
    • RFC 1123 format example: creationTime gt DateTime'Sun, 08 May 2011 08:49:37 GMT'
  • Boolean strings are either true or false.
  • If an invalid property or operator is specified, a 400 (Bad Request) error will result.

Efficient querying in Batch .NET

In the Batch .NET API, the ODATADetailLevel class provides filter, select, and expand strings to list operations. The ODataDetailLevel class has three public string properties. You can specify these properties in the constructor, or set the properties directly on the object. Then, pass the ODataDetailLevel object as a parameter to the various list operations such as ListPools, ListJobs, and ListTasks.

The following code snippet uses the Batch .NET API to query the Batch service efficiently for the statistics of a specific set of pools. The Batch user has both test and production pools. The test pool IDs are prefixed with "test", and the production pool IDs are prefixed with "prod". myBatchClient is a properly initialized instance of the BatchClient class.

// First we need an ODATADetailLevel instance on which to set the filter, select,
// and expand clause strings
ODATADetailLevel detailLevel = new ODATADetailLevel();

// We want to pull only the "test" pools, so we limit the number of items returned
// by using a FilterClause and specifying that the pool IDs must start with "test"
detailLevel.FilterClause = "startswith(id, 'test')";

// To further limit the data that crosses the wire, configure the SelectClause to
// limit the properties that are returned on each CloudPool object to only
// CloudPool.Id and CloudPool.Statistics
detailLevel.SelectClause = "id, stats";

// Specify the ExpandClause so that the .NET API pulls the statistics for the
// CloudPools in a single underlying REST API call. Note that we use the pool's
// REST API element name "stats" here as opposed to "Statistics" as it appears in
// the .NET API (CloudPool.Statistics)
detailLevel.ExpandClause = "stats";

// Now get our collection of pools, minimizing the amount of data that is returned
// by specifying the detail level that we configured above
List<CloudPool> testPools =
    await myBatchClient.PoolOperations.ListPools(detailLevel).ToListAsync();

Tip

An instance of ODATADetailLevel that is configured with Select and Expand clauses can also be passed to appropriate Get methods, such as PoolOperations.GetPool, to limit the amount of data that is returned.

Batch REST to .NET API mappings

Property names in filter, select, and expand strings must reflect their REST API counterparts, both in name and case. The tables below provide mappings between the .NET and REST API counterparts.

Mappings for filter strings

  • .NET list methods: Each of the .NET API methods in this column accepts an ODATADetailLevel object as a parameter.
  • REST list requests: Each REST API page listed in this column contains a table with the properties and operations allowed in filter strings. You can use these property names and operations when you construct an ODATADetailLevel.FilterClause string.
.NET list methods REST list requests
CertificateOperations.ListCertificates List the certificates in an account
CloudTask.ListNodeFiles List the files associated with a task
JobOperations.ListJobPreparationAndReleaseTaskStatus List the status of the job preparation and job release tasks for a job
JobOperations.ListJobs List the jobs in an account
JobOperations.ListNodeFiles List the files on a node
JobOperations.ListTasks List the tasks associated with a job
JobScheduleOperations.ListJobSchedules List the job schedules in an account
JobScheduleOperations.ListJobs List the jobs associated with a job schedule
PoolOperations.ListComputeNodes List the compute nodes in a pool
PoolOperations.ListPools List the pools in an account

Mappings for select strings

  • Batch .NET types: Batch .NET API types.
  • REST API entities: Each page in this column contains one or more tables that list the REST API property names for the type. These property names are used when you construct select strings. You use these same property names when you construct an ODATADetailLevel.SelectClause string.
Batch .NET types REST API entities
Certificate Get information about a certificate
CloudJob Get information about a job
CloudJobSchedule Get information about a job schedule
ComputeNode Get information about a node
CloudPool Get information about a pool
CloudTask Get information about a task

Example: construct a filter string

To construct a filter string for ODATADetailLevel.FilterClause, find the corresponding REST API page. Selectable properties and their supported operators are in the first multi-row table. For example, to retrieve all tasks whose exit code was nonzero, check List the tasks associated with a job for the applicable property string and allowable operators:

Property Operations allowed Type
executionInfo/exitCode eq, ge, gt, le , lt Int

The related filter string is:

(executionInfo/exitCode lt 0) or (executionInfo/exitCode gt 0)

Example: construct a select string

To construct ODATADetailLevel.SelectClause, find the corresponding REST API page for the entity that you're listing. Selectable properties and their supported operators are in the first multi-row table. For example, to retrieve only the ID and command line for each task in a list, check Get information about a task:

Property Type Notes
id String The ID of the task.
commandLine String The command line of the task.

The related select string is:

id, commandLine

Code samples

Efficient list queries

The EfficientListQueries sample project shows how efficient list querying affects application performance. This C# console application creates and adds a large number of tasks to a job. Then, the application makes multiple calls to the JobOperations.ListTasks method and passes ODATADetailLevel objects. These objects are configured with different property values to vary the amount of data to be returned. This sample produces output similar to:

Adding 5000 tasks to job jobEffQuery...
5000 tasks added in 00:00:47.3467587, hit ENTER to query tasks...

4943 tasks retrieved in 00:00:04.3408081 (ExpandClause:  | FilterClause: state eq 'active' | SelectClause: id,state)
0 tasks retrieved in 00:00:00.2662920 (ExpandClause:  | FilterClause: state eq 'running' | SelectClause: id,state)
59 tasks retrieved in 00:00:00.3337760 (ExpandClause:  | FilterClause: state eq 'completed' | SelectClause: id,state)
5000 tasks retrieved in 00:00:04.1429881 (ExpandClause:  | FilterClause:  | SelectClause: id,state)
5000 tasks retrieved in 00:00:15.1016127 (ExpandClause:  | FilterClause:  | SelectClause: id,state,environmentSettings)
5000 tasks retrieved in 00:00:17.0548145 (ExpandClause: stats | FilterClause:  | SelectClause: )

Sample complete, hit ENTER to continue...

The example shows you can greatly lower query response times by limiting the properties and the number of items that are returned. You can find this and other sample projects in the azure-batch-samples repository on GitHub.

BatchMetrics library

The following BatchMetrics sample project demonstrates how to efficiently monitor Azure Batch job progress using the Batch API.

This sample includes a .NET class library project, which you can incorporate into your own projects. There's also a simple command-line program to exercise and demonstrate the use of the library.

The sample application within the project demonstrates these operations:

  • Selecting specific attributes to download only the properties you need
  • Filtering on state transition times to download only changes since the last query

For example, the following method appears in the BatchMetrics library. It returns an ODATADetailLevel that specifies that only the id and state properties should be obtained for the entities that are queried. It also specifies that only entities whose state has changed since the specified DateTime parameter should be returned.

internal static ODATADetailLevel OnlyChangedAfter(DateTime time)
{
    return new ODATADetailLevel(
        selectClause: "id, state",
        filterClause: string.Format("stateTransitionTime gt DateTime'{0:o}'", time)
    );
}

Next steps