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Preparing snapshots

Interactive querying needs the snapshot's data loaded into a fast query workspace. Preparing is that one-time warm-up: you choose which objects to load, bluefactory does the rest in the background, and from then on queries on that snapshot respond in seconds.

The readiness badge​

Wherever you pick a snapshot — in the Query Console, the restore source picker, or a run page — a readiness badge shows its state:

  • Prepared — ready for instant querying.
  • Not prepared — nothing loaded yet; interactive features will ask you to prepare it first.
  • Preparing… — the warm-up is running; the badge shows how many objects are ready (e.g. 3/10 objects ready).
  • Prep failed — something went wrong; open the prepare page to retry.

A snapshot can also be partly prepared — only the objects you loaded are queryable, and a Prepare more button adds others.

[SCREENSHOT REQUIRED: Snapshot readiness badge in the snapshot picker, one Prepared and one Not prepared]

Preparing a snapshot​

  1. Click Prepare on the badge (or Prepare data when the console prompts you). You land on the snapshot's Data Prep page.
  2. The object table lists everything in the snapshot with its record count, size, and status — filter with the All / Not prepared / Ready chips. Select the objects you want to query; you don't have to prepare everything.
  3. Click Prepare selected. Preparation runs in the background — statuses flip from Building… to ready object by object, and you can leave the page.

[SCREENSHOT REQUIRED: Data Prep page with the object table and selection bar]

Preparation time depends on data volume: small objects are ready in moments, very large ones can take minutes. Already-prepared objects are skipped, so re-running only builds the ones still missing.

When you skip this step​

If you try to query a cold snapshot, the console won't run a slow query blindly — it routes you to the prepare page instead, so you always know why something would be slow and can choose what to load.

Good to know​

  • Preparing a snapshot never touches your Salesforce org — it works entirely on stored backup data.
  • Prepared workspaces are a performance cache; your snapshot itself is unchanged and stays the source of truth. Because backups never change, prepared data never goes stale.
  • Incremental runs are rebuilt into a full snapshot during preparation, so you always query complete data.
  • Done with a snapshot? Evict prepared drops the prepared copy and reclaims the storage — you can always prepare it again.