Noticing a major slowdown in Cost Distance function following version change

Question

I recently upgraded ArcGIS Pro from version 2.0 -> version 2.3.3, running on Windows 7. I have a python script that runs a Cost Distance analysis for each group of features in a large feature class. With version 2.0, each Cost Distance run would consistently take about 20s . After upgrade to version 2.3.3, the same exact process (same script/data) would take 3 to 4 times longer to run (over 70s each). I've noticed the slowness in both the python script and running the geoprocessing tool in ArcGIS Pro.

I originally thought the slowdown could have been related to Parallel Processing functionality, so I also tested both with no parallel processing:

arcpy.env.parallelProcessingFactor = "0"

and with 100%:

arcpy.env.parallelProcessingFactor = "100%"

along with the default value. This didn't seem to be related to the slowdown, since default and "100%" options were generally even slower, and in some cases the "100%" option would cause the script to hang indefinitely.

Anyone noticed the same issue, or have ideas what might be happening here? I'm wondering if a change to the Cost Distance function between versions can explain this(?)

ElizabethGraham · Answer

Hi David,

Glad to hear that you are using the environments!

If you email me, egraham@esri.com, I will send you a link to a file share so you can share your data.  Then I'll investigate the performance issue and submit a reproducible case to a developer to try and resolve the problem.

Thank you,

Liz

DavidBucklin · Answer

Hi Liz,

Yes, I have always set all of those environment settings in my script. In my script (and in further testing I've done), 'extent' environment setting is set to a buffered version of the input feature source points. I am also specifying a maximum distance in the Cost Distance function.

I can share the data I've been testing with, how should I get that to you?

David

DavidBucklin · Answer

Thanks for the heads-up on the Windows 7 support.

This is a 6-core (12 thread) desktop with 32 GB RAM and it exceeds the Can You Run it minimum requirements. I also have a Windows 10 laptop with ArcGIS Pro 2.3.3, and noticed similar slow performance (slightly slower than the desktop). Though I never had Pro 2.0.0 on the laptop, so I don't know the baseline for that version.