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Understand the is_incremental() macro -- Remove one of the conditions? #5279

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ialdg opened this issue Apr 13, 2024 · 1 comment
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Understand the is_incremental() macro -- Remove one of the conditions? #5279

ialdg opened this issue Apr 13, 2024 · 1 comment
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community Contributions from the dbt community content Improvements or additions to content improvement Use this when an area of the docs needs improvement as it's currently unclear

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@ialdg
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ialdg commented Apr 13, 2024 •
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  • I have read the contribution docs, and understand what's expected of me.

Link to the page on docs.getdbt.com requiring updates

https://docs.getdbt.com/docs/build/incremental-models#understand-the-is_incremental-macro

What part(s) of the page would you like to see updated?

Hi. At the previous link there're four conditions to meet for the macro is_incremental() to return a True value:

  1. The model must already exist in the database
  2. The destination table already exists in the database
  3. The full-refresh flag is not passed
  4. The running model is configured with materialized='incremental'

Of the four, everytime I read them, the first two striked me as redundant but, since perhaps I didn't know enought about it, I let it go. However, reading the documentation at the following link:
https://docs.getdbt.com/best-practices/materializations/4-incremental-models#incremental-conditions
, I realised that my idea might be right (there are just three conditions, not four), that is, I think that perhaps bulletpoint 1 should be removed because, what does it mean that the model already exists in the database? As far as I know, in no database there are models, but tables or views, right?
Regards.
IL.

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@ialdg ialdg added content Improvements or additions to content improvement Use this when an area of the docs needs improvement as it's currently unclear labels Apr 13, 2024
@matthewshaver matthewshaver added the community Contributions from the dbt community label Dec 9, 2024
@datapackdan datapackdan mentioned this issue Jan 8, 2025
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matthewshaver pushed a commit that referenced this issue Jan 8, 2025
@datapackdan
Update incremental-models.md (#6739)
495a66d 
update conditions for is_incremental() to evaluate to true based on
Issue 5279

## What are you changing in this pull request and why?
<!--
Describe your changes and why you're making them. If related to an open
issue or a pull request on dbt Core or another repository, then link to
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To learn more about the writing conventions used in the dbt Labs docs,
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This update is to address [Issue 5279 - Understand the is_incremental()
macro](#5279)

I believe the original intent of the first two conditions was to say:
"the model has to exist as a table" however saying this using two lines
feels redundant and I know from training sessions that users react much
the same way as the author of this issue.

I'm proposing the following wording:

Revised

The `is_incremental()` macro powers incremental materializations. It
will return `True` if _all_ of the following conditions are met:

- The model must already exist _as a table_ in the database
- The `full-refresh` flag _is not_ passed
- The running model is configured with `materialized='incremental'`

Original (for reference)

The `is_incremental()` macro powers incremental materializations. It
will return `True` if _all_ of the following conditions are met:

- The model must already exist in the database
- The destination table already exists in the database
- The `full-refresh` flag _is not_ passed
- The running model is configured with `materialized='incremental'`

## Checklist
- [x] I have reviewed the [Content style
guide](https://github.com/dbt-labs/docs.getdbt.com/blob/current/contributing/content-style-guide.md)
so my content adheres to these guidelines.
- [ ] The topic I'm writing about is for specific dbt version(s) and I
have versioned it according to the [version a whole
page](https://github.com/dbt-labs/docs.getdbt.com/blob/current/contributing/single-sourcing-content.md#adding-a-new-version)
and/or [version a block of
content](https://github.com/dbt-labs/docs.getdbt.com/blob/current/contributing/single-sourcing-content.md#versioning-blocks-of-content)
guidelines.
- [ ] I have added checklist item(s) to this list for anything anything
that needs to happen before this PR is merged, such as "needs technical
review" or "change base branch."
- [ ] The content in this PR requires a dbt release note, so I added one
to the [release notes
page](https://docs.getdbt.com/docs/dbt-versions/dbt-cloud-release-notes).
<!--
PRE-RELEASE VERSION OF dbt (if so, uncomment):
- [ ] Add a note to the prerelease version [Migration
Guide](https://github.com/dbt-labs/docs.getdbt.com/tree/current/website/docs/docs/dbt-versions/core-upgrade)
-->
<!-- 
ADDING OR REMOVING PAGES (if so, uncomment):
- [ ] Add/remove page in `website/sidebars.js`
- [ ] Provide a unique filename for new pages
- [ ] Add an entry for deleted pages in `website/vercel.json`
- [ ] Run link testing locally with `npm run build` to update the links
that point to deleted pages
-->

<!-- vercel-deployment-preview -->
---
🚀 Deployment available! Here are the direct links to the updated files:


-
https://docs-getdbt-com-git-datapackdan-patch-issue-5279-dbt-labs.vercel.app/docs/build/incremental-models

<!-- end-vercel-deployment-preview -->
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Closed by #6739

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@runleonarun @ialdg @matthewshaver