Stephen - You can control the refresh behavior of each IOK file, and of each DataManager workflow block inside the IOK file.

The background auto-refresh behavior of each IOK file can be controlled from inside the file from:

Data > Background auto-refresh Enable (default- untick to disable)
More granular options for file behavior are below:

Notify when refresh is needed (default)
Retrieve new data and notify
Retreive, new data, notify and apply when idle
Retrevie, new data, notify and apply immediately

File refresh behavior can be broadly specified when the file is Saved:
(on the right side of Save as dialogue)

Refresh on open file:
Never
Auto-detect (default- which sets the defaults above)
Always


You may choose to change any of these settings at any time to match the needs of your solution. For example, when configuring a file for the first time, you should set refresh to Never and/or un-tick Data > Background auto-refresh once you have an initial snapshot of your data to work with.