Preview Dialog

When you import data into Workstation, a preview of the data appears. You can select options to modify the data before it is imported, or make changes to the data after it is imported.

MicroStrategy Workstation automatically designates data columns in your file as attributes or metrics based on the values contained in each data column. Attributes appear with a green attribute icon . Metrics appear with an orange metric icon . A geographical attribute for locations such as cities, latitude, longitude, etc., appears with marker icon. You can manually designate data columns as attributes or metrics before the dataset is saved.

Access

To access the Preview dialog:

1. Create a new dossier or open an existing one.

2. Choose Add Data > New Data, import your data using the Data Sources dialog, and click Prepare Data.

   or

   In the Datasets panel, click More next to the dataset name and choose Edit Dataset.

Fields

All Objects View : Click to display all objects, in all tables, on the All Objects View Dialog. You can define the data, using the same options listed in Preview area.

Wrangle : Click to prepare your data and improve its quality before import on the Data Wrangling Dialog.

Add/Edit Table : Add new data or refresh the data from its source, after making changes.

Tables: Displays the tables to be imported. If you selected multiple files to create a multi-table dataset, you can change which file is previewed by clicking a different table. To define import options for a table, select the drop-down arrow next to the table name. The following list of options appears:

• Rename: Rename the table.
• Delete: Delete the table before it is imported.

• Parse: Import your data in a tabular or cross-tabbed layout. You can also insert column headers into the data, if the file does not provide them. See Parse Your Data Dialog for more information.

  The Parse Data option is not available if you are importing data from a database.

• Wrangle: Evaluate the quality and usability of the data. Additionally, you can refine the data to improve its quality before you import it into Workstation. For example, you can remove white space, filter data, delete duplicate rows or cells, find and replace data, and concatenate columns. See Data Wrangling Dialog for more information.

  The Wrangle option is available for selected data sources.

• Define Relationships: Define how tables and columns are joined and used, and which tables are related to other tables. See How to Define Relationships Between Attributes for more information.
• Show All Attribute Forms: Display all available attribute forms for all attributes in the table.
• Show All Columns: Select the columns to display.
• Group Partition: If there are tables that contain the same set of objects, you can group these partitions into a single table.

Data Preview: Displays a preview of the data to be imported. To define a data column, select the drop-down arrow next to the column name. The following list of options appears:

• Change Data Type: Change the data type of the data column.
• Define Geography: Assign a geo role to the data column to generate additional geographical data, for easier integration with map-based visualizations.
• Convert to Attribute: Define the data column as an attribute.
• Convert to Metric: Define the data column as a metric.
• Do Not Import: Remove this data column from the import process.
• Rename: Rename the data column.

You can also define data columns in the Tables area by right-clicking the data column. The same options listed above appear.

• Map to Project Attribute: Map an imported attribute within a dataset to an existing project attribute and its corresponding attribute forms.

Related Topics

Import Data

Best Practices for Importing Data from a File

Manage Datasets