Interfaces for Importing Data

You import external data directly into Workstation, for use in creating dashboards. You can import data from many different data sources, such as an Excel file or a database, or by using the results of a custom database query. You can import data into a new dataset or add the data to an existing dataset. You can select multiple tables to create a single, multi-table dataset.

To import external data into your dashboard, choose Add Data > New Data.

The Data Sources dialog lists the available data sources. Use the following topics to organize the display of the Data Sources dialog:

• Click Live Connect Only/All Connectors to toggle between displaying data sources that access data directly (that is, live connect) or data sources that also access data from memory. See Define the Access Mode for a Dataset for more information.
• Click Customize Shortcuts to choose which data sources to display or hide. See Display and Hide Data Sources and Databases for Data Import for more information.
• Click Filter to filter the display of data sources.
• Enter the name of the data source you want to locate in Search .

See the following topics for steps on how to import data from various sources:

• Importing Data from a File on Your Computer or Network
• Import Data from a URL
• Import Data by Scraping a Wikipedia Page for Public Data
• Import Data from Hadoop Gateway
• Import Data from a Database, Hadoop, or Google Big Query by Selecting Tables
• Import Data from a Database, Hadoop, or Google BigQuery by Building a SQL Query
• Import Data from a Database, Hadoop, or Google BigQuery by Typing a Query
• Import Custom Data by Entering or Pasting Values
• Import Data from a BI Tool
• Import Data from a Dropbox File
• Import Data from Google Analytics
• Import Data from a File Stored on Google Drive
• Import Data from a Salesforce Report
• Use the MicroStrategy Connector
• Import Data from a Sample File
• Add a Custom Connector

After you import the data from the data source, you can modify and refine the data, using the interfaces listed below, before adding it as a dataset to your dashboard. You can use the same interfaces to make changes to your data after it has been imported.

• The Preview Dialog displays a preview of the data before it is imported and allows you to further define the data. You can designate a data column as an attribute or a metric, assign a geo role to a data column to generate additional geographical data, use data columns as attribute forms to define a new multi-form attribute, etc. You can view the objects in each table.
• The Parse Your Data Dialog allows you to select whether to 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.
• The Data Wrangling Dialog allows you to explore your data to evaluate its quality and usability, and then improve its quality before importing. You can remove white space, filter your data, delete duplicate rows or cells, find and replace data, concatenate columns, etc.
• The All Objects View Dialog displays all objects in all tables. You can define the data, as in the Preview page, and can also improve performance by partitioning a very large dataset and creating search indexes for attributes.

Related Topics

Import Data

Best Practices for Importing Data from a File