Help Center/ DataArts Insight/ User Guide/ Creating a Dataset/ Creating a Dataset/ Creating a Dataset Through Visual Configuration
Updated on 2025-05-20 GMT+08:00
View PDF
Share

Creating a Dataset Through Visual Configuration

Datasets are an essential component in the process of data visualization and serve as an intermediary between data sources and visual representations. In DataArts Insight, you can create datasets by either visually configuring them or using custom SQL statements. This section describes how to create a dataset using the visual approach.

Prerequisites

Selecting a Data Table

  1. Log in to the DataArts Insight console.
  2. Click in the upper left corner of the management console to select a region. Then, select an enterprise project in the upper right corner.
  3. On the top menu of the console, click Project. On the displayed My Projects page, click the name of the desired project.
  4. Choose Data Management > Datasets. On the displayed page, click Create Dataset.
  5. Double-click or drag a data table on the left to add it to the operation panel.
  6. Click Refresh Preview on the Data Preview tab to view the table data.
  7. Click of the data table and select Select Field. In the Edit Table slide-out panel, select the fields you want to display and click OK. To associate other data tables, refer to Creating a Model by Joining Multiple Tables.
    Figure 1 Select Field
  8. Enter the dataset name and click Save.

Configuring Fields

You can configure dataset fields as needed. This includes editing, cloning, hiding, copying as indicators, converting to dimensions or metrics, setting default aggregation methods, numerical display formats, and deleting.

  • If a data table contains more than 100 records, you can only preview the first 100. However, if the table has 100 records or less, you can preview all of them.
  • Once a field is used in calculation fields, grouping dimensions, or filter criteria, you cannot modify its type, perform dimension or metric conversions on it, or delete it.
  • Currently, the date field cannot be copied. You can convert the date field to the text type and then copy the field.
  1. Access the field configuration page using either of the following methods:
    • In the field list area, click next to a field to configure the field.
    • In the data preview area, click next to a field to configure the field.
    • Figure 2 Configuring fields

  2. Select required operations, as described in Table 1.
Table 1 Configuration items

Function

Description

Edit

Edit the name and description of the field.

  • Original Field Name: You can edit the original field name. The name can contain up to 512 characters and cannot be empty or contain any of the following special characters: <>#=|+@;
  • Physical Field: field name corresponding to the physical table, which cannot be modified.
  • Description: Enter the field description.
  • dataset.boundCondition: The condition associated with this dimension will be applied only when a user utilizes it. For details about how to edit a condition, see Add Condition.
  • Default Filter: Set the default filter. For details about how to edit a condition, see Add Condition.

    When a default filter is applied to a field, such as Province = Shanghai, it affects the final filter condition in two ways:

    1. If there is no filter for the province in the report or Q&A, then Province = Shanghai is included in the final filter.
    2. If there is a province filter in the report or Q&A, Province = Shanghai is disregarded in the final filter condition.
  • Add Condition: Click Add Condition.
    • Select the filter field, filter type, fixed value filtering condition, and value.

      Filter Field: Filter the dataset fields for which rules need to be set. You can select only one dimension or metric field. To configure rules for other fields, add more conditions.

      Filter Type: Select Condition, Enumeration, Expression filtering, or Tag filtering.

      NOTE:

      Only dimensions support Enumeration.

      Fixed value filtering condition: The options include Equal to, Not equal to, and more.

      Fixed Value: Enter the value of the filtering condition. For enumeration filtering, select a field value from the drop-down list box.

    • To set rules for other fields, click Create Rule.
    • If there are multiple condition rules, set the relationship between the rules.

      AND: You can view the field values that meet both rules A and B.

      OR: You can view the field values that meet either rule A or B.

      To create a rule parallel to rules A and B, click Add Relationship. This will create rule group C, which is on the same level as rules A and B.

Clone

Quickly copy a field. The new field contains the backup identifier.

  1. On the data preview page, click on the right of the target field. Then, choose Clone.
  2. After you click Clone, the new field generated contains the backup identifier. In addition, the physical name of the field does not change, but the original name of the field changes.

    For example, if product_name is cloned, the new field is product_name1.

Hide

Hide a field.

After a field is hidden, this field will not be displayed when you use this dataset to create a dashboard or large screen.

Copy as Indicator

Copy a metric and convert it to an indicator.

Convert to Metric/Dimension

Change the field type from dimension to metric or vice versa.

Convert Dimension Type

Convert a dimension or metric field to another type, such as a number, date, or text. You can configure the data format for a date field.

NOTE:
  • The date now includes second and millisecond timestamps.
  • Dimensions support the conversion of timestamps to time format.

Default Aggregation Mode

Select None, Sum, Average, Count, Distinct count, Maximum, Minimum, Population standard deviation, Sample standard deviation, Population variance, Sample variance, Range start value, or Range end value.

NOTE:

You can only set either Range start value or Range end value, not both at the same time.

Numeric Display Format

Options: No format, Numeric, Currency, Object quantifier, Length, Weight, Energy, Capacity, Time, and Percentage.

Move To

Use this function only when the new hierarchy or dataset is a table view. For details, see Creating a Hierarchy.

Delete

Delete a field.

To retrieve the field after it is deleted, click the table in the canvas and select and add the field in the right pane.

(Optional) Visual Configuration

The visualization configuration feature provided by DataArts Insight allows you to easily configure dataset fields. It offers various parameter settings, such as the field name, field type, default aggregation method, numerical display format, field description, search permission, and analysis priority.

  1. Click the Visual Configuration tab.
  2. Select the field you want to modify and edit it as needed. For details, see Table 2.
    • Clicking allows you to configure fields in batches, including converting dimensions to metrics in batches or vice versa, hiding or unhiding fields in batches, and deleting fields in batches.
    • You can drag and drop fields to adjust their display order. After making adjustments, click Save. The field order is successfully set. Subsequent Q&A sessions with the intelligent analysis assistant will return field content based on the configured order.
    Figure 3 Visual configuration

    Table 2 Visual configuration parameters

    Parameter

    Description

    Field Name | Physical Field
    • You can customize field names, which will be shown in charts on dashboards and large screens.
    • Physical fields cannot be modified.

    Field Type

    Type supported by a field, including date, text, and number. A date can be set in multiple formats.

    Default Aggregation

    The aggregation mode can be set only for metric fields.

    Select None, Sum, Average, Count, Distinct count, Maximum, Minimum, Population standard deviation, Sample standard deviation, Population variance, Sample variance, Range start value, or Range end value.

    NOTE:

    You can only set either Range start value or Range end value, not both at the same time.

    Numeric Display Format

    Select No format, Numeric, Currency, Object quantifier, Length, Weight, Energy, Capacity, Time, or Percentage.

    Field Description

    Description of a field.

    Allow Search

    Determines whether the enumerated values used to label fields can be searched during synchronization with the intelligent analysis assistant. Currently, only a maximum of 1,000 enumerated values can be extracted.

    NOTE:

    It is supported only by the text type.

    Analysis Priority

    Determines the priority of fields selected for analysis by the automatic insights feature of the intelligent analysis assistant. A maximum of 10 high-priority fields can be configured.

    Operation

    You can delete or hide a field. You can unhide a hidden field.

    NOTE:

    Before deleting a field from a dataset, check whether the field is used in a large screen, report, or permission configuration.

(Optional) Q&A Configuration

When the newly created dataset is associated with the intelligent analysis assistant, you can perform Q&A configuration to optimize the Q&A experience of the assistant.

  • Synonym configuration
    The intelligent analysis assistant understands questions and data based on configured synonyms, which can improve the accuracy of Q&A.
    1. In the dataset list, click the name of the dataset for which you want to configure associated fields. On the displayed page, click the Q&A Configuration tab.
    2. Enter synonyms for fields in the synonym box and press Enter to save. For example, you can set the synonyms for product_name as product name and product ID.
    3. Click Publish Synonyms in the Operation column. The published synonym is saved to the public thesaurus. You can publish synonyms in batches by selecting them and clicking Releasing Synonyms in Batches.

      If Releasing Synonyms in Batches is grayed out after selecting multiple synonyms, you must first deselect the published ones before you can publish the rest in batches.

      Figure 4 Synonym configuration

    4. Configure synonyms for enumerated values.
      1. Click Value synonym in the Operation column.
      2. Enter enumerated values in the enumerated value box, then enter synonyms in the synonym box and press Enter to save.
      3. Click Publish Synonyms in the Operation column to publish the synonym. A published synonym cannot be deleted on the Q&A page but can be deleted on the synonym page.
    5. Auto-associate synonym:
      1. Select the fields you want to associate and click Auto-Associate Synonym. The synonyms of the fields and enumeration values in the public thesaurus will be matched. If there is no matching synonym in the public thesaurus for a field, it will not be matched.
  • Associated field configuration
    After configuring the associated fields, the intelligent analysis assistant will recommend related questions based on the dimension and metric associated fields, helping you better understand the data.
    • When the associated field of Dimension is Metric, associated questions will not be generated on the intelligent analysis assistant's Q&A page. You are advised to configure the associated field as Dimension.
    • When the associated field of Metric is only Dimension, associated questions will not be generated on the intelligent analysis assistant's Q&A page. You are advised to configure the associated field as Metric or to include both Metric and Dimension.
    • Generate associated questions based on three categories: Indicator, Dimension, and Metric. Each category generates a maximum of one associated question, with a total of no more than three associated questions.
    1. In the dataset list, click the name of the dataset for which you want to configure associated fields. On the displayed page, click the Q&A Configuration tab.
    2. Click . In the dialog box that appears, select the fields you want to associate. In this example, the associated field of product_name is set to product_type.
      Figure 5 Adding an associated field

    3. Click OK. The associated fields are successfully configured. When asking questions related to product_name on the intelligent analysis assistant page, related questions about product_type will be automatically recommended.

Batch Changing Names

Batch renaming is a feature that allows you to batch upload physical fields, field names, and field descriptions of the data table you want to analyze. This improves efficiency and user experience by automatically populating the fields, and is mainly used in scenarios where a data table contains a large number of physical fields.

  • Restrictions: You can only upload files in .xlsx, .xls, or .csv format, and the file size cannot exceed 3 MB.
  • Procedure:
    1. On the dataset editing page, click More and select Batch Modify Names.
      Figure 6 Batch renaming

    2. In the displayed Uploaded Files dialog box, click Download Template. Fill in the template.
    3. Click Select File and upload the completed file.
      • Preview only displays up to 100 entries, but the actual data table contains 2,000 entries.
      • You can upload up to 2,000 entries per file upload, and any remaining entries will need to be uploaded again.
    4. Click OK.
Parent topic: Creating a Dataset