Tabular Data Manager: Template Management

Template

In this menu, there is the possibility to create new, open or delete your templates.

Tabular Data Manager, Template tab

New Template

A table template can be defined in three steps:

1. Definition of metadata
2. Definition and Validation of initial structure of the Template
3. Definition of Actions to execute

Definition of metadata

In this first step the user has to select :

• TEMPLATE TYPE the TabularResource type that the template will create (DATASET, CODELIST or GENERIC)
• NAME
• AGENCY
• DESCRIPTION
• ON ERROR the behavior of the execution in case of errors
  • ASK stops the execution;
  • DISCARD remove all rows with errors and continue the execution;
  • SAVE stores all rows with errors in a file and continue the execution.
• NUMBER OF COLUMNS the number of columns of the initial structure

Tabular Data Manager, template type: dataset, codelist, generic

Definition and Validation of initial structure of the Template

In this step the users choose the categories and data types for each column.

Users can see visualized in the guide structure the constraints and the mandatory fields of creating all types of tables:

Tabular Data Manager, Structure of a codelist template

Tabular Data Manager, Structure of a dataset template

Tabular Data Manager, Structure of a generic template

Rules

During definition and validation of a template users can add one or more expressions for data validation (Rules) on a column already defined (with category and data type) only if a rule is allowed for the category selected.

Template, Rule definition on Measure Column

Template, e.g. of a template with two rules

Flow

Flows are a special type of TabularResource that can be created only from a Template. Adding a flow on Template Definition means that every entry resulted from the application of this template will be copied in the selected FLOW. The flow, once created, cannot be modified it can only be cloned or analysed using the Analyse Tab.

User has to fill all the needed metadata (as for the creation of a new TabularResource) and also has to select the behavior in case of duplicate entries.

Template, Flow dialog creation

Definition of Actions to execute

Users can add Actions to be applied to the template defined in step 2.

The available operations are:

• Add Column
• Remove Column
• Create Time Dimension
• Aggregate By Time
• Normalize

Template, Post Operations

Users can show the history of the applied operations selecting History Operations

Add Column

This Action adds a new column to the TabularResource. The new column will be nitialized with the expression defined clicking on the Set Value button.

Template, Add Column Operation

Create Time Dimension

This Action creates a new column of type TimeDimension using other columns. The user has to select the columns for 'YEAR', YEAR and MONTH, YAR, MONTH and DAY, YEAR and QUARTER depending on what type of TimeDimension columns he wants to be created.

Template, Create Time Dimension Operation

Aggregate By Time

Aggregates a list of columns by time (see the Aggregate By Time operation )

Template, Aggregate By Time Operation

Normalize

Applies the normalization operation (see Normalize operation)

Template, Normalize Operation

Apply Template

The Apply Template function allows to apply a template to the current TabularResource. The TabularResource structure MUST be compatible with the initial structure defined in the template otherwise a TemplateNotCompatible error will be thrown.

Tabular Data Manager, Applying the template to a tabular resource