Data Selections

The Field Selector is an important component when building Views.

When an Entity is selected the field selector will display ALL possible fields available to the Entity, in an easily understood hierarchical format. Checked items will default to the Entity's originally discovered fields.

If the original field names were aliased and not the names from the sourced tables then a Favorites entry will automatically be created with the alias name.

This is to protect the identity of the System Fields.  Any fields you do not need in your View can always be unselected.

Only select the fields you need. This will make the published view execute faster. It's always better to have many specific Views for different purposes then one giant View with many fields selected. You can always come back and add more later if needed.

Folders

Favorites Folder

This folder is managed by the current user (Viewer User) and can be configured with any number of sub-folders they choose.

Data elements can be grouped by subject, category or any other criteria. Similar to managing files and folders on your computer.

Frequently used fields can be added to these folders for easy access and renamed to any value you wish. The field names here are used as the column titles in the preview panel on the Main Screen. These are also the names used in the Published View.

The original source of an aliased field will be shown in a tool tip when you hover over the field.

All Favorites entries link back to an original System Field as seen in the image above.

Any number of duplicate fields with different names are allowed. Having the same name but in different folders is also allowed.

Organized Folder

DSF has the ability to organized data by data team (types of data usage). This is visible in the organized folder created by administrators. Administrators can structure how users in your organization "see" the data model in DSF. This is done in the Data Teams Manager. Using the manager, administrators can group, categorize and hide any data elements by team.

Viewer Users cannot change any structures or names in the organized data team folders, but can put them into their own Favorites folder structures.

Maintaining a standard naming convention for your organization's reporting needs is a good practice. Since all of your reports are using a published view from DSF as their data source, using the same alias names creates consistency and reduces confusion for users. Underlying database references names may not properly reflect the true context of the data value.

If your underlying database changes for any reason (new version from a vendor, IT moves data to different source table, a field is depreciated, or even changing databases, etc.) you can simply edit and re-publish the DSF view. NO changes are needed in any of your reporting tools down stream. The reports continue to reference the DSF field alias even though the underlying source has changed. Business work flows will not disrupted.

System Fields Folder

This folder cannot be changed but can be hidden by an administrator in the default data team folder. It defines the source values as established by the Data Discovery process. The System Fields folder displays ALL possible data fields that can be accesses within the currently selected Entity .

This folder gives the user hundreds, maybe even thousands, of available data elements to put on a View.  

Features & Options

The Field Selector has many features, most of which are accessed with a right-click of the mouse.

Depending on which type of field the mouse is over when you right-click will determine which features are available.

UnSelect

Uncheck the current item.

Select

Check the current item.

Add to Favorites

Creates a copy of the current item in the Favorites folder.

Drag-drop of a field with the mouse is also supported.

Copy

Copies the current or selected item(s) into the clipboard.

Paste

Paste the current copied item(s) into the target folder (Available in the Favorites folder only).

Collapse

Collapse the current folder level.

Collapse All From Here

Collapse all folder levels from the current folder level.

Expand

Expand the current folder level.

Expand All From Here

Expand all folder levels from the current folder level.

Expand Everything

Expand every folder.

Collapse Everything

Collapse every folder.

Create Folder

Create a new folder at the current level (Available in the Favorites folder only).

Delete

Delete the current item.

Rename

Rename the current item.

Note..

Add a note to the current item.

Hide

Hide the current item.

This can be used to cleanup the fields list with data elements you are not interested in.

UnHide

UnHide the current item.

UnHide All

UnHide all hidden items.

UnSelect All

UnSelect all items.

Show Hidden

Show hidden items.

Show Notes

Show notes in a separate column on the Field Selector.

Fields with notes have a ring around their bullet.

Blue bullets indicate that the field name has been changed.

Green bullets indicate the name is the same as the original source.

Show Auto Filter Row

This will show a filter box at the top of the fields which you can use to search for in the list.

NOTE: Only expanded folder items fill be searched.

Dynamic Mode Enabled

When checked, this indicates that the field list is in Dynamic mode. Field folders are only loaded when needed.

With large data structures you could have thousands of fields with hundreds of levels.

Turning this off will load every possible field of every level. On some systems this may be very slow.

Load All Data Now

Regardless of mode, this will force the load of all field levels.

On some systems this may be slow.

Reset Defaults

Reset all settings back to their original defaults.

Create UDF in ...

Links directly to the User Defined Field Manager for this System Level.

Hierarchical Diagram of the View's Data Categories

The field selector represents all fields available to the Entity in hierarchical tree structure. As an aid to visualize the View's data model structure you can select the icon next to the Apply button. 

This will display a diagram of the Data Categories needed to resolve your view fields.

* NOTE: This is NOT an Entity Relational Diagram of all Data Categories available to the Entity. It ONLY represents the data model categories of the fields you selected in your view.