Develop > Develop Content > Design Contexts > Semantic Layer - Excel or .CSV File Loader
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Semantic Layer - Excel (or .CSV) File Loader

The Context Designer feature enables you to create and manage Contexts (universes). The Contexts can be based on your target schema tables or on Excel (or .CSV) files that can be uploaded to the target schema using the Data Loader.

Context Designer can be used to upload data and create contexts based on the data, when you want to work with the IT Business Analytics application without using Data Warehouse and SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise. It is a direct way to upload data into the IT Business Analytics Studio using files without performing integrations to external sources or to other HP products. It can be used, to integrate third party data, testing, or for Proof of Concept (POC) sessions. It can also be used as a component of IT Business Analytics to integrate third party data.

Context Designer provides KPI results based on your real data.

Note It is recommended to use Excel files instead of .CSV files.

ClosedTo access:

  • In ITBA, click ADMIN > Semantic Layer > Semantic Layer. The Context Management page opens. Click Launch Context Designer and select Import Content.
  • In the Context Designer page, click the Import Content icon in the toolbar to open the Import wizard.
  • In the Context Designer page, in the Repository area, click the Import Content icon to open the Import wizard.

To understand more about Contexts, see the Learn More section in Semantic Layer - Context Designer.

ClosedImport an Excel or a .CSV file in Context Designer or use them as data sources in IDE

The differences between the two techniques is as follows:

  • Context Designer: When you import an Excel or a .CSV file using the Context Designer located in the Admin tab, a Context based on the structure of the file is created in Context Designer. You can then extend the context by adding other tables and creating connections. The newly created context can then be used as a base for KPIs.

    This process is fast and efficient and displays value very quickly. It is recommended for one-time operations, when the data does not change very often, when you don't need historical information, or for POCs.

    Note that you can also schedule the automatic import of an Excel or a .CSV file. You can even schedule the automatic import of an Excel or a .CSV files with a changed structure.

  • IDE: When you use an Excel or a .CSV file as the data source in the IDE, you create a content pack and a basic ETL.

    This process is more complex, but provide more flexibility. It is recommended for Production environments. Because this procedure creates a content pack and uses an ETL, it enables the use of all the other capabilities of the system. It provides the handling of historical information, the scheduling of data import from the same Excel or .CSV file when the file changes periodically, the creation of Target database tables different from the original Excel or .CSV table, the connection to other entities, the splitting of the original Excel or .CSV table into different tables in the Target database, or the addition of the original data to other tables in the Target database. In addition, the process identifies changes and deletions of data, and can handle large amounts of data.

ClosedUpload tables in Excel format to the Tables Repository

You can upload data into the Table Repository of the Context Designer, using Excel files and without integration with external sources or with other HP products. It can be used to integrate third party data sources, testing, or for Proof of Concept (POC) sessions. You can, in the same way, replace the data in an existing table, or add data to an existing table when the table has been loaded using an Excel file.

Note You can upload Excel tables with .XLSX or.XLS formats.

To upload data from the Excel file into the Table Repository:

  1. Create the Excel file containing the data you want to use in the Table Repository (for example: latest.XLSX).

    Recommended: Excel tables should have unique names across all active Content Acceleration Packs (CAPs). For details on CAPs, see Create Content Acceleration Packs See also additional limitations in Limitations.

  2. In IT Business Analytics, click the ADMIN Semantic Layer > Semantic Layer.
  3. In the Context Management page, click Launch Context Designer .
  4. Click Import Content to open the Import Wizard (data loader). Follow the steps to upload the Excel file. For details, see Content Import Wizard

    The file is uploaded. The upload operation saves the changes you made to the Excel file. The new table appears in the External Tables area.

ClosedUpload tables in .CSV format to the Tables Repository

You can upload data into the Studio using .CSV files and without integration to external sources or to other HPE products. It can be used to integrate third party data sources, testing, or for Proof of Concept (POC) sessions. You can, in the same way, replace the data in an existing table, or add data to an existing table when the table has been loaded using a .CSV file.

To upload data from the .CSV file into the Studio:

  1. Create the .CSV file containing the data you want to use in the Studio (for example: latest.CSV).

    Recommended: CSVtables should have unique names across all active Content Acceleration Packs (CAPs). For details on CAPs, see Create Content Acceleration Packs. See also additional limitations in Limitations .

  2. InITBA, click the ADMIN Semantic Layer > Semantic Layer.
  3. In the Context Management page, click Launch Context Designer .
  4. Click Import Content to open the Import Wizard (data loader). Follow the steps to upload the .CSV file. For details, see Content Import Wizard.

    The file is uploaded. The upload operation saves the changes you made to the .CSV file. The new table appears in the External Tables area.

ClosedUse Case - Create a New Business Context Using .CSV Files

For details, see Create a New Business Context..

ClosedContent Import Wizard

The wizard enables you to upload content. Click the colored squares in the flowchart below to access the details of each wizard page.

Closed1 - Content Import

User interface elements are described below (when relevant, unlabeled elements are shown in angle brackets):

UI Element

Description
Select the data on which you want to base the KPI.

You can use Excel (or .CSV) files as a data source. A .CSV file contains data separated by commas. Each Excel file sheet or each .CSV file that is uploaded corresponds to a Context with only one entity. The name of the Context that is created is the name of the Excel sheet (or .CSV) file. The names of the columns in the Excel sheet (or for .CSV files, the first row of the file) represent the names of the entity fields. These fields become the variables that can be used to create the formula that is used to calculate the value of the KPIs or Metrics associated with the Context.

Limitations for .CSV and Excel files

  • Data file size. The maximum size of the data file is 20 MB. This is configurable using the Maximum Size of .CSV file (MB) setting in ADMIN > Settings > BA Settings.
  • Names:

    • General:

      • The entity field names should follow the rules of column titles in the database (only alphanumeric characters and underscores (_)).
      • The name of the data file should follow the rules of Context names (only alphanumeric characters and underscores (_)).
    • .CSV file.

      • The maximum number of characters in an entity field name is 30 characters (an entity field name is the string between commas in the first row of the .CSV file).
      • Data included between commas (corresponding to columns) should not include commas.
    • Excel file:x

      • The maximum number of characters in a sheet name in an Excel file is 254 characters.
      • Excel file sheets should have a name even if they are empty.
      • Excel file sheets should not have empty columns at the beginning or in the middle of the columns.
      • The names of the Excel sheets should follow the rules of Context names (database tables) and include only alphanumeric characters, and underscores (_).
      • The maximum number of digits in a data field is 18 digits and 2 decimal digits.
      • The maximum number of characters in a data field is 254 characters.
      • A data field should not include a formula.
      • A column should not include different types of data (for example, numeric, and date data).
      • A date column should only include dates.

Make sure you also check out the limitations in Limitations

Tip  

  • The date data obtained from the data sources is automatically reformatted internally using the YYYY.MM.dd HH:mm:ss (based on 24 hours) format. All internal calculations are performed using this format.
  • If you are using CSV files, you can select the date format in the <Data upload> wizard. The selected format is automatically reformatted internally using the YYYY.MM.dd HH:mm:ss (based on 24 hours) format.
  • The dates displayed in the application user interface are reformatted according to the browser locale.
Create a .CSV or Excel File

Hover above file template to display an example of the file structure in table format that can be uploaded.

Closed2 - Select Action

User interface elements are described below (when relevant, unlabeled elements are shown in angle brackets):

UI Element

Description
Upload a new table

Select this option if you want to create a new table in the Context Designer using the information from the Excel or .CSV file.

Update an existing table

Select this option if you want to update an external table that was previously uploaded to the Context Designer.

When you click this option, the following options are displayed:

  • Add data to an existing table. Select this option when you want to add data to an existing table. The data from the new imported file is added at the end of the existing table. The formats of the two imported files must be the same.
  • Override the data in an existing table with the new data. Select this option when you want to override the data of an existing table with the data of the file you are uploading. The formats of the two imported files must be the same.
  • Override the data with new data in a table with changed structure. Select this option when you want to override the data of an existing table with the data of the file you are uploading. The formats of the two imported files is different. You might have added or removed columns.

    If you want to override the data of a table with changed structure and the file you import is an Excel file with more than one sheet, note that you can only import one sheet at a time. You must import separately each one of the sheets.

Closed3 - Select File

This page is displayed when you selected the Upload a new table option:

This page is displayed when you selected the Update an existing table option:

User interface elements are described below (when relevant, unlabeled elements are shown in angle brackets):

UI Element

Description
File Name

Select the file you want to upload.

Table Name Select the relevant table name.

Closed4 - Select Sheets

This page displays the table created from an Excel file.

Select the sheets you want to upload.

In you are performing the override of an Excel file with more than one sheet, note that you can only import one sheet at a time when you override the data of a table with changed structure. If you change the structure of more than one sheet, perform the import for each one of the sheets.

Closed5 - Table Preview

This page displays the table created from the Excel file:

This page displays the table created from the .CSV:

The page displays the table with a new column when you override an existing file.

User interface elements are described below (when relevant, unlabeled elements are shown in angle brackets):

UI Element

Description
<table_name>

The name of the table. It corresponds to the selected sheet in the Excel file or to the CSV file itself.

<sheet_nbr/total_nbr_sheets>

The sheet number and the total number of uploaded sheets in the Excel file.

Click the arrows to display the other table previews.

<table>

The contents of the .CSV or Excel file are displayed in the box in table format.

If you selected more than one sheet of the Excel file, arrows appear and you can view a sample of each sheet you selected.

You can set the date format only for the CSV file.

If you override an Excel file you can only import one sheet at a time if the sheet structure has changed. In the table in the Table Preview page:

  • The title of a column that was added to the imported file but did not exist in the database is green.

  • The title of a column that was removed from the imported file but exists in the database is red and crossed-out.

Select the date format you used in the file

Select the date format you used in the .CSV file.

Closed6 - Automatic Import Scheduler

You can schedule the upload of a .CSV or Excel file automatically.

User interface elements are described below (when relevant, unlabeled elements are shown in angle brackets):

UI Element

Description
Schedule import later

Select to schedule the automatic import at a later time. For details, see Semantic Layer - Data Loader Scheduler.

This is the default.

The automatic import should occur <periodicity> at <time>

Select to import the file:

Daily.and select the time (from 00:00 to 23:30) when you want to perform the import operation.

Weekly. and select the day (Monday to Sunday) and time (from 00:00 to 23:30) when you want to perform the import operation.

Monthly., and select the date (1 to 31, or last day of the month) and time (from 00:00 to 23:30) when you want to perform the import operation.

File location The location of the .CSV or Excel file that you want to upload automatically. Use the format described in the field. The location must be accessible by BA.
Select upload type
  • Add data. Select this option when you want to add the data from the new imported file at the end of the existing table. The formats of the two imported files must be the same.
  • Override data. Select this option when you want to replace the data of the existing table with the data of the file you are uploading The formats of the two files must be the same.