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Data requirements

This topic covers the input data requirements for NLG Apps and Arria Answers. If you get unexpected results, please check that your data meets the requirements stated below.

The topic is organized as follows:

Measures

A measure is a numeric, quantitative field in your data. Measures in the sample dataset include Sales and Profit.

The requirements for measures are:

  • Decimal numbers must use a period for the decimal separator.

  • If using thousand grouping separators, they must be commas.

  • Aggregation type must be one of the following: None, Sum, Avg, Min, Max, or Count*.

Tip

*Arria Answers does not support the Count aggregation type.

See Query types for guidance on which aggregation types are required by each type of query.

Tip

Not all aggregation and entity type combinations are supported by every NLG app. See the NLG Apps Directory for app-specific guidance.

 

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Dimensions

A dimension is a categorical, qualitative field in your data. Dimensions in the sample dataset include Country and Product.

The values in a dimension field are known as dimension instances. For example, Canada and Germany may be instances of the Country dimension.

There are no formal restrictions for categorical dimensions. The values are typically textual or alphanumeric rather than purely numeric; however, purely numeric outputs are allowed.

In Arria for TIBCO Spotfire, the term time dimension refers to a special type of dimension that contains date values. Time dimensions are used to analyze your data by day, month, quarter, or year. The data requirements for time dimensions are described below.

 

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Time dimensions

A time dimension is a particular type of dimension that contains date values. You can use time dimensions to analyze your data by year, quarter, month, or day.

This section provides guidance on valid column names and data values when using time dimensions with NLG Apps and Arria Answers.

Tip

When Arria for TIBCO Spotfire identifies an attribute as a time dimension, the Entity Type field is automatically set to DateTime. If necessary, you can set the entity type in the NLG Apps wizard or the Arria Answers wizard.

There are two ways to store dates in your raw data:

Dates in a single column

Date columns in your raw data can be used in two ways: as a Single date column, or as a TIBCO Spotfire date hierarchy.

Single date column

You can use a date column in your raw data as a single date column in TIBCO Spotfire — for example, see the Date column in blue, below.

arria-date-columns.png
tibco-spotfire-arria-date-column.png

 

Supported column/time dimension names

A column/time dimension containing whole date values must be named as follows:

Naming Rule

Example Column/Attribute names

*date*

date, Date, DATE, Sales_Date, SALE DateTime

The asterisks (*) are wildcards that represent one or more spaces, hyphens, or underscores. These rules are case-insensitive.

Tip

You can use the Alias field in the NLG Apps wizard and the Arria Answers wizard to override date column/attribute names and comply with the naming rules.

 

Supported date formats

The following date formats are supported:

Pattern

Example Values

yyyy-MM-dd

2021-07-31

yyyy/MM/dd

2021/07/31

dd-MM-yyyy

31-07-2021

dd/MM/yyyy

31/07/2021

MM/dd/yyyy

07/31/2021

MM-dd-yyyy

07-31-2021

TIBCO Spotfire date hierarchy

You can create separate date component columns (outlined in red, below) from a date column in your raw data.

arria-date-columns.png
tibco-spotfire-arria-date-hierarchy.png

To create date components when adding dates to the Intelligent Narratives visualization, click the Date column and select Year, Quarter, Month, or Day of Month.

tibco-spotfire-arria-date-hierarchy.png

Important

Only the Year, Quarter, Month, and Day of Month components are supported as time dimensions in NLG Apps and Arria Answers. Using any other TIBCO Spotfire date component may result in inaccurate narratives or error messages.

NOTE: the Day of Month component must be renamed Day in the Display name field.

 

Supported column/time dimension names

Arria for TIBCO Spotfire supports the column names created by TIBCO Spotfire for Year, Quarter, and Month.

The Day of Month column must be renamed Day in the Display name field.

tibco-spotfire-arria-date-hierarchy-rename-day.png

Dates across multiple columns

NLG Apps and Arria Answers support the following date hierarchy columns/time dimensions:

Years

Supported column/time dimension names

A column/time dimension containing year values must be named as follows:

Naming Rule

Example Field Names

y

y, Y

*yr*

yr, YR, Yr_Name, YR of Sales

*year*

year, YEAR, Year_Name, Year of Sales

The asterisks (*) are wildcards that represent one or more spaces, hyphens, or underscores. These rules are case-insensitive.

Tip

You can use the Alias field in the NLG Apps wizard and the Arria Answers wizard to override date column/dimension names and comply with the naming rules.

 

Supported values

A year value must be a two-digit or four-digit number (for example, "22" or "2022").

 

Quarters

Supported column/time dimension names

A column/time dimension containing quarter values must be named as follows:

Naming Rule

Example Field Names

q

q, Q

*qt*

qt, QT, Qt_Name, target qt

*qtr*

qtr, QTR, Qtr_Name, target qtr

*quarter*

quarter, QUARTER, Quarter_Name, target quarter

The asterisks (*) are wildcards that represent one or more spaces, hyphens, or underscores. These rules are case-insensitive.

Tip

You can use the Alias field in the NLG Apps wizard and the Arria Answers wizard to override date column/dimension names and comply with the naming rules.

 

Supported values

A quarter value can be given in alphanumeric or numeric form:

Quarter

Example Alphanumeric Values

Example Numeric Values

Quarter 1

Q1, Qt1, Qtr 1, Quarter 1

1

Quarter 2

Q2, Qt2, Qtr 2, Quarter 2

2

Quarter 3

Q3, Qt3, Qtr 3, Quarter 3

3

Quarter 4

Q4, Qt4, Qtr 4, Quarter 4

4

Any combination of the strings "Q", "Qt", "Qtr", and "Quarter" plus a number, with or without spaces, is acceptable for alphanumeric values. Therefore, "Q4", "Q 4", and "4Q" are equally valid. Also, any mixture of cases is acceptable. Therefore, "QUARTER 1" and "qUARTER 1" (to give two alternatives) are valid alternatives to "Quarter 1".

 

Months

Supported column/time dimension names

A column/time dimension containing month values must be named as follows:

Naming Rule

Example Field Names

m

m or M

*mon*

mon, MON, Mon_Name, payment mon

*mth*

mth, MTH, Mth_Name, payment mth

*month*

month, MONTH, Month_Name, payment month

The asterisks (*) are wildcards that represent one or more spaces, hyphens, or underscores. These rules are case-insensitive.

Tip

You can use the Alias field in the NLG Apps wizard and the Arria Answers wizard to override date column/dimension names and comply with the naming rules.

 

Supported values

A month value can be given in text or numeric form:

Month

Example Text Values

Example Numeric Values

January

January, Jan

01, 1

February

February, Feb

02, 2

March

March, Mar

03, 3

April

April, Apr

04, 4

May

May

05, 5

June

June, Jun

06, 6

July

July, Jul

07, 7

August

August, Aug

08, 8

September

September, Sep

09, 9

October

October, Oct

10

November

November, Nov

11

December

December, Dec

12

This requirement is case-insensitive, so "JAN", "JAn" and "jan" are valid alternatives to "Jan".

 

Days

Supported column/time dimension names

A column/time dimension containing day values must be named as follows:

Naming Rule

Example Values

d

d and D

*day*

day, Day, DAY, day_NAME, Day Name

The asterisks (*) are wildcards that represent one or more spaces, hyphens, or underscores. These rules are case-insensitive.

Tip

You can use the Alias field in the NLG Apps wizard and the Arria Answers wizard to override date column/dimension names and comply with the naming rules.

 

Supported values

A day value must be a one-digit or two-digit number (e.g. 5 or 05). Ordinal numbers (e.g. 5th) are invalid.

 

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