{"id":2704,"date":"2015-03-23T19:38:44","date_gmt":"2015-03-23T11:38:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/help\/?page_id=2704"},"modified":"2018-01-04T13:30:54","modified_gmt":"2018-01-04T05:30:54","slug":"add-a-dataset","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/oihelp.corporate.ifs.com\/help\/p2-explorer\/explorer-studio\/add-data\/add-a-dataset\/","title":{"rendered":"Adding a Dataset"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This article applies to versions 4.3.2 and earlier of P2 Explorer. For help on later versions, read the Data Selector<\/a> article.<\/p>\n

Overview<\/h3>\n

Your dataset uses a datasource to connect to a database or other source of data. You need to add the dataset<\/a> that you require and then configure the parameters so that you can use the returned data on your page.<\/p>\n

A dataset represents the results of a query on a dataset datasource<\/a> defined in P2 Server.\u00a0For example, P2 Server may contain an Accounting<\/em> datasource that connects to an Oracle\u00a0database.\u00a0The Accounting datasource may contain several queries that return specific data. The results of these queries are referred to as \u201cdatasets\u201d. For example, there may be a dataset for KPI targets and thresholds (AccountingTargets<\/em>) or\u00a0sales (AccountingSales<\/em>).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Name<\/strong>:<\/td>\nThe name defaults to the query name, suffixed by a number (1, 2, etc.).<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Query<\/strong>:<\/td>\n\n

This is the actual name of the dataset which you select when you add the dataset. You should not change this name.<\/p>\n

Important! Understanding how the query itself works will go a great way towards alleviating confusion when building your pages.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The query that generates the dataset has a significant impact on your results and consequently on how you can configure your controls. If your query \u201calmost\u201d does what you want it to do, sometimes this is not enough to get you the results you want, and you may be better off writing another query.<\/p>\n

As an example, your query (stored in P2 Server) may be constructed in such a way as to require you to filter data in a certain way when you add the dataset to Explorer, so that your dataset only shows a subset of all available entities. For example, you might have a query with a \u201cname\u201d parameter which is used to filter the entities in the dataset results. If you use this query, your dataset will not list all available entities \u2013 it will only list the entities that have been filtered by the \u201cname\u201d parameter. This means that if you want to add, say, a combo box that lists all available entities from the dataset, the combo box will only be able to display the\u00a0entities that have been filtered by the \u201cname\u201d parameter.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Parameters<\/strong>:<\/td>\n\n

Every dataset has parameters, which are used within the query to filter results. You can set fixed parameters, or use events to set variable parameters. Explorer displays the data type<\/a> of the parameter, and your parameter (event or actual) must match this (for example Number, Datetime, Text, List etc.).<\/p>\n

When configuring the parameters of a dataset, it is assumed that you are familiar with the query used by the dataset and what sort of results you expect.<\/p>\n

Some examples of what your parameters could look like:<\/p>\n

Preview<\/strong>:\u00a0<\/td>\n\n

When you have set up the parameters, you should be able to see some data. Clicking Preview<\/strong> runs the query and displays the returned data\u00a0in a table.\u00a0You can keep this window open as you build your page.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Publish events from dataset<\/strong>:<\/td>\n\n

You can take a list or a single value from the dataset, and publish this as an event to be used by other controls on the page.<\/p>\n