Uploading Data

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Revision as of 07:15, 17 June 2012 by Gadiyedwab (talk | contribs)
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Explore Analytics makes it easy to upload data in CSV Format. If you have data in Excel, you'll first need to save it as a CSV file using Excel.

Automatic Detection

Explore Analytics automatically detects the following properties of the file being uploaded.

  • Compression - the CSV file may be compressed in ZIP format. In that case it will be automatically uncompressed during the upload.
  • Encoding - text in the CSV file may use any character encoding including encoding for Latin languages, Asian languages or the universal Unicode encoding.
  • Delimiter - CVS files may use a comma to delimit (separate) fields, however a Tab, space, vertical bar or semicolon may also be used as a delimiter.
  • Field Names - the first line in the CSV file may contain field names, however, a CSV file is valid even if it does not contain field names. This is automatically detected and if column names are absent, you will be prompted to provide them during the upload.
  • Field Types - the following types are automatically detected
    • datetime - date or date and time
    • decimal - decimal number. The number could be formatted (e.g., $1,234.10) or unformatted (e.g., 1234.1). A wide varity of localized formats are automatically detected
    • integer - integer number
    • varchar - varying-length character: text or any character data such as codes or abbreviations
  • Use of double quotes - double quotes may be optionally used to enclose fields that may contain the delimiter character. For example, if the delimiter is a comma, the text "1,234.00" is enclosed in double quotes.

When you select a file to upload, it is analyzed to determine whether your review is required. If your review is not required, you can still choose to review and make adjustments to properties that were detected by selecting "Review and make changes" in the upload dialog.