Working with Data Sources

The Data Sources tree is where you import, navigate, and manipulate Data Set(s) and aggregated summary tables. 

Once you've added data, you can also use this pane to edit and manipulate the data using the right click menu, Properties panel, and the + Variable Inserter menu (if working with a raw data set). This article covers the various parts of the Data Sources tree interface, and actions that are available. More specifically:

• Data Sources Tree
• Working with a Data Set
  • Right-click and More Actions variable set menu
  • Floating toolbar
• Working with summary tables as sources

Data Sources Tree

Before you add any data to your document, you will see an empty Data Sources pane with an + Add data button. Click + Add data or the (plus) to the right of the Data Sources label to add data to your document for use in your report. There are various formats and sources of data that you can add; see Get Your Data Into Displayr for an overview of methods.

When you add a data source, it will be imported either as raw case-level data with variables or as a summary table(s) that is already calculated. The cylinder icon denotes data sets, and the table icon denotes summary table sources.

When you select a data source name in the Data Sources pane, select Properties from the floating toolbar. The Properties panel will open to show the properties for that specific data source. The panel will show information about the data file, including the label, number of cases, number of variables, and the file type. If a summary table is selected, you have the option to set the data source ranges and row/column selections. Properties is also where you perform data source-level actions such as updating the data source or refreshing the data, setting a unique identifier, setting up a schedule, adding data file relationships, stacking, deleting and merging data, and selecting how different parts of your summary table are used. 

Once you've added a data source, more icons will become available:

• The magnifying glass at the top of the tree is used to search for variables across all data sources. 
• The plus icon is used to add a new data source.
• The info icon will:
  • Show names - shows each variable's unique underlying name alongside its label, making it easier to Find Variables in Displayr.
    

  • Show data previews - a data preview showing the variable's value attributes will appear when you hover over a variable.

    

• The down arrow icon will collapse all of the data sources that are expanded in the Data Sources tree.

On the variables themselves:

• A triangle to the left of the variable set indicates that there are variables nested within it, and you can click to expand to view the contents.

  

• Upon hover, two columns of dots indicate that you can grab and drag to move variables.

  

Working with a Data Set

When data is imported as a data set, expanding the data set name will show you all variables, including those found in the raw data file, as well as constructed variables created within Displayr. When you right-click on the data set name or access More Actions from the floating toolbar, you can perform actions on the data set as a whole, including tidying and cleaning your data using the Data Preparation Agent. 

Even without running the Data Preparation Agent, Displayr will automatically assess the correct structure for each variable and group variables that should be analyzed together into variable sets. Variable sets can have one or more variables (which are denoted by the triangle to the left of the variable set's name). Displayr has 13 variable set structure types, and a different icon is used to represent each structure. When Show variable names and data previews is enabled, hovering over a variable set gives you a preview of Type (Structure name), unique variable Name, Data Set name, Values, and their Labels. The Variable Sets article goes through working with variables in more detail. 

Right-click and More Actions variable set menu

When you right-click on a variable set or select More Actions from the floating toolbar, you will find the following options:

• Apply Template and Save as Template - saves or applies a Variable Set template to modify variables based on another similar variable. This will update properties such as variable Structure, combined categories and NETs, order, value labels, etc. 
• Rename - renames an item. The new name will automatically flow through to items in your document that use the variable set - unless you have manually renamed/overridden the name in a Table or output.
• Duplicate - copies the variable(s) so that you can modify it without changing the original. With this, you can have two or more versions of a question. Note that any manual changes to the original variable AFTER duplication do not flow through to the duplicated variable.
  
• Move - quickly organizes your variable sets. You can move selected variables (up one row, down one row, to top, or to bottom) or entire groups of variables (filters to top, weights to top, hidden questions to bottom).
• Delete - deletes variables you created in Displayr, such as filters, weights, duplicated variables, banners, and custom R and JavaScript variables. This will not remove original variables from your Data Set. See How to Delete Variables From Your Data Set. 
• Reset - resets modified variables to their original structure. 
• Split and Combine - modifies how variables are joined. Split will remove the selected variable(s) from the variable set. Combine can join variables as a set, as a single variable, or as a grid. More details on these methods are in How to Combine and Split Variable Sets.
• Hide or Unhide - hides or unhide variable(s), unhide all questions, hide/unhide variable sets with many categories, or hide uninteresting data.
• Sort - sorts alphabetically by label, alphabetically by name, or by categories in variables in descending order (does not update).
• Copy Labels and Paste Labels - copies and pastes variable labels in bulk. This is often used when you want to modify lots of labels using a formula in Excel and then put those back into Displayr. 

Floating toolbar

The floating toolbar will appear when you hover over a data set's name, summary table, or variable set. See details here for information about the function of each icon when it is selected (or deselected).

In this section, we'll go into deeper detail about the Add variable or folder functionality that's present when hovering over a variable set. All of the options for creating new variables are in the Add variable or folder menu. Hover over a variable set, and a + will appear in the floating toolbar. Click on it to open it. A search bar and recommendations for data insertion features appear at the top based on what you have selected. Additionally, you'll be able to see Recommendations, Recent features used, create a Folder in your data set to organize variables, apply a template, or create new variables. 

There are various ways of creating new variables from the variable inserter menu:

• Banner - creates a special Banner variable set that allows you to show unrelated variables next to each other in a table. See How to Create and Customize a Banner for more details.
• Calculate Across Variables - performs mathematical calculations (e.g., Average, Count, Divide, Sum, None of) across the selected variables for each case in your data set.
• Combine Categories - creates copies of variable sets selected with categories automatically combined. There are various options: by Geography (automatically merging smaller geographic regions into larger ones), by Pattern (based on how similar they are in distribution when compared to another variable), and by Combining Categories in NETs (creating a new variable with combined categories as the value to use as an adjustment variable in your weight).
• Convert To - transforms variable set(s)'s data automatically to create common types of variables (i.e., Top 2 Box, Bottom 2 Box), recode into new variables (i.e., create all category combinations and band numeric data), and restructure variables (i.e., Split Grids by Rows or Columns and flatten grids).
• Custom Code - creates new variables via AI, JavaScript, R, and QScript. 
• Data Quality - options identify duplicate cases, impute missing data, identify inconsistent data, identify poor quality text, rebase multiple response data in variable(s) to NET, and remove outliers.
• Filter - creates a New filter variable using our filtering tool or automatically based on your use case (such as Filter One Variable Set by Another).
• Numeric Transformations - converts numeric data in various ways (i.e., category midpoints, log transform, NPS, scale, sentiment scores, and square root) into new variables.
• Text Categorization - uses the variables selected in the Text Categorization tool to classify text data both automatically using Displayr AI and manually if desired.
• Text Manipulation - translates text variables into a different language.
• Weight - opens the weighting tool where you can create a weight variable based on targets for other variables in your Data Set.

Working with summary tables as sources

When you import a table(s) of data that are already calculated and ready to be used in outputs, that type of data table is known as a summary table. 

There are two ways to add this type of data source:

1. Paste or Enter Data - this works for one table at a time and shows up as summary.table.1 in the Data Sources pane. 
2. Import an Excel file of tables - this method supports multiple tables at a time and may automatically name those if titles are present in your file. Otherwise, they will come in named summary.table. 

When you right-click on a summary table source, you have options for:

• Rename - allows you to rename the source manually to a better name.
• Delete - deletes the source and removes it from outputs.

You can also access other functions via the floating toolbar, including Edit Data Source, Properties, and Inputs & Outputs.

Each summary table will have settings for which cells of data are present in the Data Source for title, data, and caption, as well as what cells are used for the Sub-Selection that is shown/used in outputs in the Properties panel. See How to Import Excel Tables into Displayr for more details.

If you pasted a table into the Report or Page directly, you will also have an output for the table. Otherwise, you can drag it from the Data Sources pane to the Report tree or on a Page to create an output. 

Next

Reporting Basics Video

Creating and Modifying Visualizations

Bespoke Analyses