Reloading data

If you know that the data sources used in your analysis are refreshed often and you want to make sure you view the absolutely latest data, you can reload data during a session, without having to reopen the analysis.

About this task

Use the following steps to reload most data tables in your analysis simultaneously. If you only want to reload a particular data source, see Reloading data for a single data source instead.

Tip: You can also choose to reload data for a single data table instead, from the Data canvas. There, you can select whether to reload Linked data only (sources with 'Always new data' or 'New data when possible'), or All data in the data table (including 'Stored data' and 'Embedded in analysis').

Before you begin

You must have some data loaded in the analysis. To reload data from all possible data sources you must have a Spotfire Analyst or a Spotfire Business Author role. If you only have a Spotfire Consumer role, or if the analysis is in Viewing mode, you cannot reload data from data sources using stored data or top-level embedded data, only linked data.

Note: Because reloading can affect both stored and top-level embedded data you must consider this if you are an author and it is important that the analysis should contain specific data. In some cases, you might want to break the link to the original source to prevent others from reloading data unintentionally.

Procedure

On the menu bar, select Data and one of the reload options below:

Reload linked data – All linked data with the data loading settings 'Always new data' or 'New data when possible' will be updated. However, linked data sources that have data loading set to Stored data will not be reloaded using this procedure.
Reload all data – All data that is possible to reload will be reloaded, including linked data with data loading set to 'Stored data' and embedded data from sources that are possible to reload (provided that the source is available). If you have a data source with data from the clipboard, or, if you have frozen some columns in an embedded data table, the data table cannot be reloaded at all. See below for more information about embedded data. This option is only available to authors.
Note: Reloading all data tables may take a long time if one or more data tables are very big. If data is saved linked, you can select exactly which part of a data table to reload instead.

Note: Reload of in-database data tables will only reload the data, not the schema. See Data Connection Settings in the Spotfire Analyst User Guide if you need a full schema refresh.

Note: If an analysis has been configured to use scheduled updates, you will not be able to reload linked data. Scheduled updates are normally used to save time for end users by downloading the latest data before anyone needs it. Such analyses often contain large amounts of data which should not be reloaded randomly. Read more about scheduled updates in the Spotfire Server Installation and Administration Help.

Tip: If you want to edit transformations before the reload, you can do this from the data canvas using the installed client. To modify import settings for a source (for example, for an Excel file), you can replace the data source with itself.

Embedded data

It is possible to embed a data table in the analysis so that the analysis file is self-contained with data and possible to use offline. This can be done from the data canvas, by clicking Settings and choosing Embedded in analysis.

About this task

Embedded data captures a snapshot of the final data table in the analysis file. When data is saved embedded, you cannot reload different parts of the data table separately, as in the linked case. However, the Reload all data option can be used to reload data from the original data source, provided that this source is available. This means that the embedded data might not necessarily be fixed and unchanged during the lifetime of an analysis. If a reload is done, then the latest data from the original source is fetched into the analysis. Hence, the analysis will contain a snapshot of the data from the latest time of reload and save. Simply opening an analysis with embedded data will not cause a reload of the data.

Tip: If you have a data source in your data table that you currently cannot reload, you might be able to recreate a link by replacing the data source with another source (for example, not clipboard data).