Adding column matches manually

If you want to show data from multiple data tables in a single visualization, the data tables must have at least one column match available. If the data in the data tables is similar, column matching often happens automatically, but you can add manual matches using the installed client when needed.

About this task

Read more in Multiple data tables in one visualization and Column matches.

Tip: Another way to fix some issues with missing column matches is to rename the columns to group by in the additional data tables, so they use identical names (and data types) as in the main data table. Then, the automatic column matching will kick in.

Before you begin

Manual column matches must be authored in the installed client.

Procedure

In the installed Spotfire client, open the analysis of interest or load data tables into a new analysis.
On the menu bar, select Data > Data Table Properties, and open the Column Matches tab.
In the Data tables list, select the data table to use as the main data table in the visualization.
Click New, to the right of the list showing the Current matches for the selected data table.
The New Match dialog is opened.
In the Right data table drop-down list, select the data table to add a match for.
The data table in the Left data table drop-down list is already set to the data table that was selected in the Data Table Properties dialog.
In the Left matching column selector, choose the column to use for the match from the left data table.

Note: If needed, click the arrow on the column selector and the arrow on Methods in the drop-down list and choose a method to apply to the column to get a better match. For example, you can change the data type for the column.
In the Right matching column selector, choose the column to use for the match from the right data table.

Note: If needed, you can add a method to the column. See step 6.
If needed, you can also add a Left column value transformation and/or a Right column value transformation by clicking the arrow on Value and selecting something under Methods.
In this step, you can transform the values within the column to get a better match. For example, you can use the "Upper" method to convert all values in a column to use uppercase letters, if the casing is different in the two columns and you therefore not get any matches. The available methods differ with the data type of the selected column. See Creating matches to ensure same grouping of values for an example.
Click OK to close the dialog.
Repeat steps 4-9 if more column matches are needed.
Click OK to close the Data Table Properties dialog.

Results

The column matches are added to the selected data tables.