Loading data
The first thing to do when you start working with Spotfire is to add some data to analyze. If you are an author, you load the data to be analyzed and then create visualizations based on it. If you are a consumer, you launch an analysis that already exists, where an author has selected the data and created visualizations. The data in an analysis can be retrieved from, for example, a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, a text file, data saved in the library, a data function designed to load data, or, data from various databases.
About this task
You add data or open analyses via the
Files and data flyout (reached by clicking
on the authoring bar).
The Files and data flyout contains a number of different elements:
- The plus-sign is the access point to the Files and data flyout.
- Search for files, data sources and data in the upper part of the flyout. You can specify what item type to search for using keywords as described in Searching the library.
- The Recommended view will show different things depending on the context. For example, you may find sample data, or, recent analyses or recent data here.
- Under
Connect to, you will find a list of all
available data connectors. Click on a connector to see a list of data
connections from that source in the analysis, in the library, or to create a
new connection. Note that the installed client has access to authoring with
many more data sources than the web client.
See Supported data sources in the TIBCO Cloud™ Spotfire® web client for more information.
- Click Browse local file to choose data from one or more file sources, or to open local DXP files.
- The
Other option is sometimes available. It then
contains the
Linked copy to data table in analysis option
(previously known as "data table from current analysis" or "data table data
source") which can be used, for example, if you want to unpivot the data in an
already existing data table but also keep the original data table.
Using the installed client, you can also Paste data from clipboard, open Information designer to create new information links, open Manage data connections, or open data from databases which currently do not have a native data connector (which otherwise is the preferred option) using the Load Data with ODBC, OLE DB, or ADO.NET data provider option.
- Click Spotfire library to locate folders and files by browsing the library structure.
- The right part of the flyout shows the available options for the selected category. For example, here you will find recent analyses or recent data, a list of available data connectors, files or folders in the library, or other types of access points.