Loading Data on Demand

In the Add Data Tables dialog (File > Add Data Tables...) you can specify to load data tables from information links or from data connections on demand.

The on-demand loading can be controlled by specifying one or more conditions that need to be met for data to be loaded. See Example of Marking Controlled On-Demand Details Visualization and Example of Property Controlled On-Demand Data for examples of how to configure the on-demand loading in those cases.

Conditions can be set in a number of different ways. For example, they could be determined by the value of a property or an expression, or by the values of the filtered or marked rows in a column from another data table. If a selected information link has been set up with required prompts or parameters, then these will automatically be required parameters for the on-demand loading and you must specify a condition using the Define Input button for each required parameter.

If desired, you can apply a transformation to the data prior to loading. While the transformation will be performed on the data corresponding to the condition only, you may gain some performance by doing the transformation here rather than conditioning an entire information link directly.

Examples of Conditions

What to control on-demand loading	How to set it up
Marking in another data table.	1. Click to select the column of interest from the Define input for parameters that should control loading list. 2. In the Define Input dialog, set Input for the selected parameter to Values from column. 3. Select the Data table from the analysis where you want to mark data. 4. Select the Column from the selected data table to match against the column in the on-demand data table. 5. Select to Limit by Marked rows by selecting the check box for the desired marking.
Filtering in another data table.	1. Click to select the column of interest from the Define input for parameters that should control loading list. 2. In the Define Input dialog, set Input for the selected parameter to Values from column. 3. Select the Data table from the analysis where you want to mark data. 4. Select the Column from the selected data table to match against the column in the on-demand data table. 5. Select to Limit by Filtered rows by selecting the desired filtering scheme from the drop-down list.
A range of values defined by the min and max values from the current marking or filtering, for a selected column.	1. Click to select the column of interest from the Define input for parameters that should control loading list. 2. In the Define Input dialog, set Input for the selected parameter to Range from column. 3. Select the Data table from the analysis where you want to mark data. 4. Select the Column from the selected data table to match against the column in the on-demand data table. 5. Select to Limit by Marked rows or Filtered rows by selecting the corresponding marking or filtering scheme.
A document property value.	1. Click to select the column/parameter of interest from the Define input for parameters that should control loading list. 2. In the Define Input dialog, set Input for the selected parameter to Values (fixed/properties/expression). 3. Click the Property radio button. 4. Click Select... and specify which document property to use in the dialog that opens.
An expression.	1. Click to select the column/parameter of interest from the Define input for parameters that should control loading list. 2. In the Define Input dialog, set Input for the selected parameter to Values (fixed/properties/expression). 3. Click the Expression radio button. 4. Click Edit... and specify your custom expression.
All values over (or under) a certain limit, e.g., Sales > 1000.	1. Click to select the column/parameter of interest from the Define input for parameters that should control loading list. 2. In the Define Input dialog, set Input for the selected parameter to Range (fixed/properties/expression). 3. In the field of interest (e.g., Min) click the Fixed value radio button. 4. Type the value of interest in the field or click Select... to pick a value from the available values in the column.

The data retrieved for the on-demand data table can be based on a combination of all of the examples above.

Note: Special attention is needed when setting up an on-demand data table dependent on nothing but a parameter defined within a configuration block (a text file which configures the initial state of an analysis, see Spotfire Technology Network). An on-demand data table must always have at least one input defined for the parameter in the On-Demand Settings dialog. Since configuration block parameters will automatically be assigned to document properties (if they exist and have the appropriate data type), a document property may act as a bridge between a configuration block parameter and a parameter in an information link. If another input is defined, such as a column filter, no such bridge is required and the parameter from the configuration block will be used automatically.