Overview
Use the stream attributes properties tab to specify the characteristics of the the data in a table column.
...
| Field | Description | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indexed |
To improve performance, index an attribute when the stream has a large data set and an output pipe from the stream uses this attribute to:
| ||||||||||
| Filter conditions are case-independent by default |
| ||||||||||
| Key |
| ||||||||||
| Cache Key | Enter an expression to be evaluated for each stream item (data record) in the stream. The expression can
Once calculated, the cache key value persists throughout subsequent stream calculation, rather than being created from scratch for each stream item as normal. This allows you to keep track of the calculation as it progresses. This means you can use a "persistent" attribute value in other expressions. CHECK THIS |
...
Does PhixFlow make a best guess at what the type is and if it's not sure, assumes string??
All stream attributes have a type. The default is String.
What if you want to change a format - e.g set a decimal or date format?
Which Once the stream has data the attribute type can only be changed if the database allows the change. This is database dependent and you will see an error if your change is not allowed. If the stream has no data then any change in attribute type is possible.
Which fields can have "null"?
String
Apply a string type to sequences of characters (i.e., letters, numerals, symbols and punctuation marks). By default string attribute types have a fixed length of how long? 50. The minimum length is 1 and the maximum length is 4000.
do we need to tell users about any information-loss if data that is naturally a different type gets loaded as a string?
Anchor Bigstring Bigstring
Bigstring
| Bigstring | |
| Bigstring |
...
The maximum bigstring size can be configured in System Configuration → System Tuning → Maximum Bigstring Size.
Integer
Apply an integer type to whole numbers (not a fractions or decimals) that can be positive, negative, or zero.
What happens if you attempt to load a float or decimal number into an integer attribute? If you store a number with decimal places as an integer it will be truncated.
Integer has a precision which is the maximum number of digits. The default is 10. The minimum is 1 and maximum is 38.
Float
Apply a float type to non-integer numbers with an undefined level of precision. Float numbers have:
- significant figures: the total number of digits stored,
- decimal places: the number of digits after the decimal place.
...
Anchor Decimal Decimal
Decimal
| Decimal | |
| Decimal |
Apply a decimal type to non-integer numbers with a set level of precision. Decimals have a specific number of:
...
If the number of decimal digits present in a decimal field exceeds the specified format, PhixFlow will discard the excess decimal placesround to the required precision. For example, if a data record includes the number 12.3456, but the decimal type can have 4 significant figures and 2 decimal places, PhixFlow records 12.3435.
| Note |
|---|
Ensure your decimal type has the number of decimal places you need for yout your data. Once the data is loaded into PhixFlow, you will not be able to recover excess decimal places. |
...
What about word formats e.g. Tuesday the fourteenth of February?
Datetime
Apply a datetime type to representations of a time, or day and time.
Are there any specific formats to say are recognised/not recognised? Words are not recognised except three letter month abbreviations eg 14 Feb 2019 is accepted.
"yyyyMMdd",
"dd/MM/yy",
"dd MM yy",
"dd-MM-yy",
"MM/dd/yy",
"MM dd yy",
"MM d yy",
"MM-dd-yy"
"dd/MMM/yy",
"dd-MMM-yy",
"dd MMM yy",
"MMM/dd/yy",
"MMM-dd-yy",
"MMM dd yy",
"MMM d yy"
"dd/MM/yyyy",
"dd-MM-yyyy",
"dd MM yyyy",
"MM/dd/yyyy",
"MM-dd-yyyy",
"MM dd yyyy",
"MM d yyyy"
"dd-MMM-yyyy",
"dd/MMM/yyyy",
"dd MMM yyyy",
"MMM/dd/yyyy",
"MMM-dd-yyyy",
"MMM dd yyyy",
"MMM d yyyy"
Datetime
Apply a datetime type to representations of a time, or day and time.
Are there any specific formats to say are recognised/not recognised?
Same formats as for date but with HH:mm:ss on the end.
"yyyyMMdd.HHmmss"
"dd/MM/yy HH:mm:ss",
"dd-MM-yy HH:mm:ss",
"dd MM yy HH:mm:ss",
"MM/dd/yy HH:mm:ss",
"MM-dd-yy HH:mm:ss",
"MM dd yy HH:mm:ss",
"MM d yy HH:mm:ss"
"dd/MMM/yy HH:mm:ss",
"dd-MMM-yy HH:mm:ss",
"dd MMM yy HH:mm:ss",
"MMM/dd/yy HH:mm:ss",
"MMM-dd-yy HH:mm:ss",
"MMM dd yy HH:mm:ss",
"MMM d yy HH:mm:ss"
"dd/MM/yyyy HH:mm:ss",
"dd-MM-yyyy HH:mm:ss",
"dd MM yyyy HH:mm:ss",
"MM/dd/yyyy HH:mm:ss",
"MM-dd-yyyy HH:mm:ss",
"MM dd yyyy HH:mm:ss",
"MM d yyyy HH:mm:ss"
"dd/MMM/yyyy HH:mm:ss",
"dd-MMM-yyyy HH:mm:ss",
"dd MMM yyyy HH:mm:ss",
"MMM/dd/yyyy HH:mm:ss",
"MMM-dd-yyyy HH:mm:ss",
"MMM dd yyyy HH:mm:ss",
"MMM d yyyy HH:mm:ss"
Graphic
Is this still available?
...
Apply a TrueFalse type to fields that can have the values true or false.What happens if the field is empty? Or has something other than True/False?have the values true or false.
What happens if the field is empty? Or has something other than True/False?
The value saved is always true or false. It is true if it is a number other than 0, the string "true", "t", "yes", "y" (case insensitive), or for a list if all items in the list are true. Anything else is false, so empty/null is false.