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By the end of this chapter you will be able to:

Table of Contents

So far your model has merged data from two files, then grouped and sorted the records. You now have a

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table that has the latest data about the TV

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Package that each

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Customer has.

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You now want all the channels that the customer has ordered. You will look up the data about the channels provided by each package

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from a database table. To make sure that PhixFlow finds all the channels, you will use an output multiplier.

Load data from a database table

First, load the database table SOURCE_PACKAGE_CHANNELS into a

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table as described below. Your model will then have the list of channels available in each package

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:

Tip

Remember, the Introduction to Modelling course explains about loading data from databases; see section 3 Creating Datasources and Database Collectors.


  1. In the repository, expand the list of Datasources.
  2. Drag the datasource called Rating and Billing into your model.
    1. In the Properties (on the right), in the Datasource Instances section, double-click Default
    2. Update the fields URL, Username and Password with those provided in your training email.
    3. Save your changes.
  3. In your model, hover your mouse pointer over Rating and Billing and click 
    Insert excerpt
    _datasource_

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  1. show_

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  1. tables
    _

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  1. datasource_show_

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  1. tables
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    . PhixFlow displays a list of the tables available in this database. You can resize the list to make it easier to browse.
  2. Right-click on SOURCE_PACKAGE_CHANNELS and select 
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    _collector_new
    _collector_new
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    . PhixFlow adds a new

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  1. Insert excerpt
    _database_collector
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     to the model, and gives it the same name as the source data table, SOURCE_PACKAGE_CHANNELS. In the

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  1. Properties (on the right) Basic Settings section → Statement Expression, you can see the database query is: 
      select * from SOURCE_PACKAGE_CHANNELS.
  2. Hover your mouse pointer over the

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  1. new SOURCE_PACKAGE_CHANNELS database collector, and click 
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    _table_with_attributes
    _table_with_attributes
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    . PhixFlow adds a new

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  1. table to your model and also gives it the name SOURCE_PACKAGE_CHANNELS. In the

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  1. Properties Attributes section, you can see that the data has two attributes (columns): Package and Channel.
  2. To load the data into the

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  1. table, run analysis on this section of the model and check the data has loaded.

    Expand
    titleHow?

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    1. Hover your mouse pointer over the SOURCE_PACKAGE_CHANNELS

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    1.  table, click 
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      _run_analysis
      _run_analysis
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       then click YES to confirm.
    2. When PhixFlow notifies you that the analysis is finished, hover your mouse pointer over the

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    1. table again.
    2. Click 
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      _view_show
      _view_show
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      .
    3. In the drop-down list, select 
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      _view_default
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      .  PhixFlow displays the data.

    Screenshot of your model and the data you have loaded:

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  1. Image Added

Take a moment to look at this data. For each package, there are multiple channels included. For example, the News package includes Channel 1, Channel 2, Science 2 and NewsExtra.

Add another

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table 

Update your model to add a

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table. This

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table will take all the data that we have merged, sorted and grouped in the model so far

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:

  1. Hover your mouse pointer over the Latest Package Update

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  1. table and click 
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    _table_new
    _table_new
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    .
  2. In Basic Settings, set the Name to Latest Package All Channels.
  3. Drag all the

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  1. Insert excerpt
    _attributes
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     from Latest Package Update to the property tab for Latest Package All Channels.

    Expand
    titleHow?
    1. Hover your mouse pointer over the

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    1. table Latest Package Update.
    2. In the context toolbar, click 
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      _attributes
      _attributes
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      . Phixflow lists the data attributes (column titles) for this

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    1. table.
    2. Select all the attributes and drag them into the Latest Package All Channels  property tab Attributes section.


  1. Click 
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    _finish
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     to save and close the

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  1. Properties.
  2. Close the attributes list.

Supplement the

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table with look-up data

You now need to add to the data in the Latest Package All Channels

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table. You will use a look-up pipe to add the channels provided by a package. PhixFlow needs to know how the data in the source

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table matches the data in the receiving

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table.

  1. In the model, add a pipe from SOURCE_PACKAGE_CHANNELS to Latest Package All Channels. PhixFlow opens

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  1. the Properties for the new pipe.
  2. In the Basic Settings section, set:
    • Namefind_channels
    • Type: Look-up
  3. Click 
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    _save
    _save
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     to register the change of pipe.
  4. In the Order/Index section, click 
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    _attributes
    _attributes
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    . PhixFlow opens two lists of attributes: one list for the source

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  1. table and another for the receiving

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  1. table
    1. From the source

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    1. table list, on the left, drag PACKAGE into the Order/Index grid.

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    1. Image Added
    2. This tells PhixFlow about the key column in the source

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    1. table. Notice that PhixFlow has added a line to the Order/Index grid.
  1. From the receiving

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  1. table list, on the right, drag Package over the top of the line in the Order/Index grid.

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    1. Image Added

    This tells PhixFlow about the matching key column in the receiving

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  1. table. Notice that PhixFlow has now added the Index Expression _

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  1. out.Package. However, we do not want PhixFlow to use _

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  1. out.Packagebecause output multipliers are calculated before the output values is generated (see PhixFlow Timing Cycle). We need it to use the data

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  1. where PACKAGE = Package is from the input pipe in.
    We must do this, rather than using the value of Package from the output, because we are

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  1. going to use the lookup to drive an output multiplier – and output multipliers are calculated before the output is generated.
  2. In the Order/Index section, double-click the new line that PhixFlow has added. PhixFlow opens the property tab for the PACKAGE attribute. Set:

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      • In the Basic Settings → Index Expression change from _out.Package to in.Package.
      • Click 
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        _finish
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         to save and close the property tab.
    1. Close the attribute list.
    2. In the pipe property tab, click 
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       to save and close.
    3. In the model toolbar, click 
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      _save_saveModel
      _save_saveModel
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       to save your model, which should look like this:

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    1. Image Added

    At this point, if you run your model it will find each customer, e.g. C010, and will read that the customer has the News package.

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    Set an output multiplier

    An output multiplier tells PhixFlow to process the same record multiple times, each time producing a new record. This is called breaking-out a record. In this case we want PhixFlow to keep processing the same customer record until it has found all the channels. This means our single input record:

    C010News

    becomes multiple output records, like this:

    C010NewsChannel 1
    C010NewsChannel 2
    C010NewsChannel 3
    C010NewsNewsExtra

    The output multiplier needs to know:

    • which pipe it will use -  find_channels.
    • what data you want to add - the channels.

    The

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    table also needs to create the new column for the channel information.

    1. In the model, double-click Latest Package All Channels to open its

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    1. Properties.
    2. To create the output multiplier, expand the

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    1. Analysis Options section and set:
      • Output Multiplier: find_channels.CHANNEL
    2. To create a new column for the channel data, expand the Attributes section. Click 
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      _new
      _new
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       to add a new attribute. PhixFlow opens a new attribute property tab. Set:
      •  Name: Channel
      •  Expression: _outputMultiplier
    3. Click 
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      _finish
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    1.  on both the New Table Attribute Properties and the Latest Package All Channels Properties.
    2. Run the model and view the

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    1. table data.
    Expand
    titleHow?
    1. Hover your mouse pointer over the Latest Package All Channels 

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    1. table and click 
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      _run_analysis
      _run_analysis
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       then click YES to confirm.
    2. When PhixFlow notifies you that the analysis is finished, hover your mouse pointer over the Latest Package All Channels 

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    1. table again.
    2. Click 
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      _view_show
      _view_show
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      .
    3. In the drop-down list, select 
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      _view_default
      _view_default
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      .  PhixFlow displays the data.
    4. Select 
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      _more_options
      _more_options
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       on the View and 
      Insert excerpt
      _paging
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       to show the number of records.

    There should be 33 records

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    , similar to the below image:

    Image Added

    Notice that there are now multiple records for each customer. In the model toolbar, click 

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    _save_saveModel
    _save_saveModel
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     to save your model.