Introduction

Enriching data is at the heart of analysis modelling from adding additional data and extrapolating , from looking up reference information to performing complex calculations and deduplication, PhixFlow covers it all. In this page we will highlight some of This page highlights the key areas of enrichment, provide providing examples, and list listing the links to additional useful enrichment resources.

PhixScript

PhixScript is the language of PhixFlow and it can be used anywhere that supports expressions, such as attributes on a table and in filters.

Single Function PhixScript

This is used in attribute expressions and filters alike where a single function is called.

// If ExamResult is greater than 95 then return "Distinction" else return "Pass"
if( in.ExamResult > 95, "Distinction", "Pass")

Multiple Function PhixScript

PhixScripts containing multiple functions must be wrapped in a do(). do() can also be used within a function such as in if or switch. For more information see do().

The value returned from the PhixScript is the final value output, therefore it is useful to add the desired output to the end of the script.

Note that variables declared in an attribute expression (variables are declared with a $ symbol with the data type being implied) will be accessible to subsequent attributes within the same table using the $variable name.

do(
	// calculate the miles per gallon.
	$mpg = in.distance / in.gallonsUsed,
	
	// if $mpg is over 65 set efficiency to Highly Efficient
	if( $mpg > 65, $efficiency = "Highly Efficient",
	
		// ELSE, set $efficiency to be null
		$efficiency = _NULL
	),	

	// Set the value returned by the PhixScript
	$efficiency
)

Error Handling

Debug

error

Where a PhixScript is more than a single function, it must be wrapped in a do() function. do() can also be used within functions where you need to carryout multiple functions such as in if or switch.

Single Function PhixScript

This is used in attribute expressions and filters alike where a single function is called.

// If ExamResult is greater than 95 then return "Distinction" else return "Pass"
if( in.ExamResult > 95, "Distinction", "Pass")

Multiple Function PhixScript

PhixScripts containing multiple functions must be wrapped in a do(). For more information see do().

The value returned from the PhixScript is the final value output, therefore it is useful to add the desired output to the end of the script.

Note that variables declared in an attribute expression (variables are declared with a $ symbol with the data type being implied) will be accessible to subsequent attributes within the same table by using the $variable name.

do(
	// calculate the miles per gallon.
	$mpg = in.distance / in.gallonsUsed,
	
	// if $mpg is over 65 set efficiency to Highly Efficient
	if( $mpg > 65, $efficiency = "Highly Efficient",
	
		// ELSE, set $efficiency to be null
		$efficiency = _NULL
	),	

	// Set the value returned by the PhixScript
	$efficiency
)

Variables

Clearing Data

See Rollback Recordsets, for details on removing all or selected records from your Table. 

Lookup Information

Lookups can be performed using three different techniques, the method selected depends on your requirements and these are described below. For more information see Filtering and Sorting Data.

Lookup

with Filtering

Scenario

Lookup information from a separate table and pass filtering filtered information dynamically to return only selected records. 

Example

You need to retrieve all invoices for a specific date range that have not been sent.

Solution

Show one with _out.someting - Typically running a model

Show one with $variable - If your using an action and dynamically setting the $variable.

the Region for a particular business using the City from its address.

Image Added

Solution

1. You should have two tables:
   • one with your data that will perform the lookup e.g. Business Data.
   • a second table with the data being looked up e.g. Region.
2. Drag a pipe from the data to be looked up, to the data performing the lookup. In our case from Region to the Business Data.
3. In the properties window that opens for the pipe:
   1. Set the Name to be something short but meaningful.
   2. Set the Type to be lookup.
   3. In the filter section we will tell the lookup pipe we want to filter Region by City using the processed city value from our Business Data.
      To use the processed version of city we use _out.City.
   4. We are passing data and not just a string value, so click Image Addedto tell PhixFlow we are passing an expression.
      The filter will look like this:
      Image Added
4. The lookup is now setup, to access its attributes, we open the Business Data table and add an attribute called Region.
   1. In the expression type pipe.attribute, in our case this will be rgn.Region.
   2. Save your changes.

5. Insert excerpt
   _run_analysis _run_analysis nopanel true

    on Business Data and the Region will now populate.

Lookup with Order/Index

Scenario

This is a highly efficient method for performing a lookup against a small set of records. This kind of lookup will automatically cache a set amount of records, 3000 by default, in memory allowing for faster lookupsretrieval.

Example

You have a product code Product ID on an invoice Invoice and want to return the name of the product to display. There are a finite amount of products so it is efficient to cache them. The setup will look similar to:

Image Added

Solution

Merges

Matching

Simple exact matches and make reference to addition al functions for more advanced matching see Lev Distance etc.

1. You should have two tables:
   • one with your data that will perform the lookup e.g. Invoices.
   • a second table with the data being looked up e.g. Products.
2. Drag a pipe from the data to be looked up, to the data performing the lookup. In our case from Products to the Invoices table.
3. In the properties window that opens for the pipe:
   1. Set the Name to be something short but meaningful.
   2. Set the Type to be lookup.
   3. Click 

      Insert excerpt
      _save _save nopanel true

      .
   4. In the Order/Index section, click 

      Insert excerpt
      _attributes_show _attributes_show nopanel true

      .
   5. Now drag the attributes from each table, onto the order index section, that will be used in the lookup.
      For example from the Product Table drag UID and from the Invoice Table drag ProductID.
4. The lookup is now setup, to access its attributes, we open the Business Data and add an attribute called ProductName.
   1. In the expression type pipe.attribute, in our case this will be pn.ProductName.
   2. Save your changes.
5. Run analysis on Invoices and the product name will now populate.

Lookup Function

See lookup for full details on the configuration.

The lookup function allows the user to pass variables to a lookup pipe. For example up, the pipe configuration for passing a variable would look like the following with the Type set to Lookup:

Image Added

To retrieve the Region data from this lookup pipe, for example in an attribute expression, this would look like the following: lookup(in, $num = _out.MyValue).Region

Merging Data

See Merging Tables for full details. This technique can also be used to deduplicate.

Matching Records

See Compare or Match Data for deduplicating and matching records.

More Information

• Filtering and Sorting Data
• Expressions and PhixScripts
• Rollback Recordsets