Overview
The Information Designer is a tool for setting up data sources and creating and opening information links in Spotfire®.
An information link is a database query specifying the columns to be loaded and any filters needed to narrow down the data table prior to creating visualizations in Spotfire. In Information Designer, information links are created from building blocks such as columns and filters using joins, calculations, and aggregations.
To open Information Designer, on the authoring bar, click Data and select Information designer.
The Elements tree in Information Designer is a representation of the folder structure in the library. The permissions for each folder specify which databases and elements should be available for different users or groups when creating information links. Folder permissions can be specified in the Information Designer, but the main permission handling is done with the Library Administration tool.
Once information links have been created in Information Designer, they can be opened by any user who has the appropriate licenses, allowing users who may not have knowledge of SQL or the underlying database structures to be able to execute advanced database queries.
Information links are opened by opening the Files and data flyout and browsing the Spotfire library to find and open the information link.
Note that neither the Information Designer nor the resulting information links are available when you are working offline.
General Workflow
This is the general workflow for using Information Designer:
1. Set up the data sources
Enter the information required to connect to the databases which will be accessed through Information Designer.
2. Create folders for storing elements and set permissions
The library is a hierarchical structure where data sources, elements and information links can be organized into folders. Given that the library is also used for storing analysis files, it could be worthwhile to spend some time thinking over a suitable structure. More
Different groups of users are given different levels of access to data. More
3. Combine tables by creating joins
If you want to work with data from different tables, you first need to create joins.
4. Define column elements from available data sources
Define the column elements to be shown when creating information links. These columns can be taken directly from tables in one or more databases. They can also be calculated, filtered or otherwise modified.
5. Create filter elements to limit the data retrieved
Create filter elements with descriptive names to be applied when creating information links.
6. Create information links
Create information links that retrieve data from one or more databases and share them with your colleagues.
For more information please see the Information Designer documentation.
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