Creating a Custom Dataset

Custom Datasets are a simple, yet highly flexible way of getting data from almost any data source into Slemma. This would normally be used when Slemma doesn’t have a native connector to that service or database.

The basic steps for this are to:

1. Create a Custom Dataset via the Slemma UI
2. Add data via the Slemma API

Create a Custom Dataset via the Slemma UI

To start creating a custom dataset, please do one of the following:

• On the Data sources page, click the blue plus button in the bottom right corner, scroll down and choose the Custom dataset option from the list.
• On the Library page, click the blue plus button in the bottom right corner, choose Integration from the submenu, scroll down and choose the Custom dataset option from the list.

The empty dataset editor will open.

Here you can add the desired fields in order to upload data to this dataset with a custom structure through the API or through the Zapier connection. Click the Add a field button at the top right and specify the following settings:

• field name
• field type
• field visibility (prevent a field from displaying in the Chart editor)
• change number format (available for the Number field type)
• set the hierarchy level of displayed date (available for the Date field type)
• set the appropriate map (available for the Geography field type)
• specify the custom attribute if needed (read more about custom attributes)
• select the checkboxes for the distinct-count measure or split function if needed (available for String and Geography field types)

Fields with the number type become measures, others (string, date, geography) become dimensions.

MEASURES are numbers, or quantitative values. For example, # of orders, # of users, Profit, Price, # of days and so on. Measures are marked with  symbol. DIMENSIONS are categories by which you group your measures, for example country, product category or employee. Dimensions are marked with  (String type),  (Date type) and  (Geography type) icons.

The table below provides the common information on the supported field types:

Field type	Icon	Description
Number		Represents numeric or quantitative values. They are used to create measures.
String		Represents categories by which you group your measures.
Date		Represents dates or dates and time. Select this type to see how measures are changing over time.
Geography		Represents geospatial data. Mark the field as geographical if you have location data and would like to create maps. Choose World continents to get the country values. Choose the specific country to get its regions.

When adding new fields, the dataset remains empty until data has been added to this dataset via the API.

Add data via the Slemma API

1. Open the dataset for editing.
2. Click the Get API endpoint button. This provides you with the URL that will be used to access this dataset via the API. You are also able to right click this dataset from the list and choose the API endpoint option.
3. Use the Slemma API to add or delete data from the dataset. Click here to see the Slemma API for Custom Datasets.

The custom dataset updates every time a new data comes through API.

NOTE: When opening the custom dataset for editing, you are not able to remove fields, as it could cause the errors. We also strictly recommend not to edit fields in the custom dataset because a simple name change could break the data transferring process.