trueChart Help

Managing data

Owned by Derrich Schleich
Jan 26, 2023

What is a data set?

TRUECHART differentiates between the following types of data:

  • Dimensions

  • Measures

  • Variables

After you have added data to TRUECHART, you can set individual settings for the data source. The data settings are available by right-clicking on the TRUECHART extension and selecting Data.

Dimensions

Dimensions build the basis of your data model. They define a measurable range of your data. Suitable dimensions could be the following:

  • department of a company

  • origin of the customer

  • time

Find out more about dimension settings.

Measures

A measure defines the value above a dimensions point. That includes the capacity or amount of something asserted by measuring. Examples of suitable measures include:

  • amount of sales

  • costs

  • revenue

Find out more about measure settings.

Variable

A variable is a placeholder for a value. Often it is used for controlling the behaviour of TRUECHART. You can control the which chart is displayed, or if comments are editable by condition. Another use case is giving a data a context. Assuming you got a time dimension. When you store the timestamp of today in a variable, you can differ between actual value and forecast within the same dimension.

Find out more about variables.

Configuration

If multiple data contexts are present, you can select a context which dimensions and measures you want to edit. On top of that, you have the option to copy the definition of one context to the other.


Listed below you find how the copy process works. Target will refer to the currently selected context, while Source will refer to the context that was selected in "Copy definition from…​".

The copy process works as follows:

  • Only the definition applied with the TRUECHART editor will be copied. No new data points will be created in the BI software.

  • Definitions will be copied per index. So the first dimension in the source will be applied to the first dimension in the target, the second to the second and so on.

  • For measures, definitions will only be copied if the type matches. So TRUECHART measures cannot receive the definition of a measure defined in the BI software and vice versa.

  • If the source has more measures than the target, and the additional measures are TRUECHART ones, then they will be appended to the target.