The data transform workspace

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Applies to: TBM Studio 12.0 and later. Use the data transform workspace to import data and modify it to meet your data requirements.

The data transform workspace is divided into three panes.
  • Project Explorer pane: Use to select a table you want to transform.
  • Transform Steps pane: Use to add transform steps.
  • Transform Step Details/Data Preview pane: Displays details about a transform step or displays the table after the current step is applied. The tabs running across the bottom of the Transform Steps and Transform Step Details panes are documents you have selected from the Project Explorer.

Project Explorer

The Project Explorer pane displays the documents that are available. The document types are:
  • Tables
  • Editable Tables
  • Metrics
  • Perspectives
  • Published Tables
  • Reports
  • Time

When working with data, you will be focused on the Tables section.

To display the Project Explorer pane:
  • In TBM Studio v12.1 and earlier, click the TBM Studio mode icon at the right side of the Global header.
  • In TBM Studio v12.2+, open the Applications/Projects menu and click TBM Studio.

To change the width of the Explorer pane, drag the right border handle. To minimize the Explorer panel, click the minimize arrow in the upper-right corner of the panel.

Expanding Filtered folders – Project Explorer

Applies to: 12.11.2 and later​

This feature allows you to filter and see which folder a table, editable table, perspective, or report belongs. To enable this feature, navigate to Projects tab > Enable Features, and then select Show Grouped Results in Project Explorer checkbox.

To find a document in the Project Explorer, enter the search term in the Project Explorer search bar, or select a pre-defined filter in the drop down. The search results will be shown within their associated folder in an expanded view. The expanded folder view is not applicable to Metrics and Time Section.

Clearing the search term in the search Bar will automatically return to “All” view in the drop down. ​
Note: The blue triangle indicates that the system is querying the back end and results are yet to be returned.

Tables section

The tables are grouped by category. By default, there is a General category. There also will be other categories based on the application you are using, and custom categories created by other users. You can create new categories when you create a new table.

To limit the tables displayed, use the filter shown below:

Table columns

To display the columns in a table, click the arrow to the left of the table name. In the example below, the table is Servers Master Data.

The columns are Actual Units, Age, etc.

The symbol in front of a column name indicates the column type:
  • () Key
  • () Label
  • () Numeric
  • () Date
The status of a document is indicated by the font:
  • Plain: Checked in
  • Italics: Checked out by another person
  • Orange Bold: Checked out by you

Table errors

(Applies to: TBM Studio v12.1, v12.2+.4)

When working with tables and the transform pipeline, a wide range of errors can occur. Some of the typical errors are listed below.
  • An appended table is missing
  • A transform step references a missing column in a table

If a table has one or more errors, in the Project Explorer, a number is displayed to the right of the table name indicating the number of errors. In the example below, the All Business Services table has one error and the Cloud Service Provider table has four errors. When you display the table pipeline, a number is displayed to the right of the step name, indicating the number of errors. When you point to the number with the mouse cursor, a tooltip displays the error message:

Transform Steps pipeline

Add steps to the Transform Steps pipeline as needed.
  • To display the Transform Steps pane, select a table from the Tables section of the Project Explorer.
  • To add a step, move the cursor to the line dividing two existing steps and then click the plus sign at the right edge of the Transform Steps panel. Click the type of step you want to add. Some types of steps can be used only once in a pipeline, for example Data Partition. If the step already has been added to the pipeline, a banner will be displayed in the lower-left corner of the step option.

  • To change where a step occurs in a pipeline, drag the step to a new position in the pipeline. The following steps cannot be reordered: Source, Upload, Import, Table, Model.
  • To minimize the Steps pane, click the arrow in the upper-right corner of the pane.
  • To adjust the width of the Project Explorer pane, drag the divider handle on the right border.
  • To save the transform steps, click the Home tab, and then click Save.