Guidelines on preparing data for the solution

To view and filter the data that you require on the maps and list in IBM® Intelligent Operations Center, select your source data. Then, configure your data source by using the data sources configuration tool.

In your data source, prepare the data that you want to be received by IBM Intelligent Operations Center. To enable IBM Intelligent Operations Center to receive the data, include the minimal property values that are required by the system and the key properties values that suit your operation. The following list highlights important considerations about acquiring data, and in relation to the minimal and key property values. For more detailed information about configuring your data source in IBM Intelligent Operations Center, see the related link.

Configure the source data correctly
The following conditions apply to the start and end dates and times:
  • If you do not map start and end dates, the date and time are the system date and time for the target.
  • Start and end dates can be time stamps, combined date and time strings, or separate date and time strings.
  • If the start and end dates and times are strings, and if you use the data source configuration tool, enter the time format when you click the Minimal properties > Timezone & Other tab.
Polling interval
Set the polling interval of your data source to ensure that the system receives updates according to the time interval that you require. This time interval setting indicates how often the system checks for and receives new data. Set a value of 0, if you want to receive the initial data and never look for updates. See also the Last update date and time section.
Area name
If you assign a property in your data source to hold area names from the location map, the data from that data source cannot be displayed on the geospatial map. Data from the data source can be displayed on the location map only.
Note: The database property must be able to contain the maximum number of characters that occur in location map area names.
Last update date and time
The last update date and time property is a required property for database data sources if you want to receive updates. For CSV files, the time stamp of the CSV file is the value that is used automatically for this property. The property is used by the refresh function to distinguish the data import action from starting to poll data in the next cycle.
Time zone offset
The time zone offset value is required for all data sources and affects the start and end time values. Set the value to 0 if your data source is in the same time zone as the system. The value is measured in minutes but must be divisible by 30.
Location format and shape

To represent the data with points or shapes on the map, coordinates must be in well-known text (WKT) format, or represented as latitude and longitude values, or contained in shape files. If your data is not in the form of points, modify the geometry format on the Minimal properties > Timezone & Other tab in the data source configuration tool.

If the position of your data item is in WKT format, on the Minimal properties > Name & Location tab, under Location Properties, select the Shape option for the value of Location format. In the Shape field, you must also enter the name of the property in your data source that supplies the position value. The shape option is automatically preselected for shape file data sources.

Note: If multipolygon data items are defined in data that is received, the polygons must not overlap each other. Otherwise, the data items will not be displayed on either the map, or in the list. For more information, see the following topic:
Shape file format
A shape file must be a ZIP archive file that contains one of each of the following file types. All the files in the archive must have the same base file name; for example, MyShapeFile.shp, MyShapeFile.dbf, and so on.
SHP file
A shape format file that defines the feature geometry.
SHX file
A shape index format file that defines a positional index of the feature geometry to enable quick forward and backward searching.
DBF file
An attribute format file that defines columnar attributes for each shape in dBase IV format.
The shape file might also contain optional SBN and SBX files that provide a spatial index of the features.
Spatial data format
Geographic data must conform to the specified geographic coordinate system. Data that includes geographic or location information can use values that are in one of the following formats:
  • Latitude and longitude values
  • Values in well-known text (WKT) format
  • Shape files
Spatial data must use the World Geodetic System GCS_WGS_1984 geographic coordinate system that is referenced through the WGS84_SRS_1003 (ID 1003) spatial reference system. If the data to be imported does not use the geographic coordinate system, then either convert or reproject the data before you import the data.
Latitude and longitude
Latitude and longitude can be supplied as separate properties when data is received from database tables or CSV files.
Key & full properties
Assign your data source properties to be key properties if you want to see the data in the list and preview card in the Operations view.
Used as an index ID
If you want data updates in the source to update existing data in the solution, you must choose one or more properties, and under Property Details, set Key to yes and set Used as an ID to yes. If you do not provide a value for this field, each data item is considered a new data item when the source is updated. The ID value must be unique in your source. If the last update date and time fields and fields other than this ID are modified at source, the item is updated.
Note: In this case, the source is the system of record and changes that are made in IBM Intelligent Operations Center are overwritten by source updates.