Tabular versus transactional data
When building an association model, Tabular or Transactional data formats are available. Tabular data is selected by default. If you choose Transactional, select fields for ID and Content from the drop-down menus that appear.
Transactional Format
Transactional data have a separate record for each transaction or item. If a customer makes multiple purchases, for example, each would be a separate record, with associated items linked by a customer ID. This is also sometimes known as till-roll format.
| Customer | Purchase | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | jam | |
| 2 | milk | |
| 3 | jam | |
| 3 | bread | |
| 4 | jam | |
| 4 | bread | |
| 4 | milk |
Tabular Data
Tabular data (also known as basket or truth-table data) have items represented by separate flags, where each flag field represents the presence or absence of a specific item. Each record represents a complete set of associated items. Flag fields can be categorical or numeric, although certain models may have more specific requirements.
| Customer | Jam | Bread | Milk | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | T | F | F | |
| 2 | F | F | T | |
| 3 | T | T | F | |
| 4 | T | T | T |