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Submitted

Automated Surrogate Key "Unknown Bucket" Transforms from History Enabled Table

  • March 6, 2018
  • 2 replies
  • 2 views
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Some features have been added recently to automatically add the joins necessary for handling SCD Type 2 lookups from a History Table.

I'd like to suggest another enhancement which would save a ton of time and manual clicking when we're adding Surrogate Keys to fact tables.

Dragging and dropping DW_ID from a history table to a fact table is easy.  But the process of adding the Fixed transformation for a -1 "Unknown Bucket" requires a lot of clicks, is error prone, and is something I despise doing.

I'd like to suggest the following enhancement to the new dialog that appears when dragging a field from a history enabled table.  Note that this option should only be available if dragging DW_ID.

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A simple checkbox to add the surrogate key "unknown bucket" transform fixed transformation and also add the Is Empty condition:

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There have been several times where developers have clicked on the wrong field for the condition, or forget to add the condition, so this would be a great help.

Also, try adding the transform and the condition 25 times for 10 fact tables.  Your mousing hand will quickly agree with my suggestion.  I promise!

 

 

    2 replies

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    • doug.wynkoop
    • Known Participant
    • March 6, 2018

    Hi David,

    I've made plenty of surrogate keys in my own time, and I agree that the -1 transformation is something I've often wished I didn't have to add by hand!

    I would love to see some kind of automation that would allow this process to be done faster.

    As an aside, I encourage you to have a close look at the new Durable Supernatural Key feature, as you may want to use it to create surrogate keys in many cases going forward.

    If you have any questions about it, please let us know!

    Best regards,

    Doug Wynkoop

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    • JTreadwell
    • Community Manager
    • February 26, 2021

    Thanks for submitting your ideas! Your continued feedback on our product is very important to us. 

    We will be evaluating your input for future improvements in the product.

    At the time of this posting, the current product roadmap is focused on a major evolution in foundational pieces of our software including splitting the development into ODX, MDW, Semantic Layer and User Portal. With this evolution, we will continue to see incredible innovation in the product that may exceed your expectations or make the need for this feature obsolete.

    If you have any questions or would like to discuss further, please reach out to me or the dedicated TimeXtender Solution Specialist in you region. Thanks!

     
     
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