Concepts → Business Schema View Formula Column

About a business schema view formula column

For a Business Schema View, you can create an expression for a formula column using the Formula Builder. A formula expression has certain capabilities and limitations in a business schema view.

Using the Business Schema Designer, you can create a business schema view formula column by dragging and dropping New Formula from the Data panel into the canvas of the business schema view. These actions add a new business schema view formula column to the business schema view. From here, you can edit the properties of the business schema view formula column.

Properties of a business schema view formula column

Here are the properties of a formula column in a business schema view:

Property	Control	Description	Configuration
Name	text box	Enter the formula column’s name; used in the fully qualified name of the column	Valid characters: A-Z, a-z, 0-9, $, _ Name must begin with a letter character
Label	text box	Enter a user friendly name	utf-8 md valid characters, including emoji 😀
Description	read only	Additional information for column, observable in the column details of the Analyzer	utf-8 md valid characters, including emoji 😀
Function	drop down list	Select the Incorta Function of the column	Dimension or Measure
Set/Change Formula	Formula Builder	Create or edit a formula expression.	See Formula Builder

Business schema view formula column expressions

A formula expression returns a scalar value or array of values. These values are of a specific type. A formula expression can consist of:

• referenced columns
• built-in functions
• variable

Referenceable columns in a business schema view formula column expression

A referenced column has a fully qualified name. Here are the possible types of referenceable columns in a business schema view formula column expression:

Reference Source	Reference Type	Referenceable	Note
Physcial_Schema.Table.Column	Data-backed	Yes
Physcial_Schema.Incorta_Analyzer_Table.Column	Data-backed	Yes
Physcial_Schema.Incorta_Analyzer_Table.Formula_Column	Data-backed formula	Yes
Business_Schema.View.Column	Data-backed	Yes
Business_Schema.View.Formula_Column	Runtime formula	Yes
Business_Schema.Incorta_View.Column	Data-backed	No	Validation possible in the Formula Builder. Runtime error in the Analyzer (Explore Data)
Business_Schema.Incorta_View.Formula_Column	Runtime formula	No	Validation possible in the Formula Builder. Runtime error in the Analyzer (Explore Data)

Supported built-in functions

A formula column in a business schema view can use the following built-in functions in a formula expression:

Function Type	Description	Examples
Aggregation	Functions that accumulate data to a summary value	average, count, distinct, max, median, min, or sum
Boolean	Functions that evaluate to True or False	and, between, contains, endsWith, in, inList, isNan, isNull, like, not, or, startsWith
Conditional Statement	Statements that return a value based on the evaluation of a parameter	case, decode, and if
Conversion	Functions that convert the Incorta Data Type of a parameter. In addition, functions that manipulate Timestamp and Date values for different return values.	day, double, monthName, parseDouble, string, toChar, and year
Filter	Functions that specify a subset of data items	firstVersion or lastVersion
Miscellaneous	Functions with assorted uses	descendantOf, lookup, rowNumber, and schemaRefreshTime
Arithmetic	Functions that take one or more values and return a single value	abs, ceil, exp, floor, max, min, mod, rnd, round, sqrt, and trunc
Date	Functions that manipulate Timestamp and Date values	addDays, date, month, removeTime, weekday, and year
String	Functions that return string values or return values based on string parameters	bin, concat, find, ifNull, repeat, rTrim, and upper
Analytic	Functions that compute values over a group of rows and returns a single result for each row	denseRank, index, or rank

Variable references in formula expressions

In the Formula Builder, in the Functions and Variables panel, certain variables are referenceable in the formula expression. Some types of variables all users have access to and other kinds of variables are subject to Discretionary Access Control (DAC).

Here are the various categories of variables:

• System Variables: Predefined variables within Incorta that return a value as a defined type.
• External Session Variables: Variables that query an external data source when invoked. Values returned as string.
• Internal Session Variables: Variables that query data within a schema. Values returned as string.
• Global Variables: A static variable available to all tenant users that return a value as a defined type.

Formula expressions in a business schema view formula column can reference the following variables:

Variable Type	Referenceable	Note
System Variable	Yes
External Session Variable	Yes
Internal Session Variable	Yes
Global Variable	No	Not supported in 4.9 or earlier releases

Additional Considerations

There are additional considerations for a business schema view formula column in:

• the Analyzer
• an Insight

Business schema view formula columns in the Analyzer

When using the Analyzer, you can select and inspect business view columns in the Data panel. For a given column, select the Information icon in the right gutter. The Information dialog shows the:

• Column Name
• Source Column/Formula
• Data Type
• Function
• Description
• Sample Data

Business schema view formula columns in an Insight

A business schema view formula column in an Insight will enforce a defined aggregation in the formula expression. This means that a user cannot override the aggregation for the business schema view formula column in the Analyzer.

You can use a business schema view formula column as an applicable filter for an insight, including Individual, Distinct, and Aggregated filters.