Often, the data that you import into Analyst's Notebook contains date and time information. In general, this information can come in a range of different formats. If your data contains dates and times, your import specification must tell the application how to interpret them.
You must specify how the values in each date, time, or date & time column that you
assigned on the Assign Columns page are formatted. To provide
location context for date & time values, you must select a time zone. If you do not
specify the correct format, the application might import the data incorrectly or fail to
import the data at all.
As soon as you assign an incoming column to a date, time, or date & time property in the design, the import wizard gains a Date & Time Format page. To set a date and time format:
- Click a column in the table at the top of the page.
If the values in the column do not match the selected format, a yellow triangle is displayed in the column header. A yellow triangle is also displayed next to any values for which the format is invalid.
- Select a predefined date and time format, or enter a custom format:
- To use a predefined date and time format, click a format in the list.
Each row contains an example of the format in use, and a description. If the format is not valid for the data in the column, a warning is displayed in the table.
Note: A
valid date format might not be the
correct date format. For example, 10 December 2013 can be expressed as 10/12/2013 or 12/10/2013. If your import data expresses 10 December 2013 as 10/12/2013 within a column, the mm/dd/yyyy date format is valid for that column, but is not correct.
If you think you have the correct format but the yellow triangle still appears, check the values in your date and time columns for extra characters such as spaces. You can remove unwanted characters by using Trim Characters on the Column Actions page.
- To use a custom format, enter a date and time format in the Custom format field.
An example date and time value with that format is displayed in the adjacent field. If the format is not valid for the data in the column, a warning is displayed in the table.
Tip: If an existing format is similar to the one you want to set, click a format in the list of predefined formats and modify it.
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Change the time zone of the source data, unless you want your import to default
to the same time zone as the chart.
If you are working with Analyst's Notebook Premium, and have set new Date
and time only custom properties, you can select time zones on the
Date & Time Format page. You can have a number of
columns that contain date and time properties, therefore you can set different
time zones for each if required.
Note: Although Analyst's Notebook allows you to set the
time zone for custom properties that are date only or time only, when you
run your import these properties default to the same time zone as the
chart.
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If you set custom types with date and time, or date, or time properties in your
import design, you can enable copying to timeline charts on the Date
& Time Format page. This function is available for custom
types only. The charting scheme sets the item date and time for you when you use
types specified in your i2 Analyze aligned schema.
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If you are working with a classic import specification, the Date
& Time Format page displays a Make the first item
controlling when multiple items have the same date & time
option. This is useful if you want to chart a timeline for presentation
purposes, and have events that occur at the same time. Click the checkbox to
select the option.
Date and time properties in the import design can now receive values from the incoming data correctly.
