Refreshing Data that You Added

After you add data, you might need to refresh the data from its source if you learn that it has changed.

You can refresh data from all source types: files, Oracle applications, and databases. In the case of databases and Oracle applications, the SQL statement is re-run and the data is refreshed. In the case of a Microsoft Excel file you need to select a corresponding file to refresh from. To refresh Excel data that you previously added, you must ensure that the newer spreadsheet file contains a sheet with the same name as the original one. In addition, the sheet must contain the same columns that are already matched with the subject area.

Rather than refresh a data source, you can completely replace it by loading a new data source with the same name as the existing one. However, replacing a data source can be destructive and is discouraged unless you understand the consequences:

  • Replacing a data source will break projects that use the existing data source if the old column names and data types are not all present in the new data source.

  • Any data wrangling, that is, modified and new columns added in the data stage, will be lost and projects using the data source will probably break.

Note:

You can reload data and metadata for analysis based Oracle application data sources, but if the Oracle application data source uses logical SQL, reloading data only reruns the statement, and any new columns or refreshed data won’t be pulled into the project. Any new columns come into projects as hidden so that existing projects that use the data source are not impacted. To be able to use the new columns in projects, you must unhide them in data sources after you do a refresh. This behavior is the same for file based data sources.

To refresh data that you added:

  1. In the Data Sources pane, or the Subject Areas pane, right-click the data that you want to refresh.
  2. Select Reload Data.
  3. In the dialog, select the source that contains the newer data and click Open.
  4. Review the data to refresh and click OK.
The original data is overwritten with new data, which is displayed in visualizations in the project or analysis, once the visualization is refreshed.