Adding Reference Data

To add a set of Reference Data to use in processors for the validation or transformation of data:

1. Right-click on Reference Data in the Project Browser, and select New Reference Data:
2. If you want the Reference Data to be a lookup onto Staged or External Data, or an alternative lookup onto an existing Reference data set, rather than a new set of Data, choose New Lookup....
   

   Or, create the Reference Data using the data in the Results Browser by selecting some data values, right-clicking and selecting Create Reference Data. For example, from the results of a Frequency profiler, select a results tab. Select the desired values, right click and Create Reference Data:

   

   Note:

   You can use the normal windows Shift-select, and Control-select options to select data. Take care not to drill down when attempting to select the desired values. Alternatively, to select all the loaded data in the results browser for a given column, Control-select the column at the top (for example, the Value column in the screenshot above). Press Escape to de-select all selected data.

3. If you are adding new Reference Data (rather than a new Lookup onto existing Reference Data), define the columns that you require in the Reference Data. For example, for a simple list of values, define a single column. If you would like the Reference Data Editor to add a uniqueness constraint so that duplicate entries cannot be created, select the Unique? option on the column.
4. Select the column or columns that you want to use when performing lookups on the data.
5. Select the column or columns that you want to use when returning values from a lookup.
6. Optionally, select the Category of Reference Data that you want to create, if you are creating Reference Data of a specific type (such as a list of regular expressions).
7. Give the Reference Data a Name (for example, Valid Titles) and optional Description (for example, 'Created from Customers table') and choose whether or not to edit the data now.
8. If you choose to edit the data now, add or delete any entries in the Reference Data using the Reference Data Editor.
9. Click OK to finish.

The Reference Data set now appears under your project in the Project Browser, and is ready for use in processors - for example in a List Check.