What is a Dataset UID (or a Dataset 4x4)?

Dataset UIDs

The dataset UID (Unique IDentifer) is the 4x4 of alphanumeric characters at the end of the dataset URL. This is automatically generated by the platform. Every dataset, working copy, chart, map, and user account is associated with one. 

For example, this is a public dataset on https://evergreen.data.socrata.com with a UID of 4vqv-hxb7:

https://evergreen.data.socrata.com/Other/Building-Permits/4vqv-hxb7

For tabular datasets that have an associated Primer page, this URL will direct you to that page. To go directly to the table view, add /data_preview to the end of the URL, like this:

https://evergreen.data.socrata.com/Other/Building-Permits/4vqv-hxb7/data_preview

Alternatively, adding /explore will open the data table in our new data shaping experience, the exploration canvas. 

Example: 

https://evergreen.data.socrata.com/Other/Building-Permits/4vqv-hxb7/explore

Tip: If you have the unique ID of the asset (dataset, view, visualization) you can access it by using this short URL format: https://{domain URL}/d/{4x4}

Example: 

https://evergreen.data.socrata.com/d/4vqv-hxb7

Resource Names

Have you ever wanted to alias your asset by a common name? You can assign a resource name to your dataset's metadata.

Resource Names provide the ability to alias a dataset by a common name. Resource Names must be unique across your domain and error messaging will alert you if the name has been used previously. They can only contain letters, numbers, dashes, and underscores — they must start with a letter. They cannot use the phrases "this" or "single_row."

Once a Resource Name has been set for an asset, you can reference the asset via this alias instead of using the UID. Resource Names are highly useful for:

Simplifying interactions with queries

Resource names can be used in SoQL queries in place of UIDs.

APIs Use

Resource APIs can accessed by the resource name at the /resource/{resource_name .json or .csv endpoint}

Example:

{yourdomain.com}/resource/{resource_name}.json

Navigation

Resource names can be used for site navigation in place of the standard URL.

Example: 

{yourdomain.com}/resource/{resource_name}