Linking to an External Data Source

• Creating a Dataset

• Choosing a Data Source

• Linking Multiple Data Sources

Creating a Dataset

Before creating a new dataset, log in to your Data & Insights domain. Once logged in, use the blue navigation bar at the top of the page. Click the plus (+) icon in the upper-right corner, then select Dataset to begin creating a new dataset.

Note: Don't see the “Create” button? Please check you are signed in and have the appropriate user role to upload a dataset, here.

You will be prompted to enter a name for external link then select Create Dataset. This name will appear in your organization’s data catalog when users search for the dataset.

Note: The dataset title can be edited later on before publishing, so feel free to put in placeholder text if you need more time.

Clicking Create Dataset will bring you to the draft page for the dataset. The top of the page will provide four data actions: 

1. Add Data

2. Review & Configure Data

3. Edit Dataset Metadata

4. Edit Column Metadata

Review & Configure Data and Edit Column Metadata will be unavailable on newly created datasets until tabular data has been added.

Choosing a Data Source

There are a number of options for populating this dataset. Click on the Add Data button to select a data source. This will open a window and prompt you to Choose a Data Source.

On the left hand panel, select Link to an External Data Source. This will create a link to external data source rather than uploading it. You can link multiple files to one dataset and link multiple datasets to the overall external data source. 

• Dataset Name: An optional field that can be used to add a title for the external data source
• Dataset Description: An optional field for a brief description of the data source.
• URL: Link to the page where the data is located.
• File Type: Enter the file type based on the URL extension. You can find the file type (HTML, csv, etc) in the characters following the period in the URL.
  • Note: File Types must have a unique title. To add more than one link of the same file type, you have to add another external link. 

Once you’ve entered the information above, the Access this Data section of the External Link Profile page will appear as shown below.

Linking Multiple Data Sources

If your external link needs to connect to multiple pages or files, you can add additional links directly from this page. Use Add Another URL or Add Another External Dataset as needed.

• For an HTML page: Enter the information as described in the previous section.

• Data Dictionary URL (Optional): If you have a webpage or publicly accessible file containing metadata that defines the data, provide the link here. If you’re linking to multiple files, you can include a different data dictionary for each external dataset.

• Add Another URL (Optional): Use this option to add links to data for a dataset or if your data is available in multiple formats and you’d like to include each format.

• Add Another External Dataset (Optional): Use this option to represent a different dataset with its own unique set of links. This option is also used if the data link you're adding has the same file type as another link in the dataset.

Note: Each External Dataset section must contain a unique file type label. 

To add another link with the same File Type, select Add Another External Dataset and enter the details for that file separately. 

When adding multiple External Datasets, the Access this Data section of the will appear as shown below: