Mapping

Mapping is the process of defining how fields contained in the data source are treated and presented within the component. For mapping in Flexmonster, you can use the Mapping object which is a property of the Data Source.

The Mapping object is available for all data sources but with some differences.

For JSON, CSV, and the custom data source API, it’s possible to define field data types and captions, group fields under separate dimensions, create multilevel hierarchies, and more. For SSAS and Mondrian data sources, it’s possible to set captions for dimensions and measures. For data from Elasticsearch, it’s possible to customize hierarchy captions, formats, time zones, control field visibility, and more.

We recommend using mapping instead of defining a meta-object for JSON or adding prefixes for CSV data since the former presents a powerful way to neatly separate a data source from its representation. Moreover, mapping provides more options than using prefixes for CSV data.

This guide contains the following sections:

• Mapping properties
• Other ways to customize field presentation
• Examples

Mapping properties

For each field in the data source, you can set the following properties:

• caption (optional) – String. The hierarchy’s caption.
• type (optional) – String. The field’s data type. Only for "json", "csv", and "api" data source types. type can be:
  • "string" – The field stores string data. It can be aggregated only with count and distinctcount aggregations.
  • "number" – The field stores numerical data. It can be aggregated with all available aggregations.
  • "month" – The field stores months. Note that if the field stores month names only (in either short or full form), the field will be recognized by Flexmonster as a field of the "month" type automatically. If the field contains custom month names, specify its type as "month" explicitly.
  • "weekday" – The field stores days of the week.
  • "date" – The field stores a date. Fields of this type are split into 3 different fields: Year, Month, Day.
  • "date string" – The field stores a date. It can be formatted using the datePattern option (default is "dd/MM/yyyy").
  • "year/month/day" – The field stores a date. It’s displayed as a multilevel hierarchy with the following levels: Year > Month > Day.
  • "year/quarter/month/day" – The field is a date. It’s displayed as a multilevel hierarchy with the following levels: Year > Quarter > Month > Day.
  • "time" – The field stores time. It can be formatted using the timePattern option (default is "HH:mm:ss").
  • "datetime" – The field is a date. It can be formatted using the dateTimePattern option (default is "dd/MM/yyyy HH:mm:ss"). min, max, count, and distinctcount aggregations can be applied to it.
  • "id" – The field is an id. This field is not shown in the Field List. Fields of this type can be used for editing data.
  • "property" – The field for setting member properties. This field is not shown in the Field List. For example, it can be used to associate a productID with a product. See an example here.
• hierarchy (optional) – String. The hierarchy’s name. When configuring hierarchies, specify this property to mark the field as a level of a hierarchy or as a member property of a hierarchy (in this case, the type parameter should be set to "property"). Only for "json", "csv", and "api" data source types.
• parent (optional) – String. The unique name of the parent level. This property is necessary if the field is a level of a hierarchy and has a parent level. Only for "json", "csv", and "api" data source types.
• folder (optional) – String. The field’s folder. Folders are used to group several fields in the Field List. folder supports nesting via / (e.g., "Folder/Subfolder/"). Only for "json", "csv", and "api" data source types.
• aggregations (optional) — Array of strings. This property represents the list of aggregation functions that can be applied to the current measure.
• filters (optional) – Boolean. This property allows enabling and disabling the UI filters for a specific hierarchy. When set to false, the UI filters are disabled. Default value: true.
• visible (optional) – Boolean. When set to false, hides the field from the Field List. Only for "elasticsearch", "csv", and "api" data source types.
• interval (optional) – String. Allows aggregating dates by the given interval. The interval property can be used in the following ways:
  • For the date histogram in Elasticsearch. Check out supported time units. Only for the "elasticsearch" data source type.
  • For the "date string" and "datetime" field types. Supported date intervals are the following: "d" for days, "h" for hours, "m" for minutes, and "s" for seconds (e.g., "1d", "7h", "20m", "30s"). Note that grouping by days starts from 1 January 1970. Only for "csv" and "json" data source types.
• isMeasure (optional) – Boolean. When set to true, the field can be selected only as a measure. The isMeasure property should be used only with the strictDataTypes option (see an example on JSFiddle). Only for the "json" data source type. Default value: false.
• time_zone (optional) – String. Used for the date histogram. You can specify time zones as either an ISO 8601 UTC offset (e.g., +01:00 or -08:00) or as a time zone ID as specified in the IANA time zone database, such as America/Los_Angeles. Only for the "elasticsearch" data source type. Check out an example here.
• format (optional) – String. Used to format different types of date fields. format can be used in the following ways:
  • For the date histogram in Elasticsearch. Check out the date format/pattern. Only for the "elasticsearch" data source type.
  • For the "date string" field type ("date" in custom data source API), it allows overriding the datePattern set in the Options Object for a certain field. The pattern string is the same as in the datePattern option (i.e., "dd/MM/yyyy"). Only for "json", "csv", and "api" data source types.
  • For the "datetime" field type, it allows overriding the dateTimePattern set in the Options Object for a certain field. The pattern string is the same as in the dateTimePattern option (i.e., "dd/MM/yyyy HH:mm:ss"). Only for "json" and "csv" data source types.
  • For the "time" field type, it allows overriding the timePattern set in the Options Object for a certain field. The pattern string is the same as in the timePattern option (i.e., "HH:mm:ss"). Only for "json" and "csv" data source types.
    
  To learn more about the formatting, see the date and time formatting tutorial.
• min_doc_count (optional) – Number. Only for the "elasticsearch" data source type. Used for the date histogram. Can be used to show intervals with empty values (min_doc_count: 0). Default value: 1 (empty intervals are hidden).

Other ways to customize field presentation

Another way to define how the fields are displayed in the report is by configuring this right in the data source. Please note that this approach is available only for CSV and JSON data sources. For more details, please refer to the Data types in CSV and Data types in JSON articles. It also should be noted that there are certain limitations for the CSV data source – not all the field properties can be customized using prefixes.

For this reason, we strongly recommend using the Mapping Object to customize fields.

Examples

1) Creating multilevel hierarchies in JSON:

mapping: {
    "Color": { 
        type: "string" 
    },
    "Country": {
        type: "string",
        hierarchy: "Geography"
    },
    "State": {
        type: "string",
        hierarchy: "Geography",
        parent: "Country"
    },
    "City": {
        type: "string",
        hierarchy: "Geography",
        parent: "State"
    },
    "Price": {
        type: "number"
    }
}

Try the live demo on JSFiddle.

2) Setting custom captions and field data types as well as creating multilevel hierarchies in a CSV data source:

mapping: {
    "Order ID": { "type": "string" },
    "Month": { "type": "month" },
    "Company Name": { "type": "string" },
    "Customer": { "type": "string" },
    "region": {
         "caption": "Region",
         "type": "string",
         "hierarchy": "Geography"
     },
     "State": {
         "type": "string",
         "parent": "region",
         "hierarchy": "Geography"
     },
     "City": {
         "type": "string",
         "parent": "State",
         "hierarchy": "Geography"
     },
     "Salesperson": { "type": "string" },
     "Payment Method": { "type": "string" },
     "Category": { "type": "string" },
     "Name": { "type": "string", "caption": "Product Name" },
     "price": { "type": "number", "caption": "Unit Price" },
     "Quantity": { "type": "number" },
     "Revenue": { "type": "number" },
     "Shipping Cost": { "type": "number" }
}

Try it on JSFiddle.

3) Setting custom captions and grouping fields in separate folders in a JSON data source:

mapping: {
    "Color": {
        caption: "color"
    },
    "Country": {
        caption: "MyCountry",
        folder: "Place"
    },
    "State": {
        caption: "MyState",
        folder: "Place"
    },
    "City": {
        caption: "MyCity",
        folder: "Place"
    },
    "Price": {
        type: "number",
        caption: "MyPrice"
    },
    "Quantity": {
        type: "number",
        caption: "MyQuantity"
    }
}

See the live demo on JSFiddle.

4) Specifying custom captions for hierarchies and measures for SSAS:

mapping: {
    "[Geography].[Geography]": {
        caption: "My Geography"
    },
    "[Product].[Category]": {
        caption: "My Category"
    }
}

See the live demo on JSFiddle.