Understanding your SQL Exploration

Let's see how each element of the SQL Explorer UI is configured.

• • Catalog
  • Query Builder
  • Visualization Module

Catalog​

The Catalog for an application is a repository of metadata objects arranged in folders. Users can view portions of the Catalog based on their permissions.

In SQL Explorer, you can use the Catalog section to browse and select data for exploration. You can accomplish this in three ways:

• By double-clicking on the columns in the tree-view.

  

• By dragging and dropping the columns into the Query Builder.

  

• By clicking the three dots next to each catalog item and choosing the required option.

  
• You can also use the Show/Hide Catalog button (hamburger menu) at the top to toggle the view based on your preference.

The Query Builder provides you with a query shelf that allows you to add the SQL query for exploration. It comes with an auto complete feature to add objects quickly.

Visualization Module​

The Visualization module enables you to view the results of executing the defined query. It also allows editing visualization, examining the underlying SQL query, and adding the chart to a dashboard.

Edit visualization section

Clicking the three dots next to the lightning icon displays a drop-down with 4 options - Inspect Query, Add to Dashboard, Edit visualization, and Download As.

• Inspect Query​ - When you click this option in the drop-down, a query inspector opens. It has three tabs - SQL, Warehouse SQL, and NetScript. You can make changes to the SQL and NetScript queries by clicking the Open as SQL Explore and Open as NetScript Explore buttons in the respective sections.
• Add to Dashboard​ - This option allows you to add the exploration that you have created to a dashboard. You can choose from two options - Pick a dashboard and New Dashboard.
• Edit visualization -​ This section houses all the chart settings. It has 2 sub-sections: Visualization and Sorting.
  • Under visualization, you can configure:
    • • Automatic refresh for your chart
      • Chart type
      • X-axis and Y-axis configuration
      • Tooltip
      • Size configuration
  • Under sorting, you can
    • • Enable the sorting option on the graph
      • Configure sorting rules and the limit
• Download As​ - This option will let you download your analysis in either CSV or EXCEL format. The column formatting will be preserved for the downloaded files as well.