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Calgary Loader Tool Icon Calgary Loader Tool

One Tool Example

Calgary Loader has a One Tool Example. Visit Sample Workflows to learn how to access this and many other examples directly in Alteryx Designer.

Use Calgary Loader to create a Calgary database (*.cydb) from any type of input file. Each field contained in the input file can be indexed to maximize the Calgary database performance.

Important

As of the Alteryx 5.0 release, Calgary indexes are case insensitive. Calgary databases created in a version earlier than 5.0 will still be case-sensitive.

Configure the Tool

Root File Name: The area used to specify the name of the Calgary database and file location. All Calgary databases have the file extension *.cydb.

You can choose to either Load base CalgaryDB and/or 1 or more standard indexes or Load a single advanced index.

Load Base CalgaryDB and/or 1 or More Standard Indexes

Fields: The Fields area displays every column of data contained in your Input file. There is an Options button on the right side. Options included are...

  • Data: Fields chosen in the Data column are available for retrieval. You can manually select or deselect data to be included in the Calgary database by either checking or unchecking the box next to the data field.

    • Select all: Selects all data fields for the analysis.

    • Deselect all: Deselect all data fields in one step. This is useful in the case of wanting to select only a few fields to carry through the workflow.

  • Index: Fields chosen in the Index column are available for queries. You can manually select or deselect indexes to be created on the Calgary database by either checking or unchecking the box next to the data field.

    • Select all: Selects all data fields for the analysis.

    • Deselect all: Deselect all data fields in one step. This is useful in the case of wanting to select only a few fields to carry through the workflow.

Fields can be set to either spatial or non-spatial indexes. There are 2 different modes for creating non-spatial indexes:

  • High Selectivity Index: A high selectivity index is used for fields that contain very unique records, like address or name.

  • Low Selectivity Index: A low selectivity index is used for fields that contain repetitive data, like gender or state abbreviation.

You can select an auto mode in which the Calgary Loader tool automatically applies the proper index mode (High or Low Selectivity) based on the data contained in the Input field. All fields with more than 550 unique values autodetect to high selectivity. The Calgary Loader will begin to build both High and Low selectivity indexes for the first 1 million records in order to identify the proper index to apply. The auto mode can incorrectly assign the proper index mode if the nature of the data significantly changes within the first million records.

NULL values are allowed in non-spatial indexes.

Only point-level spatial indexes are supported. NULL and 0,0 points cannot be spatially indexed.

Load a Single Advanced Index

The Advanced Index allows you to create a contains or raw index on a Calgary Database.

  • Contains Index: Searches the entire tabular field for a specified value. The specified value can be located anywhere within the field.

  • Raw Index: A special build mode for standard indexes used to create one index for multiple fields in a table.

If a table contains fields for Person 1 through Person 6, an index can be created to contain all names from all 6 person fields. This enables you to perform a search on one name and retrieve all records where there is a match regardless of which Person field that the name value resides in.

  • Root File Name: Specify the Calgary database for which you will create an Advanced Index. Either key in the file path location of the input or select Browse to navigate to the file location.

  • Index Name: Specify the name of the advanced index to be saved in the same location as the Root File Name.

  • Source Field: Specify the field from the Input database for which you would like to create an advanced index on.

  • Advanced Index Mode: Specify the type of advanced index to create: Full Text (Contains) or Raw. For Raw Indexes, you must...

    • Specify the 0 Based Record Field which is the record ID.

    • Specify the Selectivity: High, Low, or Auto.

Require a License to Use This File

This check box is mostly for internal use. Do not check this box when loading a Calgary Database unless you have the authorization to build a license file.

Visit Building a Raw Index in Calgary Loader for more information.