Redirecting several columns from URL/File links in one operation

[Jean-Yves Le StangParticipant]

Hi,

I download data from several weather stations using URL links. Data come from the same Database but have a different link for each weather station. Therefore, I cannot download data from different stations in the same flattened format. In addition, time series are not sorted and sometimes missing. So I have a minimum preliminary process (sorting, cumulating values…)

As I process only one station at a time, I use the “Redirect” function. Therefore, I have to select individually each column when I switch from one station to another. Not a big deal but time consuming and most of all subject to handling mistakes leading to plotting the y values of one station with the x values of another…

I would like to do the whole selection process in one operation, based on the selection of the station ID.

Thank you for your help.

[dgteamModerator]

Thanks for the suggestion.  We agree that it would be an improvement to have an automated to update all of the columns at once.  We will think a bit about how to do that.

In the meantime, one thing that can help is to use drag and drop to populate the menus.  You may already beware of this, but in case you are not. Instead of using the menus and having to navigate to the proper group, click the icon dragon and drop it right into the menu selector to update it.

Another thing that we have found helpful is to use the fact that the redirects will return the original column or group name that it came from. So, if you use these columns in a command, you can set up a text label that will show the group it originated from.

As you are further processing the data, you wouldn’t do this in the final graphs, but set up a mock set of commands, for example, Plot commands, for each Redirected column.

Then  set up a Text command that will show you where the data is coming from. This is just a way to confirm that you’ve updated all of the columns to the same group.

For example, here is the set up with all of the redirect columns coming from ‘Data1’.

Here, both columns are coming from Data2.

Hope this helps for now.

[Jean-Yves Le StangParticipant]

It helps a lot. I have to admit that I have to make a better usage of the drag/drop as implemented in DG. And setting-up a special graph to list the origin of each dataset is a very convenient workaround to secure the result.

Many thanks.

[Author]

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