Append

[Steve]

There are many circumstances where you want to bring two (or more) datasets together. There are two directions that you can merge datasets. If you have the same kind of data, like January Sales and February Sales, you will probably want to append them to each other and make a longer list of data. If you have data where one dataset helps to describe the other dataset, like the products hierarchy data that helps to describe the transactions data, you will most likely want to do a lookup between the two. 

In this article we will focus on the append capability.

Upon first glance this seems like a really easy task; just copy one dataset from another file or tab to the blank area below another dataset. Occasionally it is this easy but most of the time the columns have different names, they may be in a different order and there may be a different number of columns in each dataset.

Excel

Select all the data (including the header) from one dataset, Copy
Paste it below the bottom of the other dataset leaving one blank row in between the two datasets. If the additional data puts you over the 1,048,576 row limit of Excel, then you will have find a different way to work with the data
Manually look through each column to verify that the information in each dataset has the same content

• If it is in the same column and the same name, it is good
• If it is in the same column and the name is different, it is good
• If it is in a different column, select all the values in the column that you want to move, Cut. Then select the header of the column that you want to move it to, right-click "insert cut cells". It will automatically shift all the other columns to the right, so it is best to fix the columns from left to right
• If there is no matching columns between the two dataset, make sure that you don't accidentally move it below another column in the other dataset

Once you have all the columns aligned, remove the blank row and the header of the second dataset so it will all appear as one big list.

If you are using filters, verify that it is now using the entire merged dataset, if not, reapply

Paxata

In Paxata, hover over attach, then click append




Click "dataset (click to select)" button




Select the dataset that you want to append




At this point, Paxata will present you with a simple form that has four sections.

• column names that were found in the new dataset that don't exist in the first
• column names that were found in the existing dataset that don't exist in the new dataset
• column names that match
• data display panel

Using either of the first two sections, select columns from one dataset that match the contents of the other dataset



Once you are done making your selections you can easily see if there are any columns that don't match up. You can also see how all the columns are set to match. If you decide to make any changes, you can click on the "x" between the column matching definition and line up your columns differently.




As you make each adjustment you can see the data aligning to verify that the information is in the correct column.




Once you are satisfied, click the save button