New feature time! Merge tables and charts, even if you haven't joined the datasets!
Written by Jason on December 20, 2012This is such a useful feature, it's hard to believe we didn't have it earlier!
We've got a bit of a contrived example here to demonstrate. We took two datasets from NYC's open data site - one of them has geospatial coordinates for ~2000 subway entrances and the other has geospatial coordinates for ~2000 water fountains.
Within Tuhunga, we stored each in a different dataset. Because there was no common point of reference between the two (obviously subway entrances and fountains don't always go together), the datasets couldn't be linked. This meant that, until today, there was no way to plot them on the same map unless all the data was in the same dataset.
Now, you can - it's easy, and only requires a few seconds for you to implement. While it's not available yet in the UI (it will come early in 2013), the capability is ready to use now. So, we're making it available to you today if you want to do it manually (it's easy - trust us).
What can this be used for? Well, just like our unusual subway + fountain example, let's say you were looking for a site for a new restaurant and wanted to know where your potential competitors might be, you might have a dataset for all the McDonalds in an area and a separate one for all the Burger Kings.
If you wanted to see them on a single map, you used to need to merge the datasets yourself since there is no natural link between the two. Now, run your own filters and reports independently on each, and then plot the locations on the same map. You can even use custom icons for their respective logos.
To do this today, all you need to do is add an extra parameter to your embedded table or chart. Usually, the URL for an embedded chart looks something like this:
https://app.tuhunga.com/embedchart?keysr=6734e5e01031d01d (our subway entrance map)
To add a second result set to this map, find its "keysr" parameter (a56c5cd9c9b8b083 for our fountains) and add it to the end of the URL as the "extraKeys" parameter (note the ampersand).
https://app.tuhunga.com/embedchart?keysr=6734e5e01031d01d&extraKeys=a56c5cd9c9b8b083 (our subway entrance map)
You can add as many results as you like - just keep adding on to the extraKeys parameter with a pipe (|) between each key. Example:
&extraKeys=a56c5cd9c9b8b083|1111111111111111|2222222222222222
You can use this with other types of charts as well as with tables. You can also use results from other users (assuming you have access, of course) or those that have been shared with the public.
As always, please contact us if you have any questions.
Tags: features
