Comparing data structures

You can use the DISPLAY command to display the table layout of an Analytics table. The table layout specifies the data structure of the table.

Before appending a source table or output results to a target table, or merging two tables, you can display the table layouts of both tables and visually compare the structures to check if they are identical. The data structures of the two tables must be identical in order for the append or merge operation to work correctly.

The following data structure elements are displayed by the DISPLAY command:

  • record length
  • field name
  • number of fields
  • field order
  • field start position
  • field length
  • field data type
  • number of decimal places for numeric fields
  • field format details
  • computed field expression

Compare data structures

  1. Open the source table.
  2. Enter DISPLAY in the command line and click Run .

    Data structure information for the source table is displayed in the Results tab.

  3. Click the pin icon to pin the Results tab and preserve the data structure information.
  4. Open the target table.
  5. Enter DISPLAY in the command line and click Run .

    Data structure information for the target table is displayed in a second Results tab.

  6. Click the pin icon to pin the Results tab and preserve the data structure information.
  7. Click back and forth between the two Results tabs to visually compare the two data structures.

    Any difference in data structures will prevent an append or merge operation from working correctly. You may need to first manually harmonize the data structures. For more information, see Harmonizing fields.

    If you are combining two tables, another option is combining the data outside Analytics. For more information, see Alternative methods for combining data.

[ Back to top ]

Analytics 14.1 Help