🚨 Default behavior change coming next week 🚨

We have recently discovered that when executing queries, there are some cases where our DATETIME columns contain timezone information, and other cases where they do not. This is primarily an issue that arises with columns containing date/time information in uploaded files (we do not see this with live tables). We have decided to address this inconsistency. Starting next week, query result columns of type DATETIME will no longer contain timezone information, while columns of type DATETIMESTAMP will always contain timezone information.

The impact of this change shouldn’t be significant, and most users will see no change. However, if you have queries across ingested data which aggregate on DATETIME columns, or do DATE_ADD() style calculations, you may notice differences in your results depending on your current timezone.

If you are impacted by this change, here are some ways to clarify your intent w.r.t. timezones:

1. CAST the resulting column to a DATETIMESTAMP to force timezones, or DATETIME to strip timezones (documentation)
2. Use AT_TIME_ZONE() to explicitly state your timezone (documentation)
3. Ensure that the table column type is set to be of type DATETIMESTAMP or DATETIME (documentation)

Note: If timezone information is desired, but not defined, UTC is assumed. 

Please contact support@data.world with any questions or concerns. As always, we’re happy to help.

data.world is very excited to announce our new deep brain integration.

Now data consumers simply need to think about what data they want, and data.world will return governed, curated data. It also supports cataloging of business terminology straight from subject matter experts.

When we originally envisioned the feature, our design inspiration was to provide an "easy button." However Jon Loyens, co-founder and CPO, famously then said "what if there was no button at all?"

A future release will support agile data governance workflows, such as data access approvals. Integration is quick and relatively painless, though upgrades require a bit of effort and minor outpatient surgery.

An update is coming soon for the following metrics tables.

Events - Pageviews - Last 90 Days: This table now includes all types of pageviews, whereas previously it was filtered to only include dataset and project views. In addition, the window has been extended from 30 to 90 days.

Events - Queries: This new table is a detailed audit of query events. This was previously already available for multi-tenant customers. Going forward, it will also be available for single-tenant or virtual private customers. More details are included in the data dictionary markdown file. 

Resources - Datasets: This table contains a new column called “notificationsEmail” which includes any additional email address associated with the notifications for the dataset, as set in the dataset settings.

Visits - New Users By Month: This table logic has been updated to be consistent with other metrics, namely Visits - Unique Visitors To Date and Visits - Unique Visitors - All Time List.

We're proud to announce a new metadata collector is now available for enterprise customer use in private beta -- Looker (business intelligence). Let us know if you'd like to get your hands on the early version of this collector.

As we get closer to general availability, we'll be releasing more information on these exciting expanded metadata and discovery capabilities!

Keep your eyes open for an exciting new feature in upcoming enterprise releases.
Soon, our standard search behavior will be expanded to include custom metadata associated with your catalog resources. This feature will enable users to execute generic searches such as "Smith" and find resources where "Jane Smith" is listed as "Steward" (a custom metadata property) for a given resource. This feature will be accessible to enterprise customers and will include public API support.

 🚨 Default behavior change coming soon! 🚨

data.world offers the ability to define custom metadata fields on resources like datasets, projects, glossary terms, dashboards, and metadata tables. Custom metadata field types include free text fields, drop-down fields, and multi-select hierarchical fields.

To provide a focused user experience while editing custom metadata, each field had a configuration option to either show the field during the editing process, or else put the field behind a drop-down, requiring a user to find the field in the drop-down before setting its value. The default behavior was to hide the field in the "Add new field" drop-down (pictured below), unless it was flagged as a primary field.

While we typically avoid changing the default behavior of features with widespread adoption, conversations with customers has led us to flipping the default — all fields will show up during the editing experience, unless they are now flagged a secondary field. Only if they are considered a secondary field will they ever be behind the "Add new field" drop down.

The benefit of this change is that users will more easily see all the fields available to edit or provide crowdsourced suggestions for, including fields that are empty and don't have a value set yet.

The edit experience, along with the "Add new field" drop down, in action:

Bottom line - this will result in more fields showing up by default when you click Edit (they won't be hidden under the 'Add new field' drop-down) - unless you mark them as secondary in your metadata configuration (which will hide them under the drop-down).

If you have any concerns or questions on how to implement the secondary setting, including if you'd like to implement it proactively prior to the feature being rolled out, please reach out to your customer success representative or support@data.world and we'd be happy to assist!

Look for this new feature in upcoming data.world releases!

Here's a sneak peek of what to expect:

We are updating the way we present contributors and visibility for datasets and projects. Currently, we have a top level Access tab that controls individual access, and a Visibility section in the Settings tab that controls whether the dataset/project is open, private, or discoverable to the community. To minimize confusion and complexity, we are combining and redesigning these settings into a single pane of glass to simplify understanding and control of “who can see this resource."

This is how the experience will look from a data consumer's perspective:

This is now the experience will look from an admin's perspective:

Relevant data partners now appear at the top of some search results as featured results, making it easier to find high-quality, reliable datasets in search. Featured results are disabled for private installs.

If you’re interested in learning more about how we help teams find the right data vendors for their projects, drop us a line at concierge@data.world.

Look for this new feature in upcoming data.world releases!

Here's a sneak peek of what to expect:

You'll soon see a new banner above your search results highlighting the number of matched column results for your query. You can navigate to your column results either by clicking the banner or using the result type dropdown below the search bar.

Column search surfaces tables within datasets or projects that contain matched columns, and individual column records defined in your metadata catalog. This feature will be available for data.world enterprise and community users.

We've added a full suite of metadata management endpoints to our public API!

If you need to build custom workflows, integrate with existing tool chains, or require additional flexibility in managing your catalog, head over to our API docs. We've added endpoints to manage glossary terms, analysis resources, data sources, tables, columns, and relationships.

Coming soon: Collection management APIs