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Background documentationDefine Union Dialog Box Locate this document in the navigation structure

 

You use the Define Union dialog box to merge the data of multiple datasets into a new dataset. For example, you may have a field in one data service called FirstName and a field in another dataset called FName. You can use the Union operator to combine the data from these two fields into a single field called Name.

You display the Define Union dialog box by selecting a Union operator icon on the Design board and clicking the browse button next to the Configuration field in the Configure Element task panel, or by right-clicking the Union operator icon on the Design board and choosing Define Operator from the context menu.

The Define Union dialog box contains the following items:

Item

Description

Add Row

Adds another row to the list. For each row, you define the fields whose data you want to merge.

Delete Row

Removes the highlighted row from the list.

<Port Name>

A <Port Name> column is displayed for each output port that is connected to the Union operator. For each connected port, specify the field that contains the data that you want to merge.

In the dropdown list, you can select a field from the output port connected to the operator, or you can select Define expression to define a field using the Dynamic Expression Editor dialog box.

Note Note

You connect each data source output port that you want to merge (for example, data service, view element, or other operator) to a separate input port on the Union operator. You add and remove ports on the operator by right-clicking the operator icon on the Design board and choosing Add Port or Remove Port from the context menu. You can add an unlimited number of ports.

End of the note.

Field Name

The name of the new target data field to which to assign the merged field values.

Key

Specifies that the entries merged into the new field are unique (any duplicate entries from the source fields are not added to the target field). To define a field as a Key field, click the Key cell for a specific row. A checkmark is displayed in the cell. Click the Key cell again to remove the checkmark and allow duplicate fields to be added to the target field.