How to create a data request

In this article, we'll discuss the data request functionality, guiding you through how to use it to obtain data from users while ensuring that the data meets your requirements.

The request functionality introduces a new menu item in the navigation bar - "Request".

The actions that you can take on this page depend on the role that has been assigned to you by an admin.

Creating a request

Only two roles enable you to create requests:

• Admin
• Analyst

 To create a request, go to the "Request" on the navigation bar and click "+ Request".

This will then take you to the "Create a data request" page where you can give your data request a name, description and set a date that you would like the data by.  

Following this, you can select which users you wish to send your request to by clicking "+ Data provider". A modal then will pop up allowing you to select the users you want to provide the data (please note that requests can only be sent to those that have the data provider or the requestee roles).

Finally you can create specification rules for the data that you will be receiving. This ensures that the data received from the requestees all have the same column names, data types and that the data conforms to the specifications you set.

The specification rules that you can set are dependent on the data type of the column (with the exception of "Allow empty cells", that lets you determine whether or not the uploaded data can contain missing values). 

For strings:

• Equal to
• Not equal to
• Character length range

For integers/fixed point:

• Equal to
• Not equal to
• Between/Range
• Minimum
• Maximum

For dates:

• Equal to
• Not equal to
• Between/Range
• Before
• After

For booleans:

• Equal to True/False

Finally you can then send the request to the users that you selected where they can upload their data. 

Uploading data for a request

As mentioned before, you can only receive requests if you have the data provider or the requestee role. You will see that you have received a request as you will have received an email and can then see it in the requests overview.

After clicking "Start import", you will be taken to the "Import data" page, where you can see some details of the data request.

To see the specifications that the admin/analyst making the request has set, you can click the "See specifications" button below the import file area that will bring up the columns required and their respective rules. 

To ensure that the upload process goes smoothly, you should ensure that the column titles match exactly (no missing or extra columns), that the data is all of the correct data type and that all the validation rules for that column are met. 

Assuming no errors, you can then submit your data. 

However, if you encounter specification errors with your data - these will needed to be fixed before importing you data into the environment. It will show you which columns have errors and the issue that needs to be fixed. These changes currently have to be done outside the environment.

Can you both send and receive data requests?

This is only possible if you have a combination of roles that permit you to do this. You need to be both an admin/analyst and data provider/requestee. Should you have been assigned both of these roles, then you will see the addition of a sub-menu that allows you to see the requests that you have sent and those that you have received.