Replace References Feature

Question & Answer
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1

Does Quicksight have anything similar to the Replace References feature in Tableau?

I’m working on a project to clean up several ad-hoc data sources and standardize field names. Whenever I update a field name, I have to manually go through the dashboard and replace every instance of the old field name with the new one. This can require a lot of time for large/complicated reports. It would be much easier if I could to a bulk replace on all uses of the old field name.

2

One solution that wouldn’t involve manually changing them all is to create either a calculated field or a separate dataset that you join to existing datasets that map the old field values to the new field values.

For example, you can create a csv with two fields the first being the old field values and the second with the new field values. Join that dataset with your existing dataset using the old field values and then change the field wells in impacted visuals to the name of the new field name.

3

Hi, @DixieFlatline Did @todd.hoffman solution worked for you? Let us know if this is resolved. And if it is, please help the community by marking his answer as a “Solution.”

4

Hi @DixieFlatline ,

Checking in. We have not heard back from you regarding your question. We’d still like to help. If we do not hear back in the next 7 days, we will archive the question.

5

Found the solution:

  • Duplicate the original data set.
  • Edit the duplicated data set. Remove and re-add the table so that Quicksight picks up the new column names.
  • Verify that the duplicated dataset refreshes successfully and returns the correct rowcount
  • Copy user permissions and the refresh schedule to the new dataset.
  • Go to the analysis and click on Data → Datasets → Replace
  • Select the duplicated dataset
  • Select Update Field Mapping and map the renamed columns

This has the advantage of leaving you with a clean dataset that references a single input table, rather than a mess of calculated fields and joined dummy csv files.

1 Like
6

Thank you for posting this @DixieFlatline!