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Properties

A query definition is a named statement bound to a data source.

These properties apply wherever the definition lives — inline in the project file, in other YAML files, or in any provider that returns rows (Excel, a database query, …); sources can be combined. In YAML they are keys; in a tabular source they are the columns of one row. See Lists.

What a query definition is for

A query definition pairs a statement with the data source it runs against and gives the pair a name. It is not a test and is never evaluated on its own. It has two uses:

  • Metadata for test templates. A test whose Metadata property names a query becomes a template: CAT runs that query and expands the template once per returned row. This is the only place in CAT where one definition refers to another by query name.
  • Saved queries in CAT Studio. The Queries page runs a query against any data source and shows the result, so the data can be inspected before a test is written against it. Queries saved there are query definitions in the project.

A test’s own First query and Second query are not query names. They hold the statement text itself, and they are not resolved against the query definitions in the project.

Properties

Property Also accepted as Required Meaning
Name Query name yes How a test template refers to this query in its Metadata property
Query Query text for use as metadata The statement, in whatever language the data source’s provider understands — SQL, DAX, a worksheet select
Data source Data source name for use as metadata Name of a data source definition in the same project
Description — no Free text

CAT loads a query definition that carries only a name; nothing is checked until the query is used. A test template that names a query with no statement, or with a data source the project does not define, fails when the project is opened — the error names the template, the query and every data source name that does exist.

Property names are matched by synonym and are not case sensitive. See Naming conventions. %NAME% in any value is replaced with the value of the environment variable NAME. See Environment variables.

Example 

Queries:
- Name: all gates
  Description: Every gate in the flights system, one row per gate.
  Data source: FlightsSystem
  Query: |
    SELECT  GATE_ID, GATE_NUMBER
    FROM    DIM.GATES

The project file key is Queries. It was previously called Named sets, and that name is still accepted.

To see this query drive a test template, see Templates.

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