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Workday User Guide
Last Updated: 2023-11-03
Upload a New File to a Dataset

Upload a New File to a Dataset

  • Any of these security requirements:
    • Prism Datasets: Manage
      domain in the Prism Analytics functional area.
    • Dataset Editor
      permission on the dataset.
    • Dataset Owner
      permission on the dataset.
When you create a base dataset by uploading a file, the data in that dataset stays the same over time. If you have a new version of the source file, you can upload it to the same base dataset. You might want to upload a new file to update an existing base dataset instead of creating a new base dataset. When you update an existing base dataset, you maintain any relationships with derived datasets that depend on the existing base dataset.
When you upload a new file, all existing data is replaced with the data in the new file.
If you're new to Workday, you don't have access to create or edit base datasets.
Sometimes, the fields in the source file might change, also known as a schema change. Fields might be added, deleted, or moved. When the schema changes and the new file is imported into the base dataset, you must edit the dataset and save it to incorporate the changes in the dataset. If you don’t save the dataset, it'll continue to use the old schema definition. The next time the dataset is published, you might get inconsistent data in the Prism data source.
Uploading a file fails when the schema of the new file doesn't contain a field that currently exists in the dataset, and the removed field is used in a stage in the dataset. Example: If the dataset includes a Manage Fields stage and you try to upload a file that is missing a field in the dataset, the upload fails. That's because the Manage Fields stage works on every field in the dataset.
  1. Access the
    View Dataset Details
    report for the dataset you want to update with new data.
  2. Click
    Upload File
    .
  3. In the confirmation dialog, click
    Upload
    .
  4. Navigate to and select the local file.
  5. If Workday successfully uploads the file, navigate to the
    Edit Dataset Transformations
    task.
    If the schema changed, the
    Save
    button is active.
  6. If the Save button is active, click
    Save
    to apply schema changes.
Workday replaces the data in the dataset with the data in the file you uploaded. It updates the fields in the dataset if the schema in the uploaded file is different.
Verify that no schema changes broke any Prism calculated fields, stages, derived datasets, or Workday reports that depend on the dataset whose schema changed.