Test the "Dataset" service

In order to use any of the SAP Predictive services, you will need a registered dataset.

When registering a dataset, you will define and store the structure of the dataset which will be used by the other services.

We upload 3 datasets in one of the previous steps, but we will be using the CashFlow dataset as an example here. You can replicate the steps for the other 2 datasets.

This service:

• Analyze the database object DDL to return you the name and the data type of each columns
• Analyze a few hundreds rows to determine the value type of the column (continuous, nominal or ordinal)
• Get the number of rows and columns

Once registered, you will be able to use the dataset “ID” to call the other services.

Open a new tab in Postman.

If you don’t have Postman installed yet, you can refer to the following how-to guide: Install Postman extension for Google Chrome as a REST client

Fill in the following information:

Select the Authorization tab and fill in the following information:

Note:
Your SAP Cloud Platform Account login is usually the email address used to register your SAP Cloud Platform account.

Select the Body tab.

Enable the raw mode.

Pick JSON (application/json) in the drop down (instead of Text).

Add the following content in the text area as displayed above:

{
  "location": {
    "schema" : "PSDEMO",
    "table" : "CashFlow"
  }
}

Click on Send

It will now display the data set registration identifier, the number of rows and the variable descriptions.

Now, we can use the ID value to reference the registered dataset with other SAP Predictive services calls.

The below extract was shortened to ease the reading.

{
  "ID": 1,
  "name": "CashFlow",
  "numberOfColumns": 25,
  "numberOfRows": 272,
  "variables": [
    {
      "name": "Date",
      "position": 0,
      "storage": "date",
      "value": "continuous"
    },
    {
      "name": "WorkingDaysIndices",
      "position": 1,
      "storage": "integer",
      "value": "continuous"
    },
    ....
  ]
}

Click on Send an additional 2 or 3 times, so you will have multiple dataset registered to play with.

Open a new tab in Postman.

Fill in the following information:

Make sure you replace the ID token in the URL with the one returned by the dataset ID return in the previous service call.

Select the Authorization tab and fill in the same details as in the previous call.

Click on Send

You should receive the same description as from the previous call.

If you try with an unknown ID, you should receive an error message.

Open a new tab in Postman.

Fill in the following information

Make sure you replace the ID token in the URL with the one returned by the dataset ID return in the first service call.

Select the Authorization tab and fill in the same details as in the previous call.

Click on Send

You should receive the description of the first variable from your data set.

Note:
This service is available since version 1.7, please make sure you have upgraded the C4PA application, else you will receive a 404 error.

To check which version you are currently using, please go to the following URL and check the X-Maven-Project-Version property:
- C4PAURL/adminUI/index.html#/about

By default, the variable storage and value type (nominal, continuous, ordinal) properties returned by the registration service are “guessed” from the data, which may sometime be inaccurate.

For example, with variable 4 (MondayMonthInd), it is guessed as a continuous integer, but should rather be an ordinal integer.

Let’s see how we can fix that.

Open a new tab in Postman.

Fill in the following information:

Make sure you replace the ID token in the URL with the one returned by the dataset ID return in the first service call.

Select the Authorization tab and fill in the same details as in the previous call.

Select the Body tab, enable the raw mode and select JSON (application/json) in the drop down, then add the following entries

[
    {
     "name": "MondayMonthInd",
     "value": "ordinal"
    }
]

Open a new tab in Postman.

Fill in the following information

Make sure you replace the ID token in the URL with the one returned by the dataset ID return in the first service call.

Select the Authorization tab and fill in the same details as in the previous call.

Click on Send

You have now deleted the second data set we have registered.

You can try to retrieve the registration details as in step 2 for dataset 2, and you should receive an error message.

Open a new tab in Postman.

Fill in the following information

Select the Authorization tab and fill in the same details as in the previous call.

Click on Send

You have now listed all the data set registered in your environment.