Einstein Analytics: computeRelative getting started

computeExpression is a well-known transformation tool in Dataflow, you expect to get new fields as result, based on data in the same row. While computeRelative is also transformation tool in Dataflow, but you can compare with data in the same or the other row (first, last, next, and previous).

In computeRelative, you need to specify:
- input source
- partition by field: this is unique key field such as Opportunity Id, Account Id, etc.
- sort field: this is to tell data order
- computed fields: this would be the result fields from computeRelative.

Let's use this sample dataset:

Create a dataflow using edgemart to get existing dataset in Einstein Analytics:
- add computeRelative to get Previous Amount and Previous Closed Date
- using Opportunity Id as partition field
- order by Snapshot_Date

Here is the field attribute:

In this case, we would like to leave the Previous Amount and Previous Close Date as blank if there is no previous data for the particular records. If we leave the Default Value in Field Attribute as blank, there will be no default value defined in the JSON and this will cause errors when running the dataflow.

To fix that, download the JSON file and edit it manually, then upload it back to the dataflow.

  "computeRel1": {
    "action": "computeRelative",
    "parameters": {
      "source": "EdgeProspect",
      "computedFields": [
        {
          "name": "PreviousAmount",
          "label": "PreviousAmount",
          "expression": {
            "sourceField": "Amount",
            "offset": "previous()",
            "default": null
          }
        },
        {
          "name": "PreviousCloseDate",
          "label": "PreviousCloseDate",
          "expression": {
            "sourceField": "Closed_Date",
            "offset": "previous()",
            "default": null
          }
        }
      ],
      "orderBy": [
        {
          "name": "Snapshot_Date",
          "direction": "asc"
        }
      ],
      "partitionBy": [
        "Opportunity_ID"
      ]
    }
  }


Here is the final result:

Reference: computeRelative Parameters