Upload unstructured data as files

Any type of file can be uploaded to a Redivis dataset, and most common file types have previews. This data can be analyzed in notebooks within workflows.

Tabular data is best uploaded as a table, rather than a file, so you and your researchers can take advantage of the Redivis toolkit for previewing and manipulating tabular data.

This guide assumes you have already started by Creating a dataset.

1. Locate the data you want to upload

You can upload data directly from your computer, or import from a linked account.

If importing, you'll want to get the relevant external account configured to your Redivis account before getting started.

The import tools allow for multiple uploads, so it's helpful to have them all in the same place.

2. Upload files

When you're ready, select Upload files on the Files tab of the dataset page and choose the location your files will be coming from.

Selecting Computer opens a browser window where you can choose the file, files, or folder you want to upload. Choosing a different location will bring up the corresponding mechanism to select your files.

Once selected, choose a Folder to put them in. You can change this later if needed. If this is your first time uploading files to this dataset you will need to create a folder. All files on a dataset live within one folder which has a corresponding index table to help researchers understand and navigate those files.

Select Upload to start the process. If you are uploading from your computer, you must wait on this screen until it's complete, as closing the window will end the upload process. If you are uploading from a linked source, you can close this window to allow this process to continue in the background.

3. Manage files and folders

You can select on the file name in the Files tab to preview a file and see its information.

You can also go to the Tables tab to view the index table for the folder you've uploaded files to. View the cells and hover or select the file ID variable to see the preview here. This table can be used in Transforms within a Workflow to work with files on a large scale.

To rename a folder, navigate to the Files tab and right click on the folder name in the right bar.

You can also create new folders and move files between two existing folders from this bar. When moving between folders, you can use a conditional statement to only move some files that match your conditions.

Next steps

Continue uploading your dataset

Great metadata makes your dataset usable. Complete your metadata, along with configuring access, creating a sample, and releasing a new version.

Learn more in the Create & manage datasets guide.