When you drop a table onto the
workspace, the data builder connects to the SAS Metadata Server to determine the column names
and data types for the table. When you drop a
subquery onto the workspace, the data builder makes the same request, but determines the column
names and data types for the
output table of the subquery.
You (or an administrator) must register a table in
metadata before using it as a
source table for
data preparation. When you import data from a file, a database, Facebook, Google Analytics, or Twitter,
the data builder automatically registers the data in metadata as a table. Source
tables can also be registered using SAS Visual Analytics Administrator or SAS Management
Console.
Data queries reference input tables by their unique metadata IDs. For this reason,
do not delete the metadata registrations for input tables that
are used in your data queries. If you delete the input tables from metadata, their
unique metadata IDs are also deleted from metadata. If you register the same input
tables again, they are assigned new metadata IDs. As a result, SAS Visual Data Builder
cannot locate the tables because of their new metadata IDs. If the input tables cannot
be located, the query is corrupted, and you must re-create it.