Workbooks
Omni's workbook UI is focused on asking any question of both modeled and un-modeled data in your databases. Each workbook contains one or more tabs, where data can be queried either using a UI-driven pivot-table experience or by writing SQL.
The URL will update with each user action, allowing easy back and forward motions in your browser, and instant shareability of results (across all of the tabs in your workbook). The URL is structured such that each tab is encoded individually, for easy portability. The URL structure will contain a reference to each tab, and a final reference to the active tab.
Here is an example:
Tabs can be renamed and rearranged for additional organization.
Saving a Workbook
Workbooks can optionally be named and saved. When a workbook is saved, it will appear alongisde other dashboards and workbooks in the content system.
If a workbook is not saved, you can still return to that analysis by searching for it in the Activity section, or via URL. The Activity page logs all of your activity, whether on saved or unsaved workbooks.
Workbook states
The information in this section is different if you're using the draft/publish workflow. Refer to the Editing & publishing content guide to learn more.
A workbook can be in either View or Edit mode.
When viewing, you are looking at the latest saved version of the workbook.
When editing, you are changing the workbook and changes will auto-save as you go. Changes made in edit mode will also impact the dashboard that is attached to the workbook.
Workbook versions
You can see a history of all changes made by you or others by opening up the Version History panel, and optionally restore a previous version. Note that only changes to the workbook are currently shown. Changes to the workbook model must be viewed from the IDE, and changes to the dashboard layout are not currently visible.
Exploring a Workbook
Sometimes you may want to explore or iterate on an analysis without impacting the saved version. From view mode, you can start interacting with the workbook to jump into an exploration.
While exploring, changes are not saved and you can exit the exploration to go back to the latest version of the workbook.
Explorations are represented in the URL, so the exploration can be shared by simply copy/pasting the URL to another user.
If you want to save your exploration, select Save from the file menu. This will add all current changes into the saved workbook.
You can also save changes to a new workbook by selecting ‘Save As…’.
Note that when you make any changes to the workbook, the changes will also be reflected on the dashboard associated to the workbook.
Moving Queries Between Workbooks
Workbook tabs can be duplicated inside workbooks, or moved to new or existing workbooks.
Copy Tab to New Workbook
Right click on the tab and select 'Copy to new workbook.' This will create a new workbook and import the tab. If the tab is connected with another tab (for instance uses a XLookUP) both tabs will be copied.
Copy Tab to Existing Workbook
Right click on the tab and select 'Copy to existing workbook...' Copy the tab ID. In the workbook you want to copy into (must be in the workbook view, not dashboard), select import from the file menu and paste in the tab ID.
Note there are a couple of caveats to copying to an existing workbook:
- A tab can only be copied to a workbook with the same connection and shared model
- If there are changes to the workbook model in the tab you are copying over, those will be copied into the existing workbook as well. In the event of a conflict (e.g. the same field exists on both workbooks with different definitions), the workbook copied to should win.
Omni AI
Omni AI allows users to ask questions about their data using natural language. For example, you might ask Omni AI, "How many users signed up last month?". Omni AI then attempts to answer this question by generating an Omni Query and running it within the workbook.
There are two ways to leverage Omni AI. The first is from the results tab in the workbook, Omni AI will help you write a formula and add the results to the table.
Users can interact with the formula generated by Omni AI just like any other formula (ie. edit, promote to model, rename, etc).
There is also a more robust option for users, the Omni AI Query Helper. To access the query helper select the three stars on the left navigation bar. Another panel will open up next to the field picker with some tips about how to use the feature as well as a text box to ask your first question.
Users can ask any question about the data, Blobby AI will either provide a text response or generate a query that will appear on the right hand side (selected fields, filters, and results). All answers are routed through Topics and will generate an Omni modeled query (rather than writing raw SQL). This means it can leverage joins and fields defined in the model layer, and respects user permissions
The chat interface is also iterative - meaning you can ask a question, get an answer, then ask Blobby to iterate on it. Example: how many orders did we have in California? "Blobby's answer" How about in just the last 30 days? "Blobby's next answer".
Help us continue to improve the experience by rating the results.
If the user closes out the Omni AI Query Helper the text history is deleted.
This feature is enabled for all Omni customers and for all embedded instances of Omni. If you would like to have the feature turned off please contact: support@omni.co