Once you’re familiar with the conceptual underpinnings of the different ways Slate can export data, and you’ve decided on a method that suits your needs, we can get into the specifics of building the data export query.

Import our example data export query

Get a sense for how a data export query is set up by importing our example with Suitcase.

💼 Try a Slate example

Use Suitcase to import our ready-made example of a data export query.

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This query contains the most commonly used standard exports for most application data exports.

Select Save Copy to save a version of the Data Export query. This preserves the original query as a template for future data exports.

Whether you create a new query, open an existing query, or use the suitcase example provided above, follow the instructions in the remainder of this article to configure the query according to your external system’s requirements.

Adding filters

Add filters to define the population that should be included in the data export.

For example, you can create a subquery filter with the aggregate Exists. Then, by joining to Decisions, select the export Decision Confirmed Date.

This restricts query results to only those applications

• in the active application period

• with a confirmed Admit decision

Field exists

An external system might require certain data points to exist in the file to import successfully.

Use an Existence Subquery Filter to ensure that only records with the required data points are included in the data export query.

Adding literals

If every record needs the same static value in a certain column, add a literal as an export.

Select Literal to add a fixed value as an export column.

Every row in the query results will have the configured value in this column.

• Name: Provide a name for this export.

• Literal: Configure the value appearing in this export column for every record in the query results. In the example above, every record that meets the filter criteria will have the value MA in the Address Code column.

  

Editing exports

Hover over any export box. Select the Edit icon or double-select to edit the export configuration.

• Alter the display name (the column name) of the export.

• Width: Set the width of an export column for fixed-width exports or to truncate a value at a certain length.

• Format Type: Select a format type to enable a format mask.

• Format Mask: Enter the format mask that should be used to format the display of the value.

Edit exports that require value translations.

• Export Value: Configure prompt lists to have export values to perform value translations for prompts.

• All/One?: For exports that contain multiple values, define how those values should be exported.

• Separator: When exporting multiple values, configure the separator that the external system expects (A,B,C). This setting can be left blank if a system does not require a separator (ABC).

• Null Value: Configure the value to be exported if a value does not exist for a record (as needed).

Remove Exports

Review the pre-added exports and remove any items that do not need to be included in the data export.

Select the "X" icon to delete an export.

Add Exports

Add new exports needed for the data export.

• Use the Search function to quickly find a desired export.

• Select the Local Exports checkbox to display all exports in the Slate instance.

Order Exports

If the external system requires the data to appear in a certain order, drag exports to reorder them.

Edit query properties

Select Edit Properties to configure the query to execute according to the data export model.

Exporting data with web services

This article details how Slate supports the ability to create custom web services using the Query Builder. Any query can be routinely called as a web service or scheduled to push data into another system.