Column aliases and localization

If you have edit privileges to Worksheets or Models, you can now create column name aliases, linked to the system language you selected in your user profile. This allows you to search for column names in your system language, instead of typing the columns in English and the keywords in your system language. For example, a "Region" column can be displayed as "Région" in French and "Region" in English without duplicating models.

You can also set column descriptions in other languages to be displayed according to the system language you choose. Column aliases and localized column descriptions are stored in an internal variable store linked to the corresponding Model or Worksheet within ThoughtSpot, and can be updated by uploading a new CSV file of the same format. Note that updating aliases is not an incremental process– updating the definition replaces all previous aliases.

Note that if you change the base column name for a Model or Worksheet with column aliases, the alias definitions automatically update to reflect the change. You do not need to recreate an alias file after changing base column names.

If you delete a column with an existing column alias, the associated alias is also automatically removed.

Column aliases are in beta and off by default. To enable them, contact ThoughtSpot Support.

How localized column aliases and descriptions affect ThoughtSpot

The column aliasing feature ensures that localized names and descriptions are displayed consistently across various ThoughtSpot components. Below are the key areas where aliases will be applied:

Search and auto-suggestions

When users search for columns, the search autocomplete feature will display localized column names based on their selected system language. ThoughtSpot’s search suggestion engine will ensure that aliases are searchable and recognized in user queries.

Worksheet and Model editing

The default column name (as defined in the Model) will always be shown when editing Worksheets and Models.

Aliases will not be editable in the Worksheet/Model edit view—only the original name can be modified.

Search left menu

The search panel displays column names from selected tables. The localized alias will be shown if available; otherwise, the default column name is used. === Answer and visualization axis names

Column names in answers, visualizations, Liveboards, and SpotIQ will reflect localized aliases. Any column name referenced in a visualization axis will use the alias if a translation is available. Note that names that have been modified at the Answer level will not reflect the alias name. Note that answer-level formulas will not reflect alias names.

Liveboards and filters

When applying filters in Liveboards, column names will be displayed using their localized aliases.

SpotIQ analysis

When selecting columns for a SpotIQ analysis, localized names will be displayed. Since the search suggestions already contain aliases, users will automatically see column names in their selected system language.

Answer name generation

ThoughtSpot automatically generates Answer names based on query tokens. Answers that have not been saved will have the name updated to reflect the column alias selected in the search. Once saved, the Answer name will not be updated.

ThoughtSpot Modeling Language (TML)

TML files will not include aliases. All TML flows will use default column names only. Column Deletion & Variable Cleanup If a column is deleted, any associated aliases will also be removed automatically. If the column is renamed, the associated alias reference will be updated.

View creation

Views will use localized column names when displaying data.

Model cloning/copying

Aliases will not be copied when duplicating Models.

Setting up the alias file

The alias CSV file must contain the following columns:

Column name

Description

column

The display name of the column as defined in the Model or Worksheet.

locale

The system language for which the alias is defined. This must be a supported ThoughtSpot locale. Refer to Set your display language (locale).

alias

The display name for the column when the specified locale is selected.

description (optional)

The localized description for the column, if provided.

Sample CSV section:

—-
“column”,”locale”,”alias”,”description”
“Customer Address”,”de-DE”,”Kundenadresse”,”Physische Adresse des Kunden”
—-
=== Alias file formatting

To ensure proper processing of the alias file, the following rules must be met:

Column headers are required – The first row must define the file header with values for: column, locale, alias, description (optional). * Column values must exist in the Model or Worksheet – Any column value that is not present in the associated Model will result in an error. The file will not be uploaded. * Case-insensitive column matching – Column name values are not case-sensitive (for example, Quantity and quantity are treated as the same). * File format must be .csv – The file extension and format must conform to CSV standards. * Locale values must be supported – The locale column must contain only valid locales supported by ThoughtSpot. Refer to Set your display language (locale). * Column definitions are optional per locale – If a column is not defined for a specific locale, the Model’s default name will be displayed. * Inconsistent column definitions per locale are allowed – Different locales may define different sets of columns. For example, German (de-DE) may have 10 localized columns, while Swedish (sv-SE) has 30.

Upload an alias file

Uploading a new alias file replaces the entire alias definition for a Worksheet or Model. To upload an alias file to a Worksheet or Model, follow these steps:

  1. Navigate to the Worksheet or Model in the Data workspace, and click the more options menu icon menu icon.

  2. Select Upload Translations and upload your CSV file.

Note that you can incrementally update aliases by downloading an existing alias file, modifying it externally, and reuploading it.

Download an alias file

Downloading an alias file allows you to export the current alias definitions for a Model or Worksheet as a CSV file. This file can be used to review, edit, or reupload alias definitions.To download an alias file, follow these steps:

  1. Navigate to the Worksheet or Model in the Data workspace, and click the more options menu icon menu icon.

  2. Select Download Translations. Note that this option only appears if the Model or Worksheet contains an alias file already.

Delete an alias file

Deleting an alias file removes the alias definitions for the Model or Worksheet from ThoughtSpot. After deletion, column names revert to their default names.To delete an alias file, follow these steps:

  1. Navigate to the Worksheet or Model in the Data workspace, and click the more options menu icon menu icon.

  2. Select Delete Translations. Note that this option only appears if the Model or Worksheet contains an alias file already.

Migrating a Worksheet or Model with aliases

If you want to migrate localized Worksheets or Models to a single master Worksheet or Model that contains all localized columns, there are two methods you can use: renaming columns in the localized Worksheet or Model before migration, or directly updating the TML files. Once migration to a master Worksheet or Model is complete, the alias file for the master Worksheet or Model dynamically displays column names in the correct system language, eliminating the need for language-specific Worksheets or Models in the future.

If you rename the columns in the localized Worksheet or Model before migration, ThoughtSpot automatically remaps the columns, reducing risk of errors, but it requires renaming columns directly in the Worksheet or Model, which may impact users during migration. We recommend taking this approach to migration where possible.

If you manually update the TML files, there is no need to rename columns in the localized Worksheet or Model, reducing potential disruptions. However, manually updating the TML files can be time-consuming, and there is an increased risk of errors if not carefully validated.

Rename localized columns before migration

To migrate localized Worksheets or Models to a single master Worksheet or Model by renaming columns manually, follow these steps:

  1. Back up the localized Worksheet or Model, and any Liveboards or Answers that depend on it.

  2. Rename all columns in the localized Worksheet (in this case, Swedish Worksheet) to match the master Worksheet column name. For example, the columns CountrySE, RegionSE, and SalesSE become Country, Region, and Sales.

  3. ThoughtSpot automatically updates all column references in dependent Liveboards and Answers.

  4. Update the TML files for each Liveboard and Answer, changing the Table ID from Swedish Worksheet to Master Worksheet, and Table Name from Swedish Worksheet to Master Worksheet.

  5. Save and re-import the updated TML files.

Manually update TML files for migration

To migrate localized Worksheets or Models to a single master Worksheet by manually updating the TML files, follow these steps:

  1. Back up the localized Worksheets or Models, and any dependent Liveboards and Answers.

  2. Extract and edit the TML files for all dependent Liveboards and Answers.

  3. Update the TML files for each Liveboard and Answer, renaming the columns to match the master Worksheet. For example, the columns CountrySE, RegionSE, and SalesSE become Country, Region, and Sales.

  4. Update TML files for each Liveboard and Answer, changing the Table ID from Swedish Worksheet to Master Worksheet, and Table Name from Swedish Worksheet to Master Worksheet.

  5. Save and re-import the modified TML files.

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