Lists overview
You can break down a variable or metric in your model by a List.
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You can break down a variable or metric in your model by a List.
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Watch the video below to get a quick walkthrough of Lists. It's the best way to get started!
In simplest terms, a List is a data table.
For example, an Employee list can contain column names such as employee ID, employee name, join date, department, reporting manager, location, salary, et cetera, and each row would correspond to an employee.
Lists are useful in modeling. For example, when creating a sales capacity plan or a compensation model, it's useful to make a copy of your employee list from your HRIS system and add rows for new hires with join dates, expected salaries, etc.
Another example could be when you're expanding to new regions. It's likely that the existing dimension (say, Region) doesn't contain the values of the regions you're expanding to. In such cases, creating a List by the name Region with the new values, and adding it to a metric or variable in your model is the way to go.
Each list contains items or values within it.
For example, the Employee list shown above contains values such as: Aaliyah, Aaron Neville, Aaron Paul, etc.
The Lists page can be accessed from Models page by clicking on the Lists button on the top right.
Here you can see all the Lists added on the left pane. You can search for List names in the search bar.
Clicking on a List displays the List items within it in the center pane.
There are a couple of ways to add Lists in Drivetrain
Blank list: Add rows and columns manually to create the data table. Once you've defined a list's headers, you can upload a csv file
From existing data: You can directly pull columns from the datasets added to Drivetrain and build your data table.
Click on the tabs to explore each method.
In the Lists page, click on the + icon on the left pane
In the New list pop up, select the Blank list tab
Give a name for the list
In the newly created list, add your new rows (+ Add new row) and columns (click + in the header row)
If you have the data to be uploaded available in a spreadsheet, you can upload it as a csv file by following these steps
Select the list.
Click Upload CSV > Choose CSV and select the csv file to upload.
A preview of the data imported is displayed and you can specify the data type of the columns imported.
If you're importing data into existing list with data, then any errors encountered in the data import is highlighted in the rows. Check the Show rows with error only link to view only the rows containing errors. See the video below.
You can directly edit the values in the cells to correct any errors. Click on Validate and Save button when you're ready to import the data.
An upload failure error will be displayed, if
Header name(s) are missing. Column values in the header row cannot be left blank.
Uploaded file is not a CSV.
Data type of a column doesn't match the expected format—for e.g, a YYYY-MM-DD date format field is entered as MM-DD-YYYY.
You can click Save even if there are errors if you so choose. A message showing the number of rows that are ready to be imported and the number of rows that contain errors and will not be imported is displayed. Clicking on Fix remaining errors will take you back to the previous window, and clicking Save will import the unerring rows
Setting a pivot key makes the list available to be selected and pivoted upon for a variable.
It's recommended that you can select the minimum set of columns that uniquely identify each row (a single record on the list) as the pivot key.
For example, take an Employee Roster list shown below.
It includes detailed records of employee history, such as position and salary changes, promotions, and attrition. Since no single column uniquely identifies each record, you can create a pivot key using a combination of columns, in this case Employee Name, and Position Start Date does the job.
Navigate to the list
Click the vertical ellipsis (â‹®) at the top-right corner and select Pivot Key
Select the columns from the dropdown or search for column names
Click Apply
Note: If the columns selected do not uniquely identify every row in that list, an error will be displayed.
Watch this video for a step-by-step demonstration.
You can easily modify or remove any of the rows and columns in a list.
On the Lists page, select the list you want to edit
Click on the cell and make the desired changes
To add a new row, click on + New row at the bottom
Drivetrain enables you to add new rows to a list via the model page as follows:
In the model, expand the variable where dimensions have been added via a list
Right click on the row and select Add a new item to list
In the Add new item to {list name} pop up, fill in the details
If you do not see newly added row appear under the variable, check if the Show all empty rows option has been enabled. The option is available under the vertical ellipsis (â‹®) on the top right part of the model page.
On the Lists page, select the list you want to edit
Hover on the first column of the desired row and drag the item up or down
On the Lists page, select the list you want to edit
Select the row numbers you want to duplicate, and click Duplicate
On the Lists page, select the list you want to edit
Select the row numbers you want to delete, and click Delete
On the Lists page, select the list you want to edit
Click on vertical ellipsis (â‹®) next to the column name and select Edit column
Note: You can only edit the column name and not the column type.
On the Lists page, select the list you want to edit
Click on the vertical ellipsis (â‹®) next to the column name and select Delete column
Take care while deleting row items and columns. Drivetrain does not ask for confirmation.
On the Lists page, select the list you want to edit
Click on the vertical ellipsis (â‹®) next to the column name and select Freeze up to column
In the model page, hover the mouse over a variable, click on the vertical ellipsis (â‹®) and select Dimensions.
In the Dimensions pop up, you could either select "From List" or "From columns" radio buttons and select the desired list or columns from the suggestions.
Use the Filter option to select the rows added to the variable/metric.
Note: You can select only one list. If you select "From columns", then multiple columns can be added and they will be nested one below the other in the same order as they are added.
Lists in Drivetrain automatically sync every hour, ensuring that updates flow through to dependent datasets, metrics, reports, and models. However, if you need to see the impact of changes immediately, you can manually trigger a sync.
Open the Lists page and navigate to the desired list.
Click the overflow menu (â‹®) in the top-right corner.
Select Trigger dataset build to instantly update all dependent datasets.
Further, to enable better control and awareness over your data, "Access level" and "Sensitive data warning" labels are provided at the top of the lists page:
Access level label: The default access level is "Restricted" for all lists. This label serves as a helpful reminder to review & adjust access settings if needed.
Sensitive data warning label: If a list contains sensitive information—like columns for salary, bonus, compensation, etc.—Drivetrain will automatically add a "May contain sensitive data" warning label. This keeps data privacy top of mind.
Go to the Lists page, and select the list to delete
Click on the vertical ellipsis (â‹®) on the top right of the page and select Delete list
and lists are similar in that they are both data tables.
Only those Lists that have a set will be available for selection.
💡You can use the feature to change the order of the nested dimensions.
When a list is created, "Full Access" is granted only to the list owner and admins by default. Other users, even with model or dataset access, will not have visibility to the list unless explicitly granted. Refer to this for more, and learn about list permissions and access control .
Watch this for details.
