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Semantic Layer Export

Overview​

Semantic Layer Export turns a FlexIt data model into a semantic model for another BI or AI tool, so the tables and joins you defined once can be reused outside FlexIt. You can export to:

  • Tableau - a Tableau data source (.tds)
  • Power BI - a Power BI project (.pbip), downloaded as a zip
  • Amazon QuickSight - a QuickSight dataset, either published directly or downloaded as JSON
  • Snowflake Cortex - a Snowflake Cortex semantic model (.yaml)

The export is generated from your dbt project's artifacts, so it works on data models created from dbt with dbt Cloud or dbt Docs Server as the dbt location. See Connecting to dbt.

Who Can Export​

The Semantic Layer option in the Report Menu is controlled by the semantic privilege, which is granted to the Admin and Author roles by default. The Semantic Layer button in the data model editor is available to anyone who can edit the data model.

Export a Semantic Layer​

You can start an export from two places:

  • Data model editor - click Semantic Layer in the editor header. See Data Model Editor.
  • Report - open the Report Menu and select Semantic Layer. This exports the data model the report is built on, not just the fields on the report.

Either way, the Export Semantic Layer dialog opens. Click the target tool, fill in any options it asks for, and FlexIt downloads the file. The file is named after the data model, for example Sales Powerbi Semantic Model.zip.

What's Included​

  • Models - the dbt models included in the FlexIt data model
  • Columns - the columns of those models, using the database connection details from the data model's data source
  • Relationships - joins defined in dbt (see Joins). Joins you deleted in the FlexIt data model are left out. Each target models joins as a tree, so a relationship between two tables that are already connected through another path is left out.

For Snowflake and Oracle data sources, table and column names are written in uppercase.

Targets​

Tableau​

Choose the options below and click Done to download a Tableau data source (.tds) file.

  • Auth Type - how Tableau authenticates to the database: Username & Password, Key Pair, OAuth, Integrated Auth (SSO), or Windows Authentication
  • Location - Tableau Desktop or Tableau Server

Open the .tds file in Tableau Desktop, or publish it to Tableau Server, and enter your database credentials when prompted.

Power BI​

There are no options. FlexIt downloads a zip of the Power BI semantic layer (.pbip) project files. Unzip it and open the .pbip file in Power BI Desktop, then publish it to the Power BI service if needed.

Amazon QuickSight​

Choose a Location:

  • Publish Dataset to QuickSight - FlexIt creates the dataset in QuickSight for you. Enter the AWS Datasource ID, AWS Account ID, AWS Region, AWS User ID, and QuickSight Folder Name.
  • Export Dataset JSON - downloads the dataset definition as a .json file. Enter the AWS Datasource ID, AWS Account ID, and AWS Region.

The AWS Datasource ID is the QuickSight data source that connects to your warehouse. To load an exported JSON file, create the dataset with the QuickSight API or AWS CLI (aws quicksight create-data-set).

Snowflake Cortex​

Click Done to download a Snowflake Cortex semantic model (.yaml) file. Upload the file to a Snowflake stage and use it with Cortex Analyst to ask questions of your data in natural language.