Data Overview

Octigen's data integration system allows you to connect your own data sources to presentations, enabling dynamic, data-driven slides that update based on configurable parameters.

What is Data Integration?

Data integration in Octigen means:

• Your data files (Excel, CSV) stored and organized in collections
• Parameter-based resolution - data files identified by values like dates, portfolio IDs, versions
• Automatic population - charts and tables filled with your actual data
• Validation before generation - ensure all required data exists before creating slides
• Coming soon - corporate data middlewares, sftp & 3rd party data vendor API integrations (please contact us on which ones are especially relevant to you) as well as data transformations

Why Data Integration Matters

Without Data Integration

• Manually copy-paste data into slides
• Charts and tables filled with placeholder content
• Risk of stale or incorrect data
• Time-consuming updates for recurring reports

With Data Integration

• Data flows directly into slides
• Charts populated from your actual data files
• Parameter-based selection (e.g., "December 2024 report")
• Single source of truth for quantitative content
• Fast updates when new data is available

Core Concepts

Data Collections

A Data Collection is a logical grouping of related data files. Think of it as a folder with rules about what goes inside.

Examples:

• "Monthly Sales Data" - CSV files with sales figures
• "Portfolio Holdings" - Excel files with investment data
• "Market Metrics" - Performance data by date

Each collection defines:

• File type (CSV, Excel)
• Parameters that identify individual files (valuation_date, portfolio_id, etc.)
• How parameters map to filenames (prefix, suffix, sheet name)

Parameters

Parameters are the identifying characteristics that distinguish one data file from another within a collection.

Common parameters:

• valuation_date - The date the data represents
• portfolio_id - Which portfolio or segment
• department_id - E.g. to identify your internal department to load sales figures for.

Example: In a collection with parameters valuation_date (suffix) and portfolio_id (prefix), files are named like:

PORTA_2024-12-01.csv
PORTB_2024-12-01.csv
PORTA_2024-11-01.csv

Data-Connected Shapes

Templates can include shapes (charts, tables) that are marked as data-connected. These shapes are linked to specific data collections and will be populated with actual data during slide generation.

Shape types that support data connections:

• Charts - Bar, line, pie charts populated from data
• Tables - Data tables with rows and columns from your files

The Data Flow

1. Upload and Organize

Upload data files to collections. The system validates that filenames match the expected parameter patterns.

2. Configure Connections

When starting a presentation, configure which data to use by setting global parameters (e.g., valuation_date = "2024-12-01").

3. Validate Availability

Before proceeding, validate that all required data exists. The system checks each data-connected shape and reports any missing data.

4. Generate with Data

During slide population, charts and tables are filled with your validated data.

Integration Points

Data integration works with:

Best Practices

For Data Organization

• Use consistent naming conventions
• One parameter per filename component
• Keep collections focused (one data type per collection)
• Use date formats that sort chronologically (YYYY-MM-DD or YYYYMMDD)

For Template Design

• Name data-connected shapes descriptively ("Revenue Chart", "Holdings Table")
• Link shapes to appropriate collections
• Include fallback content for shapes without data

For Presentation Creation

• Set all global parameters before validation
• Review validation results carefully
• Check that data is current before generating

Next Steps

• Learn about Data Collections
• Connect Data to Workflows
• Configure Data for Slides
• Use Data in Presentations