Import a Metric View and View Diagnostics

2025-01-27
Greg Baldini

Applies to:

❌ ~~Tabular Editor 2~~
Tabular Editor 3 (Available since 3.25.0)
❌ ~~Desktop~~

❌ ~~Business~~

✔ Enterprise

This how-to demonstrates how to import a Metric View into a Tabular model using C# scripts, and how to view diagnostic messages from the import process.

Prerequisites

You must have a Tabular model open in Tabular Editor before importing. This can be:

A new, empty model
An existing model you want to enhance with objects from the Metric View

Import methods

There are two import methods:

Method	Description
`ImportToTabularFromFile`	Loads from a file path and imports in one step
`ImportToTabular`	Imports the currently loaded Metric View

Both methods require:

The target Tabular Model
Databricks hostname (for M partition expressions)
Databricks HTTP path (for M partition expressions)

Import from file

Use ImportToTabularFromFile to load and import in one operation:

var success = SemanticBridge.MetricView.ImportToTabularFromFile(
    "C:/MetricViews/sales-metrics.yaml",
    Model,
    "your-workspace.azuredatabricks.net",
    "/sql/1.0/warehouses/abc123def456",
    out var diagnostics
);

var sb = new System.Text.StringBuilder();
if (success)
{
    sb.AppendLine("Import successful!");
    sb.AppendLine($"Diagnostics: {diagnostics.Count}");
}
else
{
    sb.AppendLine("Import failed.");
    sb.AppendLine($"Errors: {diagnostics.Count}");
}

Output(sb.ToString());

Import a loaded Metric View

If you've already loaded a Metric View (for inspection or modification), use ImportToTabular:

// Load the Metric View first
SemanticBridge.MetricView.Load("C:/MetricViews/sales-metrics.yaml");

// Optionally inspect or modify it
var view = SemanticBridge.MetricView.Model;

var sb = new System.Text.StringBuilder();
sb.AppendLine($"Importing Metric View with {view.Dimensions.Count} dimensions and {view.Measures.Count} measures");

// Import to Tabular
var success = SemanticBridge.MetricView.ImportToTabular(
    Model,
    "your-workspace.azuredatabricks.net",
    "/sql/1.0/warehouses/abc123def456",
    out var diagnostics
);

if (success)
{
    sb.AppendLine("Import successful!");
}
else
{
    sb.AppendLine("Import failed.");
}

Output(sb.ToString());

Using placeholder connection values

If you're testing the translation without a real Databricks connection, you can use placeholder values:

var success = SemanticBridge.MetricView.ImportToTabularFromFile(
    "C:/MetricViews/sales-metrics.yaml",
    Model,
    "placeholder-host",
    "placeholder-path",
    out var diagnostics
);

var sb = new System.Text.StringBuilder();
sb.AppendLine("Import complete (with placeholder connection values)");
sb.AppendLine("Note: Update the M partition expressions before refreshing data.");
Output(sb.ToString());

View diagnostics after import

You can access diagnostics from the last import at any time using ImportDiagnostics. This example assumes that you have previously run an import, either via GUI or C# script.

var diagnostics = SemanticBridge.MetricView.ImportDiagnostics;

var sb = new System.Text.StringBuilder();
sb.AppendLine("LAST IMPORT DIAGNOSTICS");
sb.AppendLine("-----------------------");
sb.AppendLine("");
sb.AppendLine($"Total issues: {diagnostics.Count}");
sb.AppendLine("");

foreach (var diag in diagnostics)
{
    sb.AppendLine($"[{diag.Severity}] {diag.Message}");
}

Output(sb.ToString());

Output diagnostics directly

For quick inspection, you can output the diagnostics collection directly:

// Output all diagnostics from the last import
SemanticBridge.MetricView.ImportDiagnostics.Output();

Complete workflow example

Load, validate, and import with full diagnostic reporting:

var sb = new System.Text.StringBuilder();

// Load the Metric View
SemanticBridge.MetricView.Load("C:/MetricViews/sales-metrics.yaml");
var view = SemanticBridge.MetricView.Model;

sb.AppendLine("METRIC VIEW SUMMARY");
sb.AppendLine("-------------------");
sb.AppendLine($"Source: {view.Source}");
sb.AppendLine($"Joins: {view.Joins?.Count ?? 0}");
sb.AppendLine($"Dimensions: {view.Dimensions.Count}");
sb.AppendLine($"Measures: {view.Measures.Count}");
sb.AppendLine("");

// Validate first
var validationDiags = SemanticBridge.MetricView.Validate().ToList();
sb.AppendLine("VALIDATION");
sb.AppendLine("----------");
sb.AppendLine($"Issues: {validationDiags.Count}");
sb.AppendLine("");

// Import
var success = SemanticBridge.MetricView.ImportToTabular(
    Model,
    "your-workspace.azuredatabricks.net",
    "/sql/1.0/warehouses/abc123def456",
    out var importDiags
);

sb.AppendLine("IMPORT RESULT");
sb.AppendLine("-------------");
sb.AppendLine($"Success: {success}");
sb.AppendLine($"Diagnostics: {importDiags.Count}");
sb.AppendLine("");

if (importDiags.Count > 0)
{
    sb.AppendLine("Import issues:");
    foreach (var diag in importDiags)
    {
        sb.AppendLine($"  [{diag.Severity}] {diag.Message}");
    }
}

Output(sb.ToString());

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