Modify a Presentation Column Name

When you drag and drop a logical table or logical columns to the presentation layer, by default the resulting presentation columns have the same names as the logical columns they're based on. You can continue to use a logical column name or change a presentation column's name to a more user-friendly name.

Semantic Modeler provides the Alternate Names field to track the column's previous names. When you enable the Automatically create alternate names on rename user preference, Semantic Modeler creates an alternate name and adds it to the Alternate Names field when you modify a column's name. If this user preference is disabled, you must manually create alternate names to track the column's previous names. Alternate names prevent breaking SQL queries that include the object's previous names. See About Alternative Names for Presentation Objects

This is how Semantic Modeler manages renamed presentation columns:

  • If you don't select the Use Logical Column Name field and instead manually rename a presentation column, Semantic Modeler adds the column's previous name to the Alternate Names field.

  • If you select the Use Logical Column Name field, the presentation column's Name field is set to read-only and displays the corresponding logical column's name. Semantic Modeler adds the presentation column's previous name to the Alternate Names field. Updates to the corresponding logical column's name are displayed in the presentation column's Name field, and Semantic Modeler adds the presentation column's previous names to the Alternate Names field.

  1. On your home page, click Navigator Navigator icon and then click Semantic Models.
  2. In the Semantic Models page, click a semantic model to open it.
  3. Click Presentation Layer Presentation layer icon.
  4. In the Presentation Layer pane locate and expand the presentation table containing the column to rename. Double-click the column.
  5. In Name, enter a new name for the column. If the Automatically create alternate names on rename user preference is enabled, Semantic Modeler adds the previous name to the Alternate Names field.
  6. Optional: In Alternate Names, type an alternate name and press Enter. Repeat this step to add more alternate names for the column.
  7. Optional: Click Use Logical Column Name to keep the presentation column's name in synch with the selected logical column's name. If the Automatically create alternate names on rename user preference is enabled, Semantic Modeler adds the previous presentation column name to the Alternate Names field.
  8. Click Save.