Summary:

With Spotfire 14.7, the long-standing Data Table Properties dialog has been fully replaced by a modern, unified experience inside the Data Canvas. This legacy dialog is now retired, and all table-level operations are now accessed through a cleaner, more logical interface across Spotfire web and desktop clients built around two complementary surfaces:

• The Data in Analysis flyout for column-level inspection and editing.
• The Data Canvas for transformations, lineage, and model-level insight.

The new structure offers a clearer, more scalable foundation for data editing across Spotfire and prepares the platform for future unified experiences.

Many long-time Spotfire users rely heavily on data table properties, so this article explains why the change was made, what benefits it brings today, and where to find the tasks you relied on before, so you can transition with confidence.

Why the workflow changed

The legacy Data Table Properties dialog served Spotfire users for many years, but was built for older desktop-only workflows and had several limitations. The updated workflow was designed to:

• Limited space made it harder to work with large analyses and multi-table models.
• The UI was not shared between web and desktop, limiting consistency.
• Several modern capabilities already existed in the Data Canvas, but the legacy dialog made the workflow fragmented.
• As Spotfire expands its data editing and lineage capabilities, maintaining two separate UIs slowed down the platform.

By integrating all Data Table Properties into the Data Canvas, Spotfire now offers:

• Provide a single, consistent surface for understanding, inspecting, and managing data sources/tables
• Align the editing experience across Spotfire clients
• Bring a clearer, more scalable structure for future enhancements in data editing and lineage capabilities
• Align with the modernization already in place for visualizations authoring and columns properties.

This is an evolution toward a more unified authoring experience across Spotfire.

What's better today in the new workflow

Although the new experience requires a short adjustment period, it bring several immediate benefits, including for power users who work heavily with multiple data tables.

Clearer, more organized structure

All table-level actions now live in a single, modern interface. Instead of navigating tabs inside a dialog, you select a table and instantly access the full data table lineage with basic information, storage settings, reload and delete operations, relations, key columns, properties, source information, and table-level filtering and visibility options; all with significantly more space for complex models and relationships.

Consistent experience across web and desktop

Whether you open an analysis on the desktop client or author directly in a web browser, the experience is now identical. This enables teams to collaborate with fewer desktop-only instructions and removes friction in onboarding new users.

Better, more logical discoverability of powerful capabilities

Users who rarely opened the legacy Data Table Properties dialog often missed important features such as relations and the graph view, source information, key column management, custom table properties, and other setting. All of this is now more visible and easier to access.

A foundation for future innovation

Modernizing the Data Table Properties flow allows Spotfire to build richer lineage experiences, deeper profiling and table-level summary insights, more intelligent data management workflows, and reduces legacy-code dependencies.
As with the earlier column properties and visualization authoring modernizations, this aligns with Spotfire's long-terms vision of a unified, scalable data authoring experience.

Where to find common tasks now

Below are the most common column-related tasks and how to perform them using the updated workflow in Spotfire 14.7 and later.

View and manage data table properties

You can access data table properties in two equivalent ways, both leading to the same modern experience.

1. Open Data menu and select Data table properties or open the Data Canvas directly from the authoring bar.
2. Once in the Data Canvas, the left-side bar lists all data tables. Select any table to reveal its full data lineage and all options to manage it: rename, reload, replace, delete, key columns (for marking persistence and value replacement) and relations actions.

Set data table storage, filtering, prompts options

Data table storage (Embedded in analysis or Linked (individual settings per source)),  automatic filters creation, and prompts options can be adjusted by selecting a table and opening the Settings menu.

View and copy data source information

The source information of a data table is available by selecting a table, a node of interest in the graph, and by opening the Information tab to see connection paths, queries, transformations, and source metadata in a textual format.

Define and manage relations between tables

There are two entry points to manage data tables relations:

• To view and edit relations that are specific to single table, select the table and open Relations from the top bar.
• To view and edit relations between all tables, select Data tables from the left-side bar and open the Relations tab which shows an interactive graph to set and inspect relationships visually.

Managing column matches

Column matches operate at the visualization level. You can manage them from Data menu > Column matches, or directly through relevant visualization properties entry points.

View and manage custom data table properties

Custom data table properties are managed from the Data tables overview.

• Select Data table from the left-side panel
• Open the Data table properties tab
• View and manage custom data table properties as needed.

This is where you can add, edit, or delete custom data table properties associated with tables.

If something feels missing or worse than before

During the transition, it’s normal to wonder whether a capability was removed or simply moved. If, after reviewing the article, you still see something that feels missing, harder to use, or objectively worse than before, please let us know.

Your feedback helps us refine the experience, identify regressions, and guide future enhancements.

You can share feedback in three ways:

• Spotfire Ideas Portal for features and improvements suggestions.
• Spotfire Support if something is blocking your workflow.
• Community Forum posts for “how do I do this now?” questions.

We monitor all channels, and your input directly shapes our priorities.