Skip to content

Error - Attribute not linked to observed value column

When it occurs

In a multi-unit pivoted data set, each units or attribute column must be linked to an observation values column.

For example in the following cube:

Location Median Commute Distance / miles Median commute time / mins Commute Time Notes
Sheffield 2.1 15.3 Excludes individuals teleporting to work.
Aberdeen 13.4 22.9 Includes oil rig workers commuting to offshore platforms.

With the following qube-config.json column mapping configuration:

{ ...
  "columns": {
    "Median Commute Distance / miles": {
      "type": "observations",
      "measure": {
        "label": "Median commute distance"
      },
      "unit": {
        "label": "Miles"
      }
    },
    "Median commute time / mins": {
      "type": "observations",
      "measure": {
        "label": "Median commute time"
      },
      "unit": {
        "label": "Minutes"
      }
    },
    "Commute Time Notes": {
      "type": "attribute",
      "data_type": "string"
    }
  }
}

How to fix

Specify the observed values column which the units or attribute column describes, e.g.

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
{ ...
  "columns": {
    "Commute Time Notes": {
      "type": "attribute",
      "data_type": "string",
      "describes_observations": "Median commute time / mins"
    }
  }
}

For further guidance, please see the shaping your data documentation and how to link the attribute to the relevant observation.