Point in time tables

Not part of the free edition, and not switched on for every paying organization either. The Data Vault and Data Mart accelerators are enrolled surfaces. If the menu items described below are missing, that is the reason, and it is not a fault. See Pricing for what each edition includes.

A point in time table gives you one row per key per snapshot date, with pointers to the satellite versions that were current on that date. It turns a question like “what did this customer look like on the first of each month” into a single join, instead of the stack of as-of subqueries you would otherwise write by hand for every satellite.

Create a point in time table

Point in time tables are anchored to a hub or a link and read that anchor’s satellites.

1. Right-click a hub or link node and choose Create Point in Time.
2. In the dialog, tick the satellites to include under Satellites. Multi-active satellites are not offered, because their grain does not collapse to one row per key per snapshot.
3. Choose a Cadence: Hourly, Daily, Weekly, or Monthly. Daily is the default.
4. Accept or edit the Name, then choose Create.

The new point in time node appears on the canvas with edges to its anchor and to the satellites you chose.

Why ghost records matter

A point in time table asks each satellite for the version current as of every snapshot date. When a satellite has no row yet for a key on a given date, the join needs something to match against. Ghost records provide it: a zero-key system row that keeps the as-of joins matching as inner joins instead of dropping to outer joins.

Turn ghost record handling on before you rely on point in time output. If it is off, the render falls back to left joins and validation raises a readiness warning. See Ghost records in the modeling guide for how the setting works, including the organization-level nuance.

Edit membership

To change which satellites a point in time table includes, or to change its cadence:

1. Right-click the point in time node and choose Edit Point in Time.
2. Tick or untick satellites and adjust the cadence.
3. Choose Apply.

Satellites you remove drop their pointer columns from the table.

What renders

The generated table builds a snapshot spine between the vault’s earliest load date and today at your chosen cadence, then resolves each satellite’s as-of pointer for every snapshot date, coalescing missing matches to the zero key when ghost records are on.