When datalamp is first started you are presented with a blank workspace. If the workspace is not blank click on the New Project button to clear the workspace.
A project is made up of one or more KDD streams. A KDD stream represents a series of tasks from the different stages of the KDD process. The tasks, represented by nodes, are linked together so that data flows between the stages of the stream.
Nodes can be moved at any time by clicking on the icon and dragging with the mouse.
The simplest stream to build uses a view node to examine the contents of the database using a spreadsheet. Click on the View Node button on the toolbar, or again use the Create - View Node option from the Node menu. Click on the main workspace to create the the view node as before; usually the node would be placed somewhere to the right of the data source node so that the position indicates the order of the tasks.
To allow data to flow between the data source node and the view node, the two nodes must be linked. Click on the Link button on the controls toolbar or select Link Mode from the Mode menu. The cursor changes again to show a small '1' to indicate the first stage of link mode. Click on the data source node to make this the first node in the link, the cursor will then change to show a '2' indicating the second node is required. Click on the view node to complete the link.
An alternative and faster method of linking nodes is to right-click on the first node, the data source node in the above example, and select "Link" from the context menu. As this already knows about the first node in the link, it jumps directly to the second stage and requires only one more click on the second node.
Before the stream can be run, the options must be set for each node in the stream (where appropriate). In the above example, the file containing the data mut be specified in the data source node; there are no user options for the view node.
Double-click on the data source node to bring up the options dialog box. Type the name of the file into the Filename box or use the Select... button to browse for the file. Click OK to close the file options dialog box. The node can also be edited by using the context menu of a node in the project tree.
Right-click on the last node in the KDD stream, which is the View node in the above example, and select Run from the context menu.
The stream can also be run by using the context menu of a node in the project tree.
The data will be loaded into the data source node from the file specified. During the loading process a dialog will appear to show the progress and how many records have been loaded so far. The data then flows down the link into the view node. As each part of the KDD stream is completed the link will turn red. Finally, a spreadsheet dialog will pop-up to display the raw data from the database.
The project can be saved to disk by using the Save button from the standard toolbar or the Save project... option from the File menu. Select the target directory and type a filename into the save file dialog. Click the Save button to save the project.
If the filename did not include a .dlw extension, it will automatically be added by the system.
The project saves the contents of the project and workspace windows, including the position and options of all nodes; the contents of the log window are not saved but can be copied to the clipboard using the context menu.
Ctrl-N - Creates a new project by clearing the workspace window.
Ctrl-O - Opens an exisiting project from disk.
Ctrl-S - Saves the current project to disk.
F1 - Opens the help for the current topic, or the main help if working in the main workspace
F2 - Selects Normal mode
F3 - Selects Link mode
F4 - Selects Delete mode
Ctrl modifier - By holding down the Control key whilst clicking on a button in either the control or nodes toolbar, the selected mode/node is locked until a different button is clicked. Without the lock, normal mode is re-selected after a node is created, linked or deleted.