Entity Var
Learn how to create and use entity_var in your Profiles project.
An entity_var adds a calculated (aggregated) column to the entity var tables and downstream feature views. It calculates a single value for each member of the entity (for example, each user).
entity_vars can be features for a feature view or an input to another entity_var.
- entity_var:
name: entity_var_name
select: SQL statement
default_value: value
from: inputs/table
where: condition
window:
order_by:
- orderby_column
description: Days when the user visited the website along with the number of pages visited per date stamp.
| Field | Description |
|---|
name | Name of the entity_var. |
select | SQL state, equivalent to SELECT statement. |
from | Path of the input table, equivalent to FROM statement. |
merge | SQL expression defining how to combine previous feature values with new calculations for incremental features. Use rowset.feature_name to reference the previous value from the checkpoint. |
merge_where | Optional SQL condition that filters which rows participate in the merge operation. Use rowset.column for previous values from the checkpoint and {{this.column}} for new values. |
default_value | Default value for null values. |
where | Filtering condition, equivalent to WHERE statement. |
window | Adds order_by key for window functions. Rows are automatically partitioned by rudder_id. |
description | Description of the entity_var. |
Example
# Basic entity
- entity_var:
name: first_order_date
select: min(order_date)
from: inputs/orders
description: First order date
# Entity that is not a feature
- entity_var:
name: last_order_date
select: max(order_date)
from: inputs/orders
is_feature: false
# Using an entity_var as an input
- entity_var:
name: days_since_last_order
select: "date_diff(CURRENT_DATE(), date({{user.last_order_date}}), day)"
description: Days since user last completed an order
# Using a window function
- entity_var:
name: campaign_source_first_touch
select: first_value(context_campaign_source)
from: inputs/rsIdentifies
where: context_campaign_source is not null and context_campaign_source != ''
window:
order_by:
- timestamp
# Entity var referencing an input var
- input_var:
name: last_order
select: last_value(order)
from: inputs/rsTracks
window:
partition_by:
- user_id
order_by:
- timestamp
- entity_var:
name: is_last_order
select: boolor_agg({{rsTracks.Var("last_order")}})
from: inputs/rsTracks
# Incremental entity var with merge clause
- entity_var:
name: total_purchases
select: SUM({{orders.value}})
merge: SUM(rowset.total_purchases)
from: inputs/orders
description: Total purchase value
Incremental features
You can make entity_vars incremental by adding a merge: clause. Incremental features update existing feature values with newly arrived data instead of recalculating from the entire historical dataset, significantly improving performance for large datasets.
For detailed information about incremental features, see the following guides:
Questions? Contact us by Email or on
Slack
