File Data

Load data from files in your vault. Supports CSV, JSON, Parquet, and Markdown tables.

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Supported Formats

Format	Extension	Best For
CSV	.csv	Spreadsheet exports, tabular data
JSON	.json	Structured data, nested objects
Parquet	.parquet	Large datasets, data engineering
Markdown	.md	Tables in other notes

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CSV Files

The most common format for tabular data:

```dg
type: bar
data:
  file: data/sales.csv
x: product
y: revenue
title: Product Revenue
```

Example CSV (data/sales.csv):

product,revenue,quarter
Laptops,125000,Q1
Phones,210000,Q1
Tablets,89000,Q1

CSV parsing automatically:

• Detects headers from first row
• Converts numeric strings to numbers
• Handles quoted fields with commas

---

JSON Files

For structured or nested data:

```dg
type: treemap
engine: d3
data:
  file: data/org-chart.json
hierarchy:
  id: name
  parent: parent
  value: size
```

Example JSON (data/org-chart.json):

[
  {"name": "Company", "parent": null, "size": 0},
  {"name": "Engineering", "parent": "Company", "size": 50},
  {"name": "Sales", "parent": "Company", "size": 30}
]

---

Parquet Files

High-performance columnar format:

```dg
type: scatter
data:
  file: data/large-dataset.parquet
x: feature_1
y: feature_2
color: category
```

Parquet files are read using the hyparquet library.

---

Markdown Tables

Reference a table from another note:

```dg
type: bar
data:
  file: Projects/Q4 Report.md
  table: 0  # First table in the file
x: project
y: budget
```

The source file should contain a standard Markdown table:

| project | budget | status |
|---------|--------|--------|
| Alpha   | 50000  | active |
| Beta    | 35000  | active |
| Gamma   | 20000  | done   |

---

File Paths

Paths are relative to your vault root:

# Root level
data:
  file: data.csv

# Subfolder
data:
  file: data/sales/2024-q1.csv

# Spaces in paths work
data:
  file: "My Data/Sales Report.csv"

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Configuration Options

Option	Type	Description
file	string	Path to file
table	number	Table index for Markdown files (0-based)
sheet	string	Sheet name for multi-sheet formats

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Examples

Time Series from CSV

```dg
type: line
data:
  file: data/daily-metrics.csv
x: date
y: pageviews
title: Daily Traffic
```

Hierarchical from JSON

```dg
type: sunburst
engine: d3
data:
  file: data/budget-breakdown.json
hierarchy:
  id: category
  parent: parent
  value: amount
```

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Tips

Organize Files: Create a data/ folder in your vault for all data files.

Version Control: If you use git with your vault, data files are version controlled too.

Performance: For files over 10,000 rows, DataGlass automatically optimizes rendering.

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Common Mistakes

Wrong: Absolute paths

data:
  file: /Users/me/Documents/data.csv  # Won't work

Right: Vault-relative paths

data:
  file: data/sales.csv

Wrong: Forgetting quotes for paths with spaces

data:
  file: My Data/report.csv  # Error

Right: Quote paths with spaces

data:
  file: "My Data/report.csv"

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See Also

• Inline Data - Embed data directly
• URL Data - Load from external sources
• Vault Queries - Query data from notes