Edit Recipes

The Recipe Editor allows you to edit and test your recipes without leaving DataChat.

Open the Recipe Editor

To edit a saved recipe with the Editor, first find your saved recipe file and open it:

1. From the homepage, click the Recipes tab.
2. Select the recipe to edit.
3. Click the Edit Recipe button.

Edit Your Recipe

With the Editor open, you can use the textbox on the left side to make changes to your recipe. You can:

• Change pieces of individual steps, such as values or column names.
• Add or remove steps.
• Manage recipe versions.
• Save the recipe as a new recipe with a different name.

note

Any interim changes to notes are not included in the recipe. The final output is displayed on one Modify line. Click i to view the Chart Modification Specification.

Update Recipes

To add a step:

1. Create an empty line. Click anywhere in a line and press Enter to create a new line below. Click at the front of a line and press Enter to create a new line above.
2. Enter the the new step you'd like to add to your recipe.

To remove a step:

1. Use the checkbox to select the lines that you'd like to delete.
2. Click the Cut button.

You can also click the step line, select the text, then delete it. When you're done with your changes, click Save. Test your edits before using an edited recipe or snapshot.

Add Comments

To add a comment:

1. Create an empty line. Click anywhere in a line and press Enter to create a new line below. Click at the front of a line and press Enter to create a new line above.
2. Enter a comment and click Comment in the sidebar. Or, prepend your comment with "--".

Comments are colored green.

Undo and Redo Edits

MacOS

To undo an edit, click Command + Z.

To redo an edit, click Shift + Command + Z.

Windows

To undo an edit, click Ctrl + Z.

To redo an edit, click Shift + Ctrl + Z.

note

Changes cannot be undone or redone if the step that the changes the targets has been replayed.

Create a Replay Breakpoint

When hovering over a step, a red dot appears. Click it to set a breakpoint at that step. When you continuously replay a recipe, the replay will pause before running the marked step.

Verify Edited Recipes

If you edit a verified recipe, it becomes unverified. An unverified recipe is marked with a red icon and a yellow dot noting unsaved changes have been made.

Click Restart in the sidebar to replay the recipe and ensure that it doesn't run into any errors. If no errors are found, the recipe is automatically verified and saved. Otherwise, you need to correct the errors before you can save and verify the recipe.

note

It's recommended that recipes that haven't been verified in the Editor before (such as older recipes) should be verified when they're next opened in the Editor.

Manage Recipe Versions

When you save a recipe with the same name as an existing recipe, or make a change and save it, a new version of that recipe is created. To review previous versions or revert back to a previous version, you can:

1. Click the Version Manager button to view each version of the recipe.

   

2. Click the row for the version you want to review or revert to. The contents of that version appear in the main pane of the Editor.

   

3. You can make desired edits to the most recent version, or you can select an older version to Restore.

4. Click Save As to save this version as a new recipe. Give your new recipe a name, then click Submit.

Test Your Edits

To test that your changes work the way you intended, click Replay in the sidebar. You can select to have the recipe replay stepwise or continuously. Chat responses and and visualizations will appear on the right side of the Editor.

Use a Text Editor

You can use a text editor, such as Notepad, Notepad++, or TextEdit, to make changes directly to the recipe (.dcw) file on your computer.

To do so, you must first Export your recipe to your computer. Then, complete the sections below to make and test your edits

Edit with a Text Editor

To edit your recipe file:

1. Open the file with your preferred text editor. Note that you might need to right-click the file and click Open with to select your text editor.
2. Make your edits to the file.
3. Save your changes.

Test with a Text Editor

To test your edits:

1. In DataChat, go to the Menu > My Files.
2. Drag and drop your edited recipe file into the File Manager.
3. Click Yes to overwrite the old version of this recipe on the server.
4. Open a new session.
5. Enter Replay the recipe called <name> and check that the recipe runs correctly and produces the expected output. The recipe will be saved and verified if no errors are found.

Rename a Recipe

There are two ways to rename a recipe, from the homepage and from the Editor.

From the homepage:

1. Select the recipe to rename.
2. Right-click and select Rename Recipe from the dropdown. Or, click the Rename Recipe button.
3. Enter a new name and click Submit.

From the Editor:

1. Click the name of the recipe.
2. Enter a new name and press Enter.

Delete a Recipe

From the homepage:

1. Select the recipe to delete.
2. Right-click and select Delete Recipe from the dropdown. Or, click More Options > Delete Recipe.
3. Click Confirm.