The Writeback screen

The Writeback screen holds your destinations, their tables and the status of each one. Use it to find a table and read its status at a glance. The sidebar and the header spell the area WriteBack. The tree, toolbar and right-click menu work much like the Lake screen.

Use the header

The header has three buttons on its right side.

To hide the tree and get more room, click the panel button with the tooltip Hide panel, or press Alt+1. Press Alt+1 again, or click the Show panel button, to bring the tree back. The panel fades in and out with a short animation and ignores drags while it animates. Drag the divider between the tree and the content to resize the panel. While the tree is hidden, the header shows WriteBack.

Read the dashboard

The first tab, Destinations, is the dashboard. It shows one card per destination type, headed by the type name, with a row for each destination. Hover over a count to see its label.

A count appears only when it is above zero. If a card holds more than one destination, its header shows the totals. The counts refresh about every 30 seconds.

• Click a destination row to open its connection form in a tab.
• Open destinations appear as tabs beside Destinations. Up to 20 destination tabs stay open and you can drag them to reorder. Closing the active destination returns you to the dashboard.
• Click Add data source at the foot of a card to add a destination of that type. The picker opens with the card's type already chosen.
• Drag a card by its Drag to reorder handle to change the order. The order is kept in the browser where you set it.
• A destination that is not ready shows its status badge on its row. The badges are described under the tree below.

With no destinations, the dashboard reads No Data Sources Found and All data sources are empty. Click "Show Empty Sources" to see them.

Read the tree

The tree lists destinations at the top level, with their databases, schemas, tables and columns under them. Writeback has no folders.

• A badge after a name shows how many items it holds. It reads 99+ above 99; hover over it to read the exact number.
• A key icon marks a primary key column.
• A table icon is red when the table has no primary key, and amber when it is not mapped yet. A destination, database or schema takes the warning colour of the tables under it: red if any of them has no primary key, otherwise amber if any of them is unmapped.
• Single-child branches open in one step: a destination with one database and one schema shows its tables without extra clicks.
• Double-click a table, or select it and press Enter, to open its editor. Press Enter on a destination to open its connection form. See Create and edit a Writeback table.

A ready destination shows no badge. Any other status shows as a badge after its name:

A status the screen does not recognise shows Unknown. The Error Details window shows the error text for the destination: use Copy (it reads Copied for about two seconds) to copy it, then Close. Opening the window does not select the row. For fixes, see Writeback troubleshooting.

Search, filter and select

• Search writeback... finds destinations, databases, schemas, tables, columns and workflows. Results are grouped under Datasources, Databases, Schemas, Tables, Columns and Workflows, and each shows its parent path. Click a result to open the tree to it, scroll it into view and highlight it for a moment; the search clears.
• Filter shows a badge with the number of active filters. Source picks destinations. Mapping picks Mapped or Unmapped, one at a time. Choices apply as you tick them.
• Batch Select adds checkboxes to destinations, databases, schemas and tables. Ticking a parent ticks everything under it, and a parent is ticked only when every item under it is ticked. Turning Batch Select off clears the ticks. To delete the ticked items, click the bin icon in the toolbar.

Use the toolbar

The Expand all and Collapse all buttons open and close every branch. Expanding stops at tables, so columns stay closed until you open a table yourself.

Delete opens Delete Selected Items?, which lists the items to delete with a count per type (• N data source(s), • N database(s), • N schema(s), • N table(s)) and the warning This action cannot be undone. The control is off while nothing is selected.

Use the right-click menu

The items depend on the row you right-click. Column rows have no menu.

• Duplicate appears only for destinations that can be duplicated.
• View Destination appears only when the destination is ready. It opens the table picker, described in Import destination tables.
• Sync Schema is disabled while the destination is Processing, Installing or Pending, and reads Synchronizing… while it runs. It checks the destination for new columns on the tables already in Writeback and adds them. New tables are not detected.
• Refresh reads Refreshing… while it runs. It refreshes the schema shown in Writeback without syncing it again from the destination.
• Monitor opens the Workflows screen. Show Workflows opens the Writeback Workflows view for that destination, described in Run, schedule and monitor Writeback.

Keyboard shortcuts

On the screen, Alt+1 shows or hides the tree, Alt+2 opens the Dashboard, Alt+4 opens Workflows and Alt+N starts a new destination.

In the tree, with a row selected, Enter opens a table's editor or a destination's connection form, Enter or Space opens and closes a branch, ArrowRight expands a branch and ArrowLeft collapses it.

These shortcuts work on the highlighted row:

Open the screen from a link

Writeback reads parameters in its address and clears them after it acts:

• ?openAddDestination=true starts a new destination, the same as Add destination.
• ?openTable=true&tableId=<id>&tableName=<name> opens that Writeback table; the id must be a number.
• ?focusDataSourceId=<id> opens the tree to that destination, scrolls to it and highlights it.

Permissions

• To see the screen and its tree, you need View WriteBack Objects. The WriteBack item in the sidebar needs the same permission.
• The Workflows button and Alt+4 need View WriteBack Workflow Objects. Without it, the button is hidden.
• Changes to destinations and tables need the matching Writeback object permissions. See Writeback permissions.

Limits and edge cases

• Search shows at most 50 results. The count reads 50+, and the list ends with Showing first 50 results. A search with no matches reads No results for “…”.
• A tree with no items shows No items to display. When a filter hides every row, it shows No items match the current filters.
• A dashboard card with no destinations reads No connections in this group.
• The tree checks a destination in Processing or Installing every 10 seconds, up to 20 times.
• The panel's width is shared with the Lake and Warehouse screens.
• The card order is kept in the browser where you set it. Another browser or device has its own order.

Questions, answered

What do Mapped, Unmapped and Missing PK mean?

Mapped counts tables that are deployed, because their column mapping is saved. Unmapped counts tables that are not deployed yet. Missing PK counts tables with no primary key column. To map a table, see Map columns.

Why is a table icon red or amber?

Red means the table has no primary key column. Amber means the table is not mapped yet.

What does the number next to a name mean?

It is how many items the row holds. Above 99 it reads 99+; hover over the badge to read the exact number.

Why is View Destination greyed out?

Select a destination, database or schema, and make sure Batch Select is off. The toolbar button needs only that selection. The right-click View Destination item also needs a ready destination.

My destination shows Failed. Where do I see why?

Click the red Failed badge. A window titled Error Details opens with the destination name and the error text. Use Copy to copy the text, then Close. For fixes, see Writeback troubleshooting.

What does Stopped mean on a destination?

You stopped a sync yourself. It is not shown as Failed.

What is the difference between Refresh and Sync Schema?

Refresh reloads what Writeback already knows. Sync Schema asks the destination for new columns on tables already in Writeback. Neither finds new tables. To bring in new tables, see Import destination tables.

Does Writeback remember what I had open?

Yes, for the browser you are in. Expanded branches, your filter and the row you last selected stay while the tab is open. Up to 20 destination tabs are kept, and after a reload Writeback reopens your last active one.

How do I hide the tree to get more room?

Click the panel button with the tooltip Hide panel, or press Alt+1. Press Alt+1 again to show the tree.