Creating and linking categories

There are two main spaces to interact with categories:
1.The Data Tables (in a model) is the bottom section of the spreadsheet workspace. 
2.The standalone category workspace is accessed from your Categories page, by opening any category.
The key difference is that the Data Tables:
Only show the categories that connected to the model you're in
Also show variables that are used by the category
Creating categories
Create a new category via the + icon at the bottom-panel of the spreadsheet.
You can also create a category from a data source, by linking categories to data sources (click the link to see more), or create a new category directly on a variable by clicking on the Categories button (this will explicitly apply the category).  ​
Give categories an icon to distinguish them, by clicking the icon next to the category name
Adding category items
Add new category items in the bottom row of the Data Tables, or the standalone category page, where it says New Item.
All category items for a category must be unique, i.e. you cannot have two duplicate category items.
Linking categories
Often, there will be a relationship between categories. For example, assigning each Employee to a Job Title, or assigning each Deal to a Sales Rep. To link categories, click the + in the far-right column (via the Data Tables, or the standalone category workspace) and select the Link category option.
This will create an extra column in the data table, letting you map the two categories together (e.g. giving each Employee a Location).
Indirect category mappings
You can show/hide indirect category mappings in the Data Tables, or on the standalone category page. Here's an example:
If each Employee has a Title, and each Title sits within a Team, then each Employee sits within a Team via their Title
The "indirect" category mapping is from the Employee to their Team
When in the Employee category, you can reveal the Team of each employee by hitting the ">" next to Title in the header
1-to-1 vs. 1-to-many relationships
Linked categories have a 1-to-1 relationship, i.e. each category item in the primary category links to only one category item in the linked category. Each Employee may only have one Job Title, for instance. 
Causal's categories are not designed for 1-to-many relationships, i.e. one Job Title cannot sit within multiple Departments. 
Pasting category items into Causal
To paste data in (e.g. from a spreadsheet), simply copy your data, then select your row/s, and paste (Ctrl/Cmd + V). Causal will "paste over" whatever row/s you had selected. If you don't want to paste over what you have already in the Data Table, then create a New Item at the bottom of the table (you may have to take off alphabetical sorting if you have that applied), select that New Item, and paste over that. 

Last modified 11d ago