Creating a Sequence Clustering Mining Model Structure (Intermediate Data Mining Tutorial)

 

Applies To: SQL Server 2016 Preview

The first step in creating a sequence clustering mining model is to use the Data Mining Wizard to create a new mining structure and a mining model based on the Microsoft Sequence Clustering algorithm.

You will use the same data source view that you used for the market basket analysis, but you will add a column that contains the sequence identifier. In this scenario, the sequence means the order in which the customer added items to the shopping basket.

You will also add some columns that are used in one of the models to group customers by demographics.

To create a sequence clustering structure and model

1. In Solution Explorer in SQL Server Data Tools (SSDT), right-click Mining Structures and select New Mining Structure.

2. On the Welcome to the Data Mining Wizard page, click Next.

3. On the Select the Definition Method page, verify that From existing relational database or data warehouse is selected, and then click Next.

4. On the Create the Data Mining Structure page, verify that the option Create mining structure with a mining model is selected. Next, click the dropdown list for the option, Which data mining technique do you want to use?, and select Microsoft Sequence Clustering. Click Next.

   The Select Data Source View page appears. Under Available data source views, select Orders.

   Orders is the same data source view that you used for the market basket scenario. If you have not created this data source view, see Adding a Data Source View with Nested Tables (Intermediate Data Mining Tutorial).

5. Click Next.

6. On the Specify Table Types page, select the Case check box next to the vAssocSeqOrders table, and select the Nested check box next to the vAssocSeqLineItems table. Click Next.

   Note

   
   If an error occurs when you select the Case or Nested check boxes, it may be that the join in the data source view is not correct. The nested table, vAssocSeqLineItems, must be connected to the case table, vAssocSeqOrders, by a many-to-one join. You can edit the relationship by right-clicking on the join line and then reversing the direction of the join. For more information, see Create or Edit Relationship Dialog Box (Analysis Services - Multidimensional Data).

7. On the Specify the Training Data page, choose the columns for use in the model by selecting a check box as follows:

   • IncomeGroupSelect the Input check box.

     This column contains interesting information about the customers that you can use for clustering. You will use it in the first model and then ignore it in the second model.

   • OrderNumberSelect the Key check box.

     This field will be used as the identifier for the case table, or Key. In general, you should never use the key field of the case table as an input, because the key contains unique values that are not useful for clustering.

   • RegionSelect the Input check box.

     This column contains interesting information about the customers that you can use for clustering. You will use it in the first model and then ignore it in the second model.

   • LineNumberSelect the Key and Input check boxes.

     The LineNumber field will be used as the identifier for the nested table, or Sequence Key. The key for a nested table must always be used for input.

   • ModelSelect the Input and Predictable check boxes.

   Verify that the selections are correct, and then click Next.

8. On the Specify Columns' Content and Data Type page, verify that the grid contains the columns, content types, and data types shown in the following table, and then click Next.

   Tables/Columns	Content Type	Data Type
   IncomeGroup	Discrete	Text
   OrderNumber	Key	Text
   Region	Discrete	Text
   vAssocSeqLineItems
   Line Number	Key Sequence	Long
   Model	Discrete	Text

9. On the Create Testing Set page, change the Percentage of data for testing to 20, and then click Next.

10. On the Completing the Wizard page, for the Mining structure name, type Sequence Clustering with Region.

11. For the Mining model name, type Sequence Clustering with Region.

12. Check the Allow drill through box, and then click Finish.

Next Task in Lesson

Processing the Sequence Clustering Model

See Also

Data Mining Designer
Microsoft Sequence Clustering Algorithm