Create datasets

6 minutes

A dataset is a named view of data that simply points or references the data you want to use in your activities as inputs and outputs. Datasets identify data within different data stores, such as tables, files, folders, and documents. For example, an Azure Blob dataset specifies the blob container and folder in Blob storage from which the activity should read the data.

A dataset in Data Factory can be defined as an object within the Copy Data Activity, as a separate object, or in a JSON format for programmatic creation as follows:

{
    "name": "<name of dataset>",
    "properties": {
        "type": "<type of dataset: AzureBlob, AzureSql etc...>",
        "linkedServiceName": {
                "referenceName": "<name of linked service>",
                "type": "LinkedServiceReference",
        },
        "schema": [
            {
                "name": "<Name of the column>",
                "type": "<Name of the type>"
            }
        ],
        "typeProperties": {
            "<type specific property>": "<value>",
            "<type specific property 2>": "<value 2>",
        }
    }
}

The following table describes properties in the above JSON:

Property	Description	Required
name	Name of the dataset.	Yes
type	Type of the dataset. Specify one of the types supported by Data Factory (for example: AzureBlob, AzureSqlTable).	Yes
Schema	Schema of the dataset.	No
typeProperties	The type properties are different for each type (for example: Azure Blob, Azure SQL table).	Yes

Example of a dataset

Azure Blob

In this procedure, you create two datasets: InputDataset and OutputDataset. These datasets are of type Binary. They refer to the Azure Storage linked service named AzureStorageLinkedService. The input dataset represents the source data in the input folder. In the input dataset definition, you specify the blob container (adftutorial), the folder (input), and the file (emp.txt) that contain the source data. The output dataset represents the data that's copied to the destination. In the output dataset definition, you specify the blob container (adftutorial), the folder (output), and the file to which the data is copied.

In your desktop, create a folder named ADFv2QuickStartPSH in your C drive.

Create a JSON file named InputDataset.json in the C:\ADFv2QuickStartPSH folder with the following content:

  {
      "name": "InputDataset",
      "properties": {
          "linkedServiceName": {
              "referenceName": "AzureStorageLinkedService",
              "type": "LinkedServiceReference"
          },
          "annotations": [],
          "type": "Binary",
          "typeProperties": {
              "location": {
                  "type": "AzureBlobStorageLocation",
                  "fileName": "emp.txt",
                  "folderPath": "input",
                  "container": "adftutorial"
              }
          }
      }
  }

  ```

To create the dataset: InputDataset, run the Set-AzDataFactoryV2Dataset cmdlet.

Set-AzDataFactoryV2Dataset -DataFactoryName $DataFactory.DataFactoryName `
    -ResourceGroupName $ResGrp.ResourceGroupName -Name "InputDataset" `
    -DefinitionFile ".\InputDataset.json"

Here is the sample output:

DatasetName       : InputDataset
ResourceGroupName : <resourceGroupname>
DataFactoryName   : <dataFactoryName>
Structure         :
Properties        : Microsoft.Azure.Management.DataFactory.Models.BinaryDataset

Repeat the steps to create the output dataset. Create a JSON file named OutputDataset.json in the C:\ADFv2QuickStartPSH folder, with the following content:

{
    "name": "OutputDataset",
    "properties": {
        "linkedServiceName": {
            "referenceName": "AzureStorageLinkedService",
            "type": "LinkedServiceReference"
        },
        "annotations": [],
        "type": "Binary",
        "typeProperties": {
            "location": {
                "type": "AzureBlobStorageLocation",
                "folderPath": "output",
                "container": "adftutorial"
            }
        }
    }
}

Run the Set-AzDataFactoryV2Dataset cmdlet to create the OutDataset.

Set-AzDataFactoryV2Dataset -DataFactoryName $DataFactory.DataFactoryName `
    -ResourceGroupName $ResGrp.ResourceGroupName -Name "OutputDataset" `
    -DefinitionFile ".\OutputDataset.json"

Here is the sample output:

DatasetName       : OutputDataset
ResourceGroupName : <resourceGroupname>
DataFactoryName   : <dataFactoryName>
Structure         :
Properties        : Microsoft.Azure.Management.DataFactory.Models.BinaryDataset

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Example of a dataset

Azure Blob

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