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Managing Multiple Catalogs

This guide explains how to work with multiple catalog repositories in the CFA DataOps system.

Overview

The DataOps system is designed around catalog repositories that you create using dataops_catalog_init. Multiple catalogs can be installed in the same Python environment, providing unified access to all datasets and reports through datacat and reportcat.

Creating Your First Catalog

  1. Create a catalog repository: 

    dataops_catalog_init my_project /path/to/catalogs

  2. Install in development mode: 

    cd /path/to/catalogs
pip install -e .[dev]

  3. Verify installation: 

    from cfa.dataops import datacat, reportcat

print(datacat.__namespace_list__)
print(reportcat.__namespace_list__)

Working with Multiple Catalogs

Installing Multiple Catalogs

You can install multiple catalog libraries in the same environment:

# Create and install different catalogs
dataops_catalog_init scenarios /path/to/scenarios-catalog
dataops_catalog_init surveillance /path/to/surveillance-catalog
dataops_catalog_init my_project /path/to/my-project-catalog

# Install each catalog
cd /path/to/scenarios-catalog && pip install -e .[dev]
cd /path/to/surveillance-catalog && pip install -e .[dev]
cd /path/to/my-project-catalog && pip install -e .[dev]

Unified Access

All datasets and reports become accessible through unified interfaces:

from cfa.dataops import datacat
from cfa.dataops.reporting import reportcat

# Access datasets from any installed catalog
datacat.private.scenarios.covid19vax_trends.load.get_dataframe()
datacat.private.surveillance.flu_trends.load.get_dataframe()
datacat.private.my_project.custom_dataset.load.get_dataframe()

# Access reports from any installed catalog
reportcat.private.scenarios.examples.basics_ipynb
reportcat.private.surveillance.weekly.summary_ipynb
reportcat.private.my_project.analysis.trend_report_ipynb

Listing Available Resources

# List all datasets across all catalogs
print("Available datasets:", datacat.__namespace_list__)

# List all reports across all catalogs
print("Available reports:", reportcat.__namespace_list__)

# Explore specific catalog namespaces
print("Scenarios datasets:", dir(datacat.scenarios))
print("Surveillance reports:", dir(reportcat.surveillance))

Catalog Repository Structure

Each catalog repository contains:

my-catalog/
├── cfa/
│   └── catalog/
│       └── my_catalog/
│           ├── __init__.py
│           ├── catalog_defaults.toml
│           ├── datasets/           # Dataset configurations (TOML files)
│           │   ├── dataset1.toml
│           │   └── dataset2.toml
│           ├── reports/            # Jupyter notebook templates
│           │   ├── examples/
│           │   └── analysis/
│           └── workflows/          # ETL and processing scripts
│               ├── etl/
│               ├── multistage/
│               └── reference_data/
├── pyproject.toml
├── MANIFEST.in
└── .gitignore

Best Practices

Organization by Domain

  • scenarios: COVID-19 modeling and forecasting datasets
  • surveillance: Disease surveillance and monitoring data
  • reference: Static reference data used across projects
  • my_project: Project-specific datasets and analyses

Naming Conventions

  • Use descriptive catalog names that reflect their purpose
  • Keep dataset names consistent within each catalog
  • Use clear, hierarchical organization for reports

Development Workflow

  1. Create separate catalogs for different data domains
  2. Install all relevant catalogs in your development environment
  3. Use datacat and reportcat for unified access
  4. Develop datasets and reports within their appropriate catalog repositories

Sharing Catalogs

  • Catalog repositories can be shared via Git repositories
  • Teams can install each other's catalogs to access shared datasets
  • Use proper versioning and documentation for shared catalogs

Common Patterns

Cross-Catalog Analysis

# Combine data from multiple catalogs
scenarios_data = datacat.scenarios.covid19vax_trends.load.get_dataframe()
surveillance_data = datacat.surveillance.flu_trends.load.get_dataframe()

# Create combined analysis
combined_analysis = analyze_trends(scenarios_data, surveillance_data)

Catalog-Specific Reports

# Generate reports using data from specific catalogs
report = reportcat.private.scenarios.analysis.trend_analysis_ipynb
report.nb_to_html_file(
    html_out_path="trend_report.html",
    dataset_namespace="scenarios.covid19vax_trends"
)

Troubleshooting

Catalog Not Found

  • Ensure the catalog is properly installed: pip list | grep cfa.catalog
  • Check that you're in the correct Python environment
  • Verify the catalog was created successfully

Import Errors

  • Reinstall the catalog in development mode: pip install -e .[dev]
  • Check for naming conflicts between catalogs
  • Ensure all dependencies are installed

Namespace Conflicts

  • Use unique catalog names to avoid conflicts
  • Check datacat.__namespace_list__ for existing namespaces
  • Consider renaming conflicting catalogs