Dataform Basics

This guide introduces the essential elements of the Dataform UI, tailored specifically for GA4Dataform users. If you are new to Dataform, we recommend starting with the overview section. If you’re already familiar with the GA4Dataform interface, feel free to skip ahead to the sections that interest you.

note

If you’ve installed GA4Dataform, authorized data processing, and scheduled your workflow using the optional next steps, you can benefit from GA4Dataform without ever opening the Dataform interface (theoricaly!). However, if you’re looking to customize GA4Dataform or are simply curious to learn more, this guide is here to help you.

Overview

Dataform is seamlessly integrated into Google Cloud Platform (GCP), providing a user-friendly interface to manage your Dataform project (including GA4Dataform project). Here’s how you can access Dataform from the GCP console:

• Use the search bar: Type "Dataform" into the search bar at the top of the console.
• Navigate via the menu: Open the top-left burger menu, go to BigQuery under "Products," and click on Dataform.

When you open Dataform, you’ll see a list of repositories—these are essentially your projects. If you’ve just installed GA4Dataform, you should find a repository named something like superform_analytics_*.

Click on the repository you want to work on. Once inside, you’ll find 4 main sections:

• Development Workspaces: Write your models and scripts, define data sources, set up lineage, configure table materialization and more...

• Workflow Execution Logs: Track and review the execution history of your project.

• Release and Scheduling: Schedule when your BigQuery tables ared refreshed and manage project compilation settings.

• Settings: Configure project variables and connect your repository to GitHub.

This guide will take you through these sections to perform specific tasks and make the most of GA4Dataform.

Check worflow execution

In Dataform, a workflow defines the set of SQL queries that make up a data model. These queries are executed in a specific order to build tables in BigQuery. The complete execution of all these queries is referred to as a "workflow."

If you're not seeing the expected tables in BigQuery, or if tables appear incomplete, have missing dates, or other issues, the first thing to check is whether your workflows have been executed correctly and without errors.

Above is an example of workflows executed over time. Some executions are marked in green, indicating success, while others are red, indicating errors. By examining the Source column, you can determine for eah row, whether a single model, an entire workspace, or a full workflow was executed. You can drill down into each execution to review the detailed execution of all the models of the workflow you have selected.

Lastly, by clicking on a specific query, you can access detailed information about its process and failure raisons is thee is one. This is particularly useful for troubleshooting when a model hasn’t run as expected.

Check workflow execution after runnin GA4 installer

note

This section is specifically for users who have authorized data processing for their historical GA4 data via the optional steps after using the GA4 installer. If you’re new to Dataform, we recommend reviewing the previous Overview and How to Check Workflow Execution sections first.

If you’re allowing GA4Dataform to process a relatively large GA4 dataset, running the Superform workflow may take several minutes, dozens of minutes, or even hours. If you can't see the table outputs in BigQuery, follow these steps to check your workflow execution:

1. Access Dataform.
2. Open the superform_analytics_* repository.
3. Navigate to the Workflow Execution Logs section.

If the workflow status is not green yet, you can click the Refresh button. Feel free to click it multiple times until the workflow completes successfully and turns green.

Contact support@ga4dataform.com if:

• You don’t see any workflow execution logs.
• The workflow execution turns red.