❖ MixedScales

❖ SDV Enterprise bundle. This feature is available for purchase as an SDV Enterprise bundle. For more information, visit our page to Explore SDV.

Compatibility: 1 or more columns that are categorical and 1 column that is numerical

The MixedScales constraint enforces that the value of a categorical column (or a combination of categorical columns) determines the scale of a numerical column. For example, the combined value of categorical columns test_type and units will determine the value of numerical column for test_results. So if test type is 'height' and units are 'inches' then it forces the synthesizer to learn the scale specially for this segment.

Parameters

(required) segment_column_names: A list of one or more categorical columns that ultimately segment the data into different groups of rows. Each group will have a different scale.

(required) mixed_scale_column_name: A numerical column whose scale depends on the segment.

Example

Define your constraint using the parameters and then add it to a synthesizer.

my_constraint = {
    'constraint_class': 'MixedScales',
    'table_name': 'patient_test_results', # for multi table synthesizers
    'constraint_parameters': {
        'segment_column_names': ['test_type', 'units'],
        'mixed_scale_column_name': 'test_results'
    }
}

my_synthesizer.add_constraints(constraints=[
    my_constraint
])

FAQs

What if I only have one categorical column that determines the scale?

In this case, please provide a list of just one column name as your segment_column_names:

my_constraint = {
    'constraint_class': 'MixeScales',
    'table_name': 'patient_test_results', # for multi table synthesizers
    'constraint_parameters': {
        'segment_column_names': ['test_type'],
        'mixed_scale_column_name': 'test_results'
    }
}

Why can't I input the scale min and max for each segment?

In this constraint, you will only define the column names. SDV synthesizers will use this information to automatically learn the scales (min/max values and distribution) for each different segment of the real data. There is no need to manually input this data.