Can You Combine Metadate In Datetview Obsidan

Caroline Mae

2 min read

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01-01-2025

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Yes, you can combine metadata in Dataview Obsidian, although the exact method depends on what you mean by "combine." There are several ways to achieve different kinds of combinations, leveraging Dataview's powerful querying capabilities.

Combining Metadata for Display

Let's say you have notes with metadata like date, project, and status. You want to display these together in a single view. This is easily achieved using the WHERE and AND operators within a Dataview query.

For instance, this query will display all notes where the project is "Project X" and the status is "In progress":

WHERE project = "Project X" AND status = "In progress"

You can customize the displayed information by specifying the fields you want:

WHERE project = "Project X" AND status = "In progress"

This will show the date, project, and status for matching notes. You can further refine the output using Dataview's formatting options to present the combined metadata in a more visually appealing manner.

Combining Metadata for Calculations or Aggregation

If you need to perform calculations or aggregate data based on combined metadata, you'll use functions available within Dataview. Let's say you want to count the number of tasks completed for each project:

This example requires pre-defined metadata that identifies completed tasks. You might use a field like completed which is a boolean (true/false). Adapt the completed field to your specific metadata.

Combining Metadata for Conditional Logic

Dataview also allows for conditional logic within queries. This enables combining metadata to create complex filters and outputs. For example, if you want to display notes where the project is "Project X" and the status is "In progress" but only if the due date is in the future:

WHERE project = "Project X" AND status = "In progress" AND date > date("2024-03-08")

This query demonstrates how to combine metadata to create a filtered view based on multiple criteria. Remember to replace "2024-03-08" with the appropriate date.

Limitations and Considerations

The specific capabilities for combining metadata depend entirely on how your metadata is structured within your Obsidian notes. Consistency in your metadata is crucial for efficient querying and data manipulation. Inconsistent or missing metadata will limit Dataview's ability to effectively combine information.

Experiment with different queries and functions to fully explore the potential for combining metadata within Dataview Obsidian. The documentation and community forums are excellent resources for further learning. Remember that the complexity you can achieve is only limited by your creativity and understanding of Dataview's query language.