When working with external data one cannot use the standard Spotfire expressions but has to change to the dialect of the given data source (e.g. when working with an Impala connection a Left([Column_A],1) for imported data has to be changed to Substring([Column_A],1,1) if the same data is kept external. This creates two problems:
A simple mapping of Spotfire expressions to the appropriate syntax of various data sources would enable both switching between external and imported data and self-service use by non-IT experts. Spotfire expressions not supported by a given data source could simply be hidden or greyed out.