Split Data partitions the rows of a dataset into two distinct sets.

The Relative Expression Split option in the Split Data module of Azure Machine Learning Studio is helpful when you need to divide a dataset into training and testing datasets using a numerical expression.

Relative Expression Split: Use this option whenever you want to apply a condition to a number column. The number could be a date/time field, a column containing age or dollar amounts, or even a percentage. For example, you might want to divide your data set depending on the cost of the items, group people by age ranges, or separate data by a calendar date.

Scenario:

Local market segmentation models will be applied before determining a user’s propensity to respond to an advertisement.

The distribution of features across training and production data are not consistent

Box 1: Floating point

Need floating point for Median values.

Scenario: An initial investigation shows that the datasets are identical in structure apart from the MedianValue column. The smaller Paris dataset contains the MedianValue in text format, whereas the larger London dataset contains the MedianValue in numerical format.

Box 2: Unchanged

Note: Select the Categorical option to specify that the values in the selected columns should be treated as categories.

For example, you might have a column that contains the numbers 0,1 and 2, but know that the numbers actually mean "Smoker", "Non smoker" and "Unknown". In that case, by flagging the column as categorical you can ensure that the values are not used in numeric calculations, only to group data.

Instead use the Synthetic Minority Oversampling Technique (SMOTE) sampling mode.

Note: SMOTE is used to increase the number of underepresented cases in a dataset used for machine learning. SMOTE is a better way of increasing the number of rare cases than simply duplicating existing cases.