FPDS Query Library
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Department Name

Human-readable name of the funding or requesting department associated with the awarding agency identifier in the IDV purchaser information. This is the label version of a coded agency field and identifies the department in plain text, such as "GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION."

Family: IDV
Category: Purchaser Information
Data Type: string
Semantic Type: label
Mapping: flattened_fpds_xml_field
AI Confidence: high

Variable Overview

FPDS Query Variable
content__IDV__purchaserInformation__fundingRequestingAgencyID__departmentName
Title
Department Name
FPDS Path
IDV/purchaserInformation/fundingRequestingAgencyID/departmentName
Description
Human-readable name of the funding or requesting department associated with the awarding agency identifier in the IDV purchaser information. This is the label version of a coded agency field and identifies the department in plain text, such as "GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION."
Business Meaning
This field helps analysts identify which federal department is associated with the funding or requesting side of an IDV, supporting agency-level spend analysis, cross-agency sourcing review, and portfolio segmentation by department name rather than code. It is useful when comparing awards across agencies or when a readable agency label is needed for reporting and validation.
Example Value
GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION
Observed Non-Null Count
3,532,659

FPDS Compare

FPDS Query Variable
content__IDV__purchaserInformation__fundingRequestingAgencyID__departmentName
FPDS XML Path
IDV/purchaserInformation/fundingRequestingAgencyID/departmentName
Mapping Type
flattened_fpds_xml_field
Comparison Summary
FPDS Query flattens the original nested FPDS XML path 'IDV/purchaserInformation/fundingRequestingAgencyID/departmentName' into the SQL-ready variable 'content__IDV__purchaserInformation__fundingRequestingAgencyID__departmentName'.

Use Cases

  • Dictionary lookup and field explanation
  • SQL filtering and grouping
  • Analytical reporting and reusable query building

Common Usage

  • Group IDV records by funding or requesting department
  • Display agency names in reports and dashboards
  • Validate coded agency fields against the readable label

Common Mistakes

  • Using the text label as a unique identifier for joins or de-duplication
  • Assuming formatting is standardized across all records and periods

Query Guidance

Use this field for presentation, filtering, and text-based review; for joins and rollups, prefer the associated agency code when available. In SQL, normalize case and trim whitespace before grouping, and consider DISTINCT or LIKE checks only for exploratory analysis because labels may have variant spellings or formatting.

SQL Examples

Preview values

SELECT
    content__IDV__purchaserInformation__fundingRequestingAgencyID__departmentName AS department_name
FROM fpds.data
WHERE content__IDV__purchaserInformation__fundingRequestingAgencyID__departmentName IS NOT NULL
LIMIT 25

Top values

SELECT
    content__IDV__purchaserInformation__fundingRequestingAgencyID__departmentName AS value,
    count() AS record_count
FROM fpds.data
WHERE content__IDV__purchaserInformation__fundingRequestingAgencyID__departmentName IS NOT NULL
GROUP BY value
ORDER BY record_count DESC
LIMIT 25

Each dictionary item includes SQL-ready examples generated alongside the variable metadata, allowing immediate use in FPDS Query for filtering, aggregation, and analysis.