Filtering Data

Using a Filter Control

A filter control might initially be like this:

To use this control, select the Search button . In most cases, the system then displays something like this:

If this menu includes the word Required, then it is necessary to choose at least one item. In this case, the drop-down menu does not list the All choice. The following shows an example:

In this case, if you try to close the drop-down menu without selecting an option, the system displays a pop-up message saying that a value is required.

The Range option is not available if the data source for the widget is a KPI. The following subsections show other variations. In these filter controls, depending on their exact nature, you can do the following:

• Type into the search box and press Tab.

  If you do, the control is refreshed to display only members that include the string that you typed. For example:

  

• Select an item or hold down the Ctrl key and select multiple items.

  In some cases, it is not possible to select multiple items.

• Select Exclude to exclude the selected item or items.

• Select Range and then specify an inclusive range of members. When you select Range, the control changes to display two drop-down lists. In each drop-down list, select a member.

When you are done, select the check mark button to accept your selections. Or select the X button to discard them.

The widget or dashboard may or may not be refreshed immediately, depending on the dashboard configuration. Look for a standard Refresh button or a button labeled Refresh, Rerun, or so on. If the dashboard has such a button, typically you must select that button to see the change due to the filters.

Filter Control for a Time Level

Depending on the data source, if the filter refers to a time level, the list includes a NOW member, which always refers to the date on which the pivot table was run. (More specifically, NOW refers to the applicable member of the time level for the date on which the pivot table was run. For a year filter, NOW refers to the year, for a year and month filter, NOW refers to the year and month, and so on.)

For example, consider the following:

In this case, the NOW member refers to the current year, when this pivot table is run. For another example:

In this case, the NOW member refers to the current year and current month, when this pivot table is run.

Day levels are handled differently; see the next subsection.

For some kinds of time levels, if you click the NOW member and click Range, the system displays the following:

Here, you can specify a range of dates relative to the current date. To do so, type into the boxes shown on the right. For each box, to specify a date in the past, enter a minus sign (-), followed by an integer n. This specifies a date n time units in the past, where the time unit is determined by the kind of time level (in this case, years). Similarly, to specify a date in the future, specify a plus sign (+) followed by an integer n.

For example, the following filter selects a range of dates from five years in the past until now:

Filter Control for a Day Level

Depending on the data source, if the filter refers to a day level, the system shows the following control instead of a list:

If you select Range, the system displays two calendars, side by side. Below each calendar, the filter displays a NOW option. NOW represents the current date (that is, the date when the dashboard queries are executed. The following shows the NOW options:

If you select NOW, you can specify an optional offset, which specifies an integer number of days before or after NOW. For example, NOW – 365 represents the date that is 365 days before the dashboard query was executed.

Filter Control for a Measure

If the filter refers to a measure, the system shows the following control instead of a list:

In this case, select an operator from the drop-down list and type a value into the box to its right.

Filter Control for a Computed Dimension

If the filter refers to a computed dimension, the system shows the following control instead of the usual drop-down list:

In this case, you can either select and item in the list or select Reset to clear the selection.

A computed dimension is a dimension whose members are defined at runtime, typically via SQL SELECT statements.

Filtering via OnClick

In some cases, if you select a row in a widget, that widget filters another widget. This is a type of onclick control.

For example, consider the following dashboard:

For this dashboard, when you select a ZIP code row in the left widget, the system automatically refreshes the right widget. For example:

To clear the selection, select the left column header (for example, select above the 32006 cell).

Data Source Differences

For any widget that includes filter controls, if the data source is a KPI, a filter control has some or all of the following limitations:

• Does not include a Range option.

• Cannot be displayed in the calendar format.

• Does not include the system NOW option. (It is possible, however, for a KPI to include a filter option labeled NOW with similar behavior.)

• Does not necessarily enable you to select multiple items.