Configuring Tables in a Story Report

Tables can be used on story reports to view and analyze data.

When you add a table to a canvas, a data grid is created. You can change this basic layout using the Designer tools.

• Use the Builder to select the measures and dimensions to include in the rows and columns of your table.
• Use the Styling tools to enhance the presentation.
• Use the Examine panel to create charts and visualizations based on selected areas of the data in your table.

You can add multiple measures and multiple dimensions to your table. You can also apply filters to your measures and dimensions. The table is updated as you make your choices in the Builder.

To add a table to the canvas:

1. Under Insert, select the Table icon.

   A table is added to the page.

2. Use the Builder tab to select the dimensions to include in the rows and columns.
3. Use the Styling tab to customize the look of the table.

You can change the default design of a table in the Builder tab.

The following sections are displayed in the Builder tab:

The data source is displayed in this area.

Select between cross-tab and list structures.

You can also select some table Properties:

• Adaptive column width: Automatically resizes the columns when you resize the table
• Arrange totals / parents nodes below: Moves totals to the bottom of the table
• Optimized Presentation: Provides fast-loading, in-cell charts, pixel-level resizing of columns or rows, and smooth scrolling.

All filters that have been applied to the table are listed in the Filters section of the tab and in the table subtitle. Filters that have been manually applied can be removed by choosing the cancel icon beside the filter and more filters can be added here by selecting the Add Filters text at the bottom of the list.

Filters are normally applied as restrictive filters (so that only the selected members are visible), but they can also be applied exclusively by selecting the Exclude selected members checkbox when you select the members; in this case, all members are included in the table except the selected items.

To create a filter, complete the following steps.

1. In the Builder→Filters area, select Add Filters, select the dimension you would like to filter.
2. Choose the members.

   The members you choose appear in the Selected Members list on the right.

3. Choose whether you want to allow viewers to modify selections. If you allow viewers to modify filter selections, they can either toggle on and off each filter value (with the Multiple Selections option) or select a single filter value (with the Single Selection option).
   Note

   Viewers can reset any changes that they made to filters and input controls to get the original view of the story by selecting Reset/Reset Story on the story toolbar.
4. Select OK to create the filter.
5. The filter appears at the top of the table, and in the Filters area in the Builder tab.

When you have created a table on a story page, there are several options available in table-specific action and context menus.

• Table Action Menu: Appears when you use the More Actions button or in other menus.
• Table Cell (Context) Menus: Affects collections of cells in the table. Appears when you right-click a table cell.
• Table Body (Dimension Values) Cells: Appears when you right-click a value of a dimension.

The table-specific menu options let you work with the data and change the appearance of the whole table:

The table row and column headers (Dimension headers) have their own context menu.

The table body (dimension value) cells have context menus for rows and columns:

You can change the title of a table. You can include dynamic text from a variety of elements including story filters and filters that are in use in the table.

To change the title, complete the following steps.

1. Double-click the title of the table.
2. Adjust the text as needed.
3. (Optional) To include dynamic text, do the following:a) From the table action menu, select Add Dynamic Text.b) Select the appropriate option.c) Choose Create.
4. Choose outside the title to save the changes.

You can configure the table widget to aggregate data in two different table structures: List with aggregation or Cross-tab. When either of these is configured, the measures selected will be aggregated by the dimensions selected. For a list with aggregation, dimensions will be displayed as individual rows. For a Cross-tab, the dimension can appear both as rows and columns.

To create an aggregated table, complete the following steps.

1. Under Insert, select the Table icon.

   A table is added to the page.

2. Select either List→Aggregated or Cross-tab.
3. Select the appropriate measures and dimensions:a) For List, place the measure and dimensions in the columns area.b) For Cross-tab, place measures and dimensions in either the column or row area.

You can add a hyperlink to a table or a table cell that takes you to an external URL or another page in the story. A table widget can only have one hyperlink per table.

Create charts in a story report to display your data. The data in your chart is based on an existing data source (query).

From the Builder, you can select a chart type and then pick the measures and dimensions to show in your chart. When you have defined the structure of your chart, you can apply customizations to it.

For the Optimized Design Experience (ODE), all charts are a single dropdown menu.

For the Classic Design Mode, charts are divided into the following categories:

• Comparison - Compares differences between values or shows a simple comparison of categorical divisions of measures.
• Trend - Shows a trend in the data values (especially for dimensions that are time-based, such as Year) or the progression of your data and possible patterns.
• Distribution - Shows distributions between several groups or sets of data.
• Correlation - Shows the relationship between values or compares multiple measure values. For example, you can view the correlation of two measures and understand the impact of the first measure on the second measure.
• Indicator - Shows the metrics of a business.
• More - Shows more options, including percentage.

To add a chart to the canvas, complete the following steps.

1. From the toolbar, under Insert, select the Chart icon.

   A bar chart is added to your page.

2. A data source will automatically be selected for your new chart. To change it, in Builder, select Select Model (ODE) /Change Primary Model (classic) and choose a new data source.

When you add the chart to the canvas, you need to select the chart type. Some chart types require a specific number of measures or dimensions and will either not work or not provide good results if you use the wrong parameters.

To set the chart type, complete the following steps.

1. In the right panel→Chart Structure section, select the appropriate chart type.
2. Configure any additional required settings. For example a bar chart is configured as horizontal or vertical.

When you select a chart type, select the measures and dimensions to display in each area of your chart.

You can add multiple measures and multiple dimensions to your chart. You can also apply filters to your measures and dimensions. The chart is updated as you make your choices in the Builder.

To select the measures and dimensions, complete the following step:

In the Builder→Meaures/ Dimensions/ Color section, select the appropriate measures and dimensions. 

You can change the default design of a chart in the Builder tab.

You might want to use a customized description for a measure or dimension in your chart rather than using the default label.

1. Select your chart.
2. In the right panel, open Builder.
3. Pick your measure or dimension and then select More Actions→Rename.
4. Type a new name for the description.

The new description is displayed in your chart.

To make your chart more visually appealing, add a Color dimension.

For some chart types, you can use the same dimension for both category and color feeds. This can be useful if you want to hide the legend for a chart, but still want to see the information that the legend would provide. For example, you can display total by employee and add employee to the color dimension as well.

You can exclude non-relevant data points or filter data points to focus a chart on a specific set of data. You can filter by interacting with members directly on the chart, or by using the Filter interface. Chart filters apply only to the data displayed in that chart.

To apply a chart filter by member, complete the following steps.

1. Select your chart.
2. In the right panel, open Builder.
3. Find the Filter section and choose Add Filters.
4. Select the Dimension (Member) you would like to filter.
5. Choose the Members. The members you choose appear in the Member Selection list on the right.
6. If you want to change the default settings of the filter, you can choose Settings. Key settings are:
   1. Selection Mode: Dynamic or Static. Static selection won't include any future additions to the data source.
   2. Input Control Configuration: Are viewers able to modify selections or delete the filter?
   3. Input Control Configuration: Selection Type. A user can either toggle on and off each filter value (with the Multiple Selections option) or select a single filter value (with the Single Selection option).
7. Select OK to create the filter.

To apply a chart filter by condition, complete the following steps.

1. Select your chart.
2. In the right panel, open Builder.
3. Find the Filter section and choose Add Filters.
4. Select the Dimension (Condition) you would like to filter.
5. Choose the Conditions. The members that match will be returned.
6. Choose any Restrictions. Restrictions are exclude conditions that cannot be edited for disabled by viewers.
7. If you want to change the default settings of the filter, you can choose Setting. Key settings are:
   1. Input Control Configuration: Set viewers to be able to modify selections or delete the filter.
   2. Input Control Configuration: Selection Type. A user can either toggle on and off each filter value (with the Multiple Selections option) or select a single filter value (with the Single Selection option).
8. Select OK to create the filter.

For a Fixed Filter:

1. Select the Granularity of the date range to Day, Week, Month, Quarter, or Year.
2. Set the Start and End values for that granularity.
3. Add Additional Ranges as necessary.

For a Dynamic Filter:

1. Choose Standard (Uses Current Date) or Offset (You can adjust from the current date).
2. Select the Granularity of the date range to Day, Month, Quarter, or Year.
3. Set the Values of Look Back and Look Ahead that are applied to the Current Time Interval for that granularity.
4. If you selected Offset, choose the Direction, Granularity, and Amount.

   Your values are applied against the current date and are reflected in the value displayed in the Offset Time Interval.

To apply a chart filter by time range, complete the following steps.

1. Select your chart.
2. In the right panel, open Builder.
3. Find the Filter section and choose Add Filters.
4. Select the Time Dimension (Range) you would like to filter.
5. Choose Dynamic or Fixed.

   Individual Configurations are described next.

6. Change Settings for Users. Key settings are:
   1. Input Control Configuration: Are viewers able to modify selections or delete the filter?
   2. Input Control Configuration: Can viewers see any restrictions?
7. Select OK to create the filter.

In Optimized View, the filter can be accessed in More Actions→Applied to Chart and in the Filters area in the Builder tab.

In Classic View, the filter appears at the top of the chart and in the Filters area in the Builder tab.

In the Properties section of the Builder, you can choose to Enable Data Analyzer / Explorer in view mode.

You can create charts with data from multiple data sources (Queries). You have already set up linked dimensions between models. For more information on linked dimensions, see the following topic: Configuring Linked Dimensions for Widgets to Use Blended Data.

For example, you may want to display the total value of one-time bonuses per Job Title. The employees Job Title is returned in the data source Job Information, which includes the User ID field.

You also have a second data source on Basic User Information, which includes the User ID field as well. The Basic User Information also includes related tables to display the one-time bonus values for each employee. You could link these two data sources on the dimension User ID so that you can chart your requirement.

To create the chart with Blended Data, complete the following steps.

Ensure two or more queries (data sources) that have a linked dimension exist in the story.

1. On the Story Designer page, add a Chart widget, and select the widget.
2. Select one of the queries as the primary data source for the chart.
3. Choose the Add Linked Models link.
4. Select the appropriate Model that has a linked dimension to the primary data source.

   You can also create a new Linked Dimension at this point.

5. From both data sources, select the dimensions that can be linked logically and choose Set.

   The linked or the blended data source appears below the primary data source on the Builder panel.

6. From the blended data source, select Measures and Dimensions that you want to show on your chart.

After you add the additional data source, you can set the Link Type. By default, the Link Type of the blended data source is All primary data (which is also known as the left-outer join). You can edit the Link Type to All data (also known as outer join) or to Intersecting data only (also known as inner join).

When you have created a chart on a story page, there are several options available in chart-specific action and context menus. Different chart types have different options available, and some options are not available when in View mode.

The chart action menu provides options that let you make additional changes to the chart. If you want to make changes to specific areas in a chart, you can use the right-click context menus.

To display the menu, in the chart tile either right-click or select (More Actions).

We will now look at Add in the Action Menu.

When you select the + icon (Add) in the Action menu, you can select the following options:

We will now look at the Chart Data Point Context Menu.

You can add a hyperlink to a page or to an external URL.

To add a hyperlink, complete the following steps:

1. Select your chart.
2. In the Action menu, select More Actions→Hyperlink.
3. In the Hyperlink panel, under Link to, select one of the following options:a) Mobile App URLb) External URLc) Page
4. Select Done.