Dimensions are data sets that appear as buttons down the left of the screen. The dimensions displayed depend on the database you are in, e.g., in a sales database you might see customers, products, sales reps, regions, vendors, etc, while in an inventory database you might see supplier, warehouse, country, etc.
| Table of Contents | ||
|---|---|---|
|
| Info | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||
Selecting a dimension
When you select a dimension it turns blue and the data displayed in the grid changes accordingly. In the image below, the 'Products' dimension has been selected and the grid displays product data.
What is displayed
- Columns are sorted by total in ascending order.
- Negative figures are shown in red.
- Cells that do not contain data are shaded green.
- If the data in the Code column is blue it indicates a link is available.
- Dimensions that have selections will be indicated by numbers in brackets.
Groups, or sub-dimensions
Some dimensions have a subset of dimensions grouped underneath them, e.g., in the image above 'Product group' and 'Category' are grouped under 'Products'.
Properties and measures
- Properties (dimension metadata such as name, code, customer address, etc) are displayed as columns. You can select properties to display or create your own custom property. Learn more about properties
- Measures are data values relating to dimensions, displayed as columns. You can select single or multiple measures, change their format or customize (define) your own measure. Learn more about measures.
Clearing selections from a dimension
Once you select a row, or rows, a 'clear' option (shown with an 'X') appears to the right of the relevant dimension, as shown below. You do not need to have the relevant dimension active in order to clear.
Selecting multiple dimensions
You can easily slice and dice by selecting multiple dimensions - in effect, combining dimensions.
Step 1. Select a dimension and focus on some data. Selecting without focusing gives you the same information; however, focusing removes other data from view and retains the selection when you move to the next dimension.
Step 2. Select a second dimension. What you see now depends on your previous selections, e.g. if you select and focus on sales reps 'Fred' and 'Daisy', and then move to the 'Customer' dimension, only customers who have purchased from 'Fred' and 'Daisy' will appear.The main way to filter data is to use dimensions. After you filter the data by a dimension, another filtering option is available - you can filter by a condition.
Filter by a dimension
Dimensions are groups of data that you can use to filter the whole dataset. The dimensions that are available depend on the underlying database. They display in the panel on the left of the grid. For example:
In a Sales database you might have dimensions such as Customers, Products, Sales Reps, Regions, Vendors and so on.
In an Inventory database you might have dimensions such as Supplier, Warehouse, Country, and so on.
Some dimensions have a subset of dimensions grouped underneath them, for example, the might have the Product Class and Product Group might be subsets of the Product dimension.
Click a dimension to filter the data in the grid and see a list the entities in that dimension.
For example, suppose you are viewing your Sales database and want to take a closer look at your customers, to see which customers generate the most sales revenue. When you click the Customer dimension, a list of customers displays in the grid.
| Tip |
|---|
After you filter by one dimension and focus on some data, you can filter by another dimension. You can repeat this action to, in effect, filter by multiple dimensions and drill down further into your data. |
View filtered data in the grid
When you filter the data by a dimension (and condition), the grid updates and looks and behaves different to the Summary view. The key characteristics are as follows:
The selected dimensions displays in blue.
Properties (dimension metadata, such as Name and Code) display as columns. If the data in the Code column is blue, it indicates a link is available. You can select other properties to display or create your own custom property via the Properties menu.
Measures (data values relating to dimensions) display as columns, for example the Total Revenue or Current column. By default, the data is sorted by the first measure column, in ascending order. You can then sort the data in other ways. You can change the measures and their format via the Measures menu.
Cells that do not contain data are shaded blue.
Negative figures display in red.
| Tip |
|---|
See Work with the grid to learn how to sort data, freeze properties, view the record count and more. |
Filter by a condition
When you filter the data by a dimension, you can then filter both the text and numerical data in the grid using a condition.
Right-click a cell in the grid to view your options. The options that are available depend on the type of data. For example, if you right-click:
Some text in the Name column, you can filter the grid to display records with the same name (EQUALS condition) or similar name (LIKE condition).
A value in the Revenue column, you can filter the grid to display records that are less than, greater than or equal to that value.
A value in a Date column, you can filter the grid to display records that are less than, greater than or equal to that value or a different month. This option is useful as it allows you to make comparisons, as illustrated in this example.
Example - Find customers with sales over a certain amount in a specific period
Suppose you are viewing your Sales data in Period mode and have filtered your data by the Customer dimension. You want to identify the customers with sales of around $20,000 or more in the month of January.
(Optional) Click the January column header to sort the data in the grid by that column, in ascending order. This action makes it easier to find a value to use as a starting point.
Identify a value of around 20,000 (20,161.20), then right-click that value and click GREATER THAN > 20,161.20.
(Optional) Click the January column header to sort the data in descending order, so you can confirm that the highest value is now 20,161.20.
The grid updates to display only the data that meets the specified criteria, giving you a list of customers whose sales for July were $20,161.20 or higher. Any totals or averages that display in the grid now relate only to the filtered data. The status bar above the grid identifies the filter and an asterisk displays on the corresponding dimension to signify that a filter has been applied.
| Info |
|---|
This feature is not available in the following circumstances: Summary view, Transaction, Matrix share, and Market modes, Target % format and when the Average Value columns with the Totals as average option is selected. The option to view Transactions via this feature is not available in Market mode. |