Fields and metrics

With Data Manager you can add and edit fields and metrics displayed in your process app.

The fields listed in Data Manager correspond to the columns in the tables of your source data. Using Data Manager, you can create new fields that derive their values from an expression or calculation based on values from other fields, adding them as new columns in the table. This enables you to use more comprehensive data visualizations on your dashboards, for enhanced data analysis.

Metrics are used to define a calculation once and reuse it in the entire app. Metrics can be calculated using expressions and can be based on values from fields. For example, you can create a metric to calculate the number of invoices, or a metric to calculate an average value. You can reuse these metrics in different charts. Metrics can be used to calculate other metrics.

Creating fields and metrics

If you want to add business logic to your process app but the field or metric you want to use is not available by default, you can create new data that you can use in your dashboards.

Follow these steps.

1. In the Data Manager panel, select +New, then select New field or New metric from the menu.

   The Create data window is displayed.

2. Enter a descriptive name for the new field or metric.

   Tip:

   It is a good practice to refer to the goal of the field or metric, which means an indication of what is computed. For example, Total_cost, for a field that which multiplies Quantity with Price_per_item for each order. (Total_cost = Quantity * Price_per_item).

3. If you create a new field, select the table into which you want to create the new field from the available tables in the Table list.

   Important:

   A value is computed for each row of the selected table. References to fields in other tables are computed relative to the selected table. This means that referring to fields in other tables may yield duplicate results. You can only refer to fields which are reachable from the selected table. For example, you can use fields from the Cases table when defining a new field in the Events table, but not vice versa. The value of a field in Cases table is the same (duplicated) for each row in the Events table that belongs to the same case.

4. Configure the business logic in the Logic configuration editor using the available logic blocks.

   1. Add the logic block for the operations.

   2. Add the fields and constants to define the operations.

      Tip:

      You can select the Preview button to view a sample of the values resulting from the calculation.

5. Select Save.

   Note:

   The Save button is only enabled if the logic configuration is complete and correct.

The field or metric is added to the list of fields and metric in the Data Manager.

Tip:

You can also create a new field for a specific table in the Data manager.

Follow these steps to create a new field for a specific table.

1. In Data manager, locate the table into which you want to create the field.

2. Select the icon to open the menu and select + Create new field.

The Create data window is displayed and the table is selected in the Tables field.

Adding logic blocks to the canvas

You can easily drag and drop logic blocks onto the Logic configuration canvas to build an expression.

When you create a logic flow or a calculation, the inputs and outputs of each logic block must match up correctly in terms of data kind. The expression is validated, and feedback is displayed on the logic block to help you to troubleshoot and correct the calculations as you go.

Note:

You can only save the logic configuration if it has no errors.

Drafts

Saving a logic block or configuration as a draft

You can save a logic block or configuration and reuse it later.

Follow these steps.

1. Select the logic block you want to save as a draft, and drag it to the Logic blocks panel. The Logic blocks panels shows a Add block to draft area.

2. Drop the logic block on the Add block to draft area.

The logic block is removed from the canvas and saved as a draft on the Draft tab.

Using a draft

Follow these steps to use a draft in your configuration.

1. Go to the Draft tab and locate the logic block you want to use.

2. Drag and drop the logic block to the desired location in your Logic configuration.

Note:

The draft is no longer available on the Draft tab.

Removing a logic block

Follow these steps to remove a logic block.

1. Select the logic block you do not want to use anymore, and drag it to the Logic blocks panel. The Logic blocks panels shows a Delete block area.

2. Drop the logic block on the Delete block area.

The logic block is removed from the canvas.

Editing fields

Follow these steps to edit a field.

1. Select the field you want to edit.

   The Edit field dialog is displayed.

2. Edit the Field name as desired.
3. Select Save.

Changing the field Type

There might be instances where the field Type does not align with the data type of the source field in your dataset. For example, you may upload data of an integer Type to a field that was previously uploaded with text Type data. Such instances will be indicated in the Fields list in the Data manager.

For these fields, you can change the Type of the field.

Note:

You can only select a new Type based on the data type of the source field that is uploaded. For example, if the field in the dataset is of type integer, you can change the field Type to number, and if the field in the dataset is of Type text, you can change the field Type to nominal or ordinal.

Note:

You can only change the Type of a field that is not used in dashboards. In case the field is actually used in dashboards:

1. Remove the field from the chart or charts.

2. Edit the Type of the field.

3. Add the field back on the chart or charts.

Currency format

For currency fields you can also change the currency format. The following illustration shows an example.

This is a display setting, it does not convert the field value.

Edit field dialog

The following table describes the elements of the Edit field dialog.

Element	Description
Field name	The display name of the field.
Source field	The name of the column in the data source.
Type	The kind of data that the field holds.
Currency*	A drop down combo box containing all available currency formats.

* Currency is only available for monetary fields.

Hiding and showing fields

With Data Manager you can hide fields that are available in your dataset but not used in your process app. A field that is set to hidden in Data Manager, will not be visible in selectors when editing dashboards using the dashboard editor. This is useful when you do not want to use these fields in a visualization, but do want to use them to compute metrics.

Note: You can not hide a field that is used on a dashboard.

Follow these steps to hide a field.

1. Locate the field you want to hide.

2. Select the Hide field in app icon icon

   The field is set to hidden and the icon is changed to the Show field in app icon . If you select the icon, the field becomes visible again.

Editing custom fields

You can only edit the expression for custom fields you created from the Data Manager.

Follow these steps to edit a custom field.

1. In the Data Manager panel, locate the field you want to edit and select the Edit icon.

   The logic configuration of the field expression is displayed.

2. Edit the expression as desired and select Save.

The logic configuration editor is closed and you return to the dashboard editor.

Editing metrics

Follow these steps to edit a metric.

1. In the Data Manager panel, locate the metric you want to edit and select the Edit icon.

   The Edit KPI window is displayed.

2. Edit the display name for the metric in the Metric name field and/or configure the rules for the metric.

3. If applicable, add or change context metrics.

4. Select Save.

Context metrics

You can add context metrics to provide a better understanding of the main metric displayed on the chart. Context metrics are displayed as tooltips on charts.

The following illustration shows a chart with the main metric Average amount and Number of cases as a context metric.

Depending on the calculation of the main metric, different contexts may be useful to explain the main metric. For example, if the main metric is defined as Average amount, useful context is Number of objects for which the average amount is calculated. This also applies when you main metric is defined as Total amount. In this case, also Number of objects for which the sum is calculated is a useful context.

When your main metric is defined as a percentage, for example Cases with tag (%), useful contexts can be Number of objects with tag and Total number of objects.

The following table shows some examples of main metrics with relevant context metrics.

	Main metric	Context metric 1	Context metric 2
Count	Number of objects 112	-	-
Average	Average amount € 61,43	Objects 112	-
Sum	Total amount € 123.555,00	Objects 112	-
Percentage	Objects with tag %​ 60%	Objects with tag 600	Total objects 1000

Deleting fields

To keep your data clean, you can delete fields that are not used anymore. Follow these steps to delete a field.

Important:

You can only delete empty fields.

1. In the Data Manager panel, locate the field you want to delete.

2. Hover over the field name and select the Delete field icon.

3. Select Delete.

The field is removed without any notification.

Deleting metrics

To keep your process app clean, you can delete metrics that are not used anymore. Follow these steps to delete a metric.

1. In the Data Manager panel, locate the metric you want to delete.

2. Hover over the metric name and select the Delete metric icon.

   A confirmation message is displayed.

3. Select Delete.

   
   

   

   
   
   Note: You can only delete user-created metrics. Metrics that are used in charts can not be deleted.

Viewing metric references

If you want to delete a metric that is used in charts, you must first delete the metric references. When you hover over the Delete metric icon, a popup is displayed indicating which dashboards and charts the metric is used in.