End-user filters

Introduction

Where filter controls are always visible on a dashboard, end users can freely add or remove user filters on dashboards. To create user filters you must select datasource attributes that can be used by end users to filter.

Users can add or delete filters in the Select Filters dialog. The Select Filters dialog is displayed when the user clicks on the + icon in the Filters panel.

Creating End-user Filters

Follow these steps to create end-user filters.

Step	Action
1	Click on the chart for which you want to create end-user filters and go to the Chart tab.
2	Right click on the table name in the table item list and select End-user attributes....
3	Click on the attributes that you want to add as end-user filters and click on OK.
4	Click on the + icon in the Filters panel. The selected attributes are available as end-user filter in the Select Filters dialog.

A user filter works on all dashboards based on a table containing the attribute of the filter. If a filter for a specific attribute is already present as a filter control, the attribute is disabled in the Select Filters dialog.

Filter Propagation

User filters propagate through join tables. If an attribute is marked as an end-user filter in a sub-table of a join table, it can also be used as an end-user filter in this join table.

Attributes are only available as end-user filters on dashboards where the table has a direct relation to the table where the attributes have been defined as end-user filter.

Grouping Attributes

Grouping attributes can help end users to put the attribute names into the context of the data it represents. See illustration below for an example.

You can group attributes by specifying a display name for the table to which the attribute belongs.

Follow these steps to specify the display name for a table.

Step	Action
1	Go to the Data tab.
2	Right-click on the table for which you want to specify the display name and select Advanced - Options.... TheTable Options dialog is displayed. See illustration below.
3	Enter a display name in the Display name field and click on OK.

Changing the Filter Type for an End-user Filter

By default, the type of an end-user filter is determined by the data type of the attribute. For example, an end-user filter based on Amount in an Invoices dataset, will of type List box. See the illustration below.

If you want to change the filter type, it is possible to override this default. However, the actual end-user filter that is added is an internal attribute, which means that you cannot change this on the attribute itself, but you can create a new control based on the attribute.

Follow these steps to change the filter type for an internal attribute.

Step	Action
1	Go to the Data tab and locate the attribute for which you want to change the filter type.
2	Right-click on the attribute and select New control from the context menu followed by the filter type you want to use for the end-user filter.
3	Right-click on the new control and select Availability - Public from the context menu.
4	Double-click on the new control to open the Edit Control dialog.
5	Select the Use as end-user filter check-box and click on OK. See illustration below for an example.

The new filter control will now be used when an end-user creates a filter based on the original attribute.

Note: If you want to change the filter type for additional attributes that you have added in your app, you must first create an end-user filter for these attributes. See End-user Filters.