# Filter controls

> Filter controls are fixed filters created by a developer and placed on the dashboard. End users cannot add or remove these filters, they can only change the filter value.

## Introduction

Filter controls are fixed filters created by a developer and placed on the dashboard. End users cannot add or remove these filters, they can only change the filter value.

## Filter positions

There are multiple places in the dashboard where a filter can be positioned:

* Top
* Right
* Header

Based on the position of the filters in a dashboard, filters can affect multiple dashboard items. The **Chart** tab contains the **Controls** panel and the **Header controls** panel. Dragging a filter control on the **Controls** panel on either the **Right** or **Top** category will activate that filter for all dashboard items on this dashboard.

The **Header controls** panel contains a category for each dashboard item. Dragging a filter on one of these categories will only activate this filter for that specific dashboard item. Header controls are shared for all items on a dashboard. Removing a control from the **Header controls** does not automatically remove it from the chart.

See illustration below.

  ![docs image](https://dev-assets.cms.uipath.com/assets/images/process-mining/process-mining-docs-image-55733-8db88fae-110b36f3.webp)

It is possible to move the filters between the panels by dragging and dropping them on the desired type. Depending on where the filter is positioned, it might look different.

## Filter control types

Below is an overview of the available filter control types.

| Filter control type | Description |
| --- | --- |
| List box | Used to filter one or more values at once. |
| Combo box | Used to filter one value at a time. |
| Period filter | Used to filter on date values. |
| Range filter | Used to filter numerical values. |
| Search box | Filters only one value and is used to easily browse through the values. |

The most commonly used filters are the list box and the combo box filters.

## Creating a filter

Follow these steps to create a filter.

| Step | Action |
| --- | --- |
| 1 | Go to the **Dashboards** tab and select the dashboard for which you want to create a filter. |
| 2 | Click on the chart for which you want to create filter and go to the **Chart** tab. |
| 3 | In the table item list right-click on the attribute on which want to create a filter to open the context menu. |
| 4 | Select **New control** and then the desired filter control. |

The new filter control is created in the table item list. See illustration below for an example.

  ![docs image](https://dev-assets.cms.uipath.com/assets/images/process-mining/process-mining-docs-image-53748-19be0515-5995e587.webp)

The filter control has the same display name as the datasource attribute on which it is created, however, the ID differs. This is displayed when you edit the attribute or filter control. The filter control also has a different icon, to indicate that it is a filter control.

## Deactivating a filter

It is possible to deactivate a filter. It is then still visible but does not filter data. Follow these steps to deactivate a filter.

| Step | Action |
| --- | --- |
| 1 | Go to the **Chart** tab. |
| 2 | Click on the **Filters** icon of the filter you want to deactivate in the **Controls** panel or **Header controls** panel. |

The filter is now deactivated, shown by a greyed-out version of the filter icon. You can activate the filter by clicking on the filter icon again.

:::note
Header filters are initially only active on the selected dashboard item. You can activate them on another dashboard item by selecting that dashboard item and clicking on the **Filters** icon.
:::

## Removing a filter

There are two ways to remove the filter from the dashboard.

1. Right-click on the filter control in the **Controls** panel or the **Header controls** panel on the **Chart** tab and select **Remove** from the context menu.
2. Drag the filter control from the **Controls** panel or the **Header controls** panel back to the table item list.

## Filter control properties

Once a filter control is created, it is possible to edit the properties of the filter control.

Filter properties can be changed in the **Edit Control** dialog.

Follow this step to display the **Edit Control** dialog.

| Step | Action |
| --- | --- |
| 1 | Right-click on the filter control in the **Controls** panel or the **Header controls** panel on the **Chart** tab and select **Edit** from the context menu.  The **Edit Control** dialog is displayed. See illustration below. |

   ![docs image](https://dev-assets.cms.uipath.com/assets/images/process-mining/process-mining-docs-image-53604-1315e094-2d0a4c0c.webp)

### Name

The **Name** field is the display name of the filter. End users will see this name when the filter is placed on a dashboard. It is possible to change the name of the filter.

### Filter type

It is possible to change the type of filter after it is created by selecting an different type from the **Type** drop down-list. Depending on which type of filter you select, the available settings in **Edit Control** dialog can differ.

### Default value

It is possible to set the **Default value** of the filter. This means that whenever the filters are reset, or when the end-user logs in, the filter is set back to that specific default value.

### Visible values

You can use the **Visible values** setting to determine which values of the attribute are shown in the filter. Below is a description of the possible options for **Visible values**.

| Option | Description |
| --- | --- |
| Show all | All values of the attribute are shown in the filter. |
| Gray unavailable | Values that are available in a dashboard are shown in black; the others are shown in gray. When a user selects a gray value, the dashboard will show no results. |
| Hide unavailable | Only values that are available in a dashboard will be shown. |

### Remove NULL

You can select the **Hide NULL value** check box to remove **NULL** from the list of available filter values, so you cannot filter on attribute values which do not have a value filled in.

### Customize All option

There are two available options to customize the `All` option.

**Show ‘All’**: The option to select `All` will be available in the combo box to clear the filter selection. Only available for combo box filter controls.

**Custom ‘All’**: Give another name for the filter option representing all values of the attribute, which is *All* by default. Available for combo box, list box, checked list box.