Creating a filter on the data in a visualization or for another filter

You can create a filter on:

The data on a specific visualization on a dashboard's sheet (referred to as a visualization filter). For an example, see Creating a filter for the data on a visualization.
The objects displayed in a visualization filter. For an example, see Filtering the objects displayed in a filter for a visualization.

Steps to create both types of filter are included below.

You can also create a filter from an existing filter on the sheet. The sheet filter is removed from the Filter panel and displayed as a visualization filter. This filter is applied to all visualizations in the sheet, although you can remove specific visualizations and add other visualization filters. For an example of a filter on a sheet, see Creating filters for a sheet of data. To create a filter from an existing sheet filter, see To create a filter from an existing sheet filter.

Prerequisites

You must have Edit Dashboard, Create Dashboard, and Run Dashboard privileges.
If you are creating a filter for a visualization, the visualization must be added to the dashboard. For steps, see About visualizations.
If you are creating a filter to restrict the objects displayed in a visualization filter, the visualization filter must be created. Follow the steps below, selecting a visualization as the target.

To create a filter for a visualization or for another filter:

Click the name of the dashboard to run it.
Click the tab of the sheet that contains the visualization or filter to be filtered.
From the toolbar, click the Insert icon , then click Filter. An empty filter is added to the dashboard and displayed.
If the Datasets panel is not displayed, from the View menu, select Dataset Panel.
From the Datasets panel, click the dataset object to filter on, and drag the object to the empty filter.

If you drag an attribute, the attribute’s values are displayed as items in the filter. For example, if you drag the Region attribute onto a filter, the Northeast, Southeast, and Mid-Atlantic regions are displayed as items in the filter.
If you drag a metric, the metric’s values are either displayed on a slider or a metric qualification is displayed. A metric qualification allows you to compare metric values to a specific number. For example, if you drag the Revenue metric onto a filter, the revenue values are displayed on a slider. If you use a metric qualification, you can select an operator such as Greater than or Equals, and then specify a number to compare the revenue value to.

In the filter, click Select Target. Choose each visualization and/or filter to filter, then click Apply.
To filter on a date value, you can compare the date to a date that automatically adjusts according to the current date. For example, you can filter for yesterday, to display only the previous day's sales data. This is referred to as a dynamic date, as it changes every day. You can create a dynamic date for the beginning date, the end date, or both dates of the filter.

To use a dynamic date on the filter, complete the following steps:

Click the Date icon in the filter. A calendar is displayed. As you make changes, the calendar updates to reflect the dynamic date.
Select the Dynamic Date check box. The Dynamic Date area is displayed.
To offset the current date by days, select Plus or Minus from the drop-down list before Days. Type the offset value in days.
To offset the current date by months, select Plus or Minus from the drop-down list before Months. Type the offset value in months.
To offset the current date by both days and months, complete both of the previous actions.
Click OK.

To select the filter's display style and formatting:

From the drop-down list at the top of the Properties panel, choose Filter.

If the Properties panel is not displayed, from the View menu, select Properties Panel. If the Properties panel is hidden behind another panel, click the Properties icon to display the Properties panel.

In the Properties panel, select the Style from the drop-down list:
For an attribute filter, the styles are:

Check Boxes: This style allows multiple selections.
Slider: This style is effective for browsing data in a graph.
Search Box: This style is useful for a long list of items.
Link Bar: This style is useful for creating tabs.
Button Bar: This style is useful for creating tabs.
Radio Buttons: This style allows only a single selection.
Drop-down: This style allows only a single selection.
List Box: This style allows multiple selections.
Calendar: This style is automatically selected for Date/Time values. It displays From and To boxes, to enter the date range.
For a metric filter, the styles are:
Slider: Filters data by choosing values on a slider.
Qualification: Filters data by comparing metric values to a number that you specify.

For a metric filter, you can choose to filter the metric based on the metric values or the metric’s ranking. Select one of the following:

To filter the metric based on values, hover the cursor over the filter, click the arrow icon, and select Qualify on Value. For example, you can display data only for stores with profit values greater than $100,000.
To filter the metric based on rank, hover the cursor over the filter, click the arrow icon, and select Rank. For example, you can display data only for the top five most profitable employees.

If Mode is displayed in the Properties panel, select whether to include or exclude data using the filter selections. This option is available for metric filters that use the slider style and for attribute filters.

To display data for the filter selections, select Include.
To display data for everything except the filter selections, select Exclude.

You can select formatting options for a filter, such as whether to show the filter's title bar and the background color of the filter. For an attribute filter, you can also choose whether to allow multiple selections, to make all the items the same width, and to show an option to select all the items at the same time. For a description of the properties, see Dashboard Editor: Filter: Properties.
To move the filter, click and drag the filter to the appropriate location in the dashboard, so that an indicator line is displayed in the location to place the filter. The filter is moved to its new location and displayed.

To create a filter from an existing sheet filter:

You can also create a visualization filter from an existing filter that targets the entire sheet. The sheet filter is removed from the Filter panel and displayed as a filter object in the dashboard area. All visualizations in the sheet are filtered (targeted) by this filter, although you can change the targets to remove visualizations and add other visualization filters.

Click the name of the dashboard to run it.
Click the tab of the sheet that contains the filter.
From the Filters panel, click and drag the filter directly onto the dashboard area, where it is displayed as a visualization filter.
To change the filter's targets (the objects that the filter affects), complete the following steps

Hover the cursor over the filter, click the arrow icon, and point to Select Targets.
All visualizations in the sheet are automatically targeted by the filter. To remove a visualization as a target, clear its check box.
To add a visualization filter as a target, select its check box.
Click Apply.
You can select the style, mode, and formatting, just as with any other visualization filter. For steps, see To select the filter's display style and formatting.

To delete a filter on a visualization:

Click the name of the dashboard to run it.
Click the tab of the sheet that contains the filter.
Hover the cursor over the filter to delete and click the arrow icon, then select Delete. The filter is deleted from the dashboard.

Creating a filter on the data in a visualization or for another filter

Prerequisites

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