Columns in the Excluded Drop Target

A column in the Excluded drop target is not included in the view results but still remains as part of the analysis. A column can be placed in the Excluded drop target after views have been created for the analysis in various ways. A general rule is that a column is placed in the Excluded drop target for a view if it is not added explicitly to one or all views.

Some of the ways in which a column is placed in the Excluded drop target are as follows:

• You select the Exclude Column option from the right-click menu in a table or pivot table view.

• You select a column from the Subject Areas pane to add to views in an analysis as described in the following scenarios:

  • Criteria tab — If you add a column from the Subject Areas pane to the Selected Columns pane after displaying the analysis results and the Exclude from existing views, but display in new views option is selected for the Display of Columns Added in the Criteria tab property in the Analysis Properties dialog: Data tab), then the column is placed in the Excluded drop target of the existing views' Layout pane but included in any new views that you add.

  • Results tab — The behavior might differ depending on whether you add columns to a view editor or to the Compound Layout

    • View Editor — If you add a column from the Subject Areas pane to a view, then you place the column in that view. The column is placed in the Excluded drop target for all other views in the analysis.

    • Compound Layout — If you double-click a column in the Subject Areas pane, then you place the column in a default drop target of the Layout pane for all existing views in the current Compound Layout. The column is placed in the Excluded drop target for all other views in the analysis.

      If you drag and drop a column from the Subject Areas pane to a tabular view, then you place the column in the drop target for that view. The column is placed in the Excluded drop target for all other views in the analysis.

If you want a column that is in the Excluded drop target to be displayed in a view, then you can easily move it. Simply display the Layout pane for the view, and drag and drop the column from the Excluded drop target to the desired one.

Excluding columns differs from removing columns. You can use the Remove Column option from the More Options button in the Layout pane for a view to remove a column entirely from the analysis.