Drop Targets

In the Layout pane, the columns in a data view are displayed in drop targets. Drop targets indicate where a column can be inserted, moved to, or dropped. They represent a valid position for a column.

You use drop targets to modify the way data is arranged in a data view by dragging and dropping columns to different targets within the view.

Note: The Layout pane for trellis views is significantly different from the Layout panes that appear for other data views. For exceptions to the information provided here about drop targets, see "Drop Target Guidelines for Trellises".

Each data view contains the following drop targets:

• <view-type> Prompts — Provides an interactive result set that enables users to select the data that they want to view. The values from the columns that are displayed in this drop target are used as the initial criteria. In a view, these values are displayed in a drop-down list for selection, which is often referred to as the "page edge."

• Sections — Populates the areas that divide the view into sections. If you select the Display as Slider option in this drop target, then the values of the columns that are dropped in the Sections drop target are displayed as a section slider rather than as unique views.

• <view-type> area — Simulates the plot area or the body of the view itself and assists you in seeing what the view looks like.

  For tables, this area contains the Columns and Measures drop target, which contains all the columns in the view. In tables, all measures are treated as columns.

  For all other data views, this area contains the following drop targets:

  • Measures drop target — Populates the part of a view that contains summary data. Depending on the type of view, this area might include a single Measures drop target (for example, for pivot tables) or might contain subdrops targets (for example, the Bars (Y1-Axis) and the Lines (Y2-Axis) for line bar graphs). You drag and drop measure columns to these drop targets.

  • Other drop targets — Used to summarize the columns in the measure drop target or targets. You generally drag and drop attribute and hierarchical columns to these drop targets.

    The other drop targets that are displayed in a view depend on the type of view as described in Other Drop Targets in Data Views.

• Excluded — Excludes columns from the view results but leaves the columns as part of the analysis. See "Columns in the Excluded Drop Target" for more information.

In addition, each <view-type> area, except for the Table area and the Trellis area, contains the Measure Labels element. The Measure Labels element represents the labels for all the Measures columns in the drop targets in the Measures area. You can modify how measure labels are shown in a view by dragging it from one drop target and dropping it in another. For example, in a vertical bar graph, you can show each measure label in a different color by dragging and dropping the Measure Labels element to the Vary Color By drop target.

In pivot tables, you can also edit the format of measure labels or hide them.

Other Drop Targets in Data Views

Short sentence or paragraph to describe the configuration table.

View	Drop Target or Targets
Pivot table	Includes these drop targets: Columns — Shows a column in a column orientation. Pivot tables can contain multiple columns. Rows — Shows a column in a row orientation. Pivot tables can contain multiple rows.
Gauge	Rows — Shows the columns that are displayed in the gauges.
Bar, line, area, line-bar, time series line, pareto, scatter, or bubble graph	Includes these sub-drop targets within the main drop target (Bars, Line, Area, Bars & Lines, Line, Points or Bubbles). Target names differ depending on graph type. For example, Group By is Bubbles for bubble graphs and Points for scatter graphs. Group By — Clusters the axis labels into groups. For example in a vertical bar graph whose criteria includes the Region, District, and Dollars column, if this drop target contains the Regions column, then the data is grouped by region on the horizontal axis. Vary Color By — Shows each column value or column value combination in a different color.
Radar graph	Radar Sections — Shows column values as points on each line along a radius of the circle.
Pie graph	Includes these drop targets: Pies — Shows each column value or column value combination as a separate pie. Slices — Shows each column value or column value combination as a separate slice of the pie.
Funnel graph	Stage — Shows each column value as a stage in the funnel.
Trellis	Includes these drop targets: Columns — Shows a column in a column orientation. Trellises can contain multiple columns. Rows — Shows a column in a row orientation. Trellises can contain multiple rows. Includes these sub-drop targets within the main drop target Visualization for simple trellis views: Group By — Clusters the measures into groups Color By — Shows each measure in a different color, for example, in a vertical bar graph of a trellis, all the bars for Revenue are blue while the bars showing Billed Quantity are red. In a Scatter graph, use this drop target to vary the points by color. In a Bubble graph, use this drop target to vary the bubbles by color. Bar Axis — In a Line-Bar graph comparing revenue and billed quantity by region, shows one of two measures, such as Revenue. Line Axis — In a Line-Bar graph comparing revenue and billed quantity by region, shows one of two measures, such as Billed Quantity. Pies — In a Pie graph, shows measures as pies of varying colors. Slices — In a Pie graph, shows measures as slices of varying colors within pies. Points — In a Scatter graph, shows measures as points. Horizontal Axis — In a Scatter graph, shows one of two measures as a point. In a Bubble graph, shows one of three measures as a bubble. Vertical Axis — In a Scatter graph, shows one of two measures, such as a point. In a Bubble graph, shows one of three measures as a bubble. Bubbles — In a Bubbles graph, shows measures as bubbles of varying size. Size — In a Bubble graph, shows one of three measures as the size of a bubble. Includes these sub-drop targets within the main drop target Visualization for advanced trellis views: Areas — In a Spark Area microchart, shows columns displayed as areas. Bars — In a Spark Bar microchart, shows columns displayed as bars. Lines — In a Spark Line microchart, shows columns displayed as lines.