About Filters and Selection Steps

You use both filters and selection steps to limit the results in an analysis. For example, you might list the top ten sales performers, or the most profitable customers. A filter is applied to a column before selection steps are applied.

  • Filters are applied directly to columns before the query is aggregated. Filters affect the query and thus the resulting values for measures. For example, suppose that you have a list of members in which the aggregate sums to 100. Over time, more members meet the filter criteria and are filtered in, which increases the aggregate sum to 200.

  • Selection steps are applied after the query is aggregated and affect only the members displayed, not the resulting aggregate values. For example, suppose that you have a list of members in which the aggregate sums to 100. If you remove one of the members using a selection step, then the aggregate sum remains at 100.