Adding and customizing widgets to a report
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The feature described in this topic, as well as all related operations, is managed by a Feature Flag. If the Feature Flag is not activated in your system, you will not see this feature in your application.
Once you have created an Advanced Analytics report, you need to add widgets to the report in order to leverage, present and analyze the data contained within the data source that you have selected for the report. There are a number of Advanced Analytics widget types that you can use to present your data.
To add widgets to your Advanced Analytics report, proceed as follows:
Open the report in which you want to work (see Viewing an Advanced Analytics Report in Administering Advanced Analytics reports (report designer role)).
Make sure that you are in edit mode, by clicking the Edit in the upper-right corner of the application window.
Click the +Widget button located at the top of the report preview panel in edit mode.
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If your report does not contain widgets yet, the "New Widget" panel is immediately open and you do not need to click +Widget.
Click the +Select Data button. A contextual window is opened.
Select, in the contextual window, the field that you want to use as a data source for widget. Advanced Analytics automatically selects the widget type that fits best the type of the field that you have selected.
If required, you can change the widget type using the widget selection tool, on the left of the contextual window, as illustrated in the following figure:
Optionally, type a name for your widget in the Add Title field. This name will then be displayed in the published report.
Click Create. Your widget is created and added to the preview panel of the report.
Repeat steps 3 to 7 to add as many widgets as you want to your report.
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The addition of widgets to a report is only the first step in the configuration of a powerful, tailored report. For more information about the widgets and their customization, refer to Widget types & widget-specific properties.
Customizing widgets using the widget designer
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This feature is managed by a Feature Flag
The feature described in this topic, as well as all related operations, is managed by a Feature Flag. If the Feature Flag is not activated in your system, you will not see this feature in your application.
The Advanced Analytics widget designer enables you to fine-tune the appearance and behavior of each individual widget in your report.
The widget designer is accessible via two entry points:
In the preview panel of the Advanced Analytics dashboard, click the pencil icon located in the upper-right corner of all widgets, as illustrated in the following figure:
Widget edit button
Alternatively, when you are creating a widget, click the Advanced Configuration option available in the lower-left corner of the widget creation wizard (see Adding Widgets to a Report).
Once opened, the widget designer enables you to select the data to be included in a widget in addition to providing a variety of options for customizing the display of the data in the Advanced Analytics report.
The following figure details the various areas of the widget designer:
Widget designer overview
Change the type of your widget. You can use this option to select the type of widget that you want to use.
Add data to the widget. This area of the widget designer is used to select the values that you want to display in the widget and the data needed for grouping the data. Options available in this area vary depending on the type of widget that you have selected.
Widget preview panel. The center of the window displays the current design and content of the widget. The visualization offered in this panel is automatically update each time you select a different option in this window in the widget designer.
Add a title to your widget. You can also add a widget title directly from the preview panel.
Additional options. Clicking this icon ()opens a contextual menu containing additional options for the widget.
Filter your widget. This area enables you to define a default filter on the current widget.
Design your widget. The Design tab of the widget designer offers a range of options that help you fine-tune the appearance of your widget, including labels, legends, line types, etc. The options vary depending on the type of widget that you have selected.
Update on every change: when this option is selected, changes to the widget data are automatically and dynamically applied to the vizualization of the widget. When the option is not selected, you then need to click UPDATE to display your latest changes in the widget. It is recommended that you disable this option when you are working with very large data sets; in this case, keeping this option activated might have an impact on the performance of the report.
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For more information about widget types and the individual customization possibilities for each of them, refer to Widget types & widget-specific properties.
Selecting colors in a widget
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This feature is managed by a Feature Flag
The feature described in this topic, as well as all related operations, is managed by a Feature Flag. If the Feature Flag is not activated in your system, you will not see this feature in your application.
In Advanced Analytics, different field values are represented by different colors. The widget designer automatically assigns these colors according a predefined palette, and displays them in the widget legend that is displayed in the widget designer and in the report.
The widget designer offers three tabs that allow color manipulation:
Single Color: enables you to select a specific color for all values of a field
Range: enables you to select a range of colors
Conditional: enables you to define colors based on conditional data
Selecting a specific color ("Single Color" tab)
The following procedure describes the method to assign a specific color to a data value that does not change. This color only applies to the widget in which it is defined.
To apply a specific color
Make sure that the widget designer tool is opened (see Customizing widgets using the widget designer).
Locate, in the data panel, the field whose color you want to configure.
In the box corresponding to the field, click the rectangle indicating the current color. A contextual window is opened.
Open the Single Color tab, as illustrated in the following figure:
"Single Color" tab
Select a color among the available palette. If you want to use a color that does not exist in the palette, enter the hexadecimal value of the color in the # Insert Custom Color field.
Click OK to confirm. The contextual window is closed and your choice is applied to the value(s).
Selecting a range of colors ("Range" tab)
Certain types of widgets offer the "Range" tab to enable you to specify a range of colors for the values in a given field. The "Range" tab is available for the following widgets:
Area map
Bar chart
Column chart
Scatter map
To assign a range of colors to a field according to its value, proceed as follows:
Make sure that the widget designer tool is opened (see Customizing widgets using the widget designer).
Locate, in the data panel, the field whose color you want to configure.
In the box corresponding to the field, click the rectangle indicating the current color. A contextual window is opened.
Open the Range tab.
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Select Manual to manually configure the color range (by default, the range configuration is set to "Auto", which automatically assigns a color range to the values in the field). You can configure the color range using the following options:
Left/Right Colors: click the color rectangles located at the left and at the right of the color range to change the start and end color of the range.
Coloring Method: selecting Min/Max to display the full color range. Select Min to display all the colors between the minimum and middle values; anything higher than the middle value will be gray. Select Max to display all values between the middle value and the maximum value; anything lower than the middle value will be displayed in gray.
Customize Range: by default, the color range is set to match the minimum and maximum values of the data. Instead, you can manually set a minimum value. All values that are below this value will be assigned to the color on the left. Accordingly, selecting a maximum value means that all values larger than it will be assigned the color on the right. By default, the "Middle" color is gray. All values higher than this will start gradually getting the right color. All values lower than this will start gradually getting the left color. Changing the middle value controls the value to which the color gray is assigned.
Transition: select Steps to define a distinct number of colors in the range. Select Gradient for a linear color range.
Click OK to confirm. The contextual window is closed and your choice is applied to the value(s).
Defining conditional coloring ("Conditional" tab)
Advanced Analytics also enables you to define colors based on the value of the field as defined by a logical expression in the "Conditional" tab. In this tab, each row represents a condition to which you can apply a value. If the condition is true, then the value is displayed in the color selected in this row. For example, one row can specify that a negative value is to be displayed in red, and another row can specify that a positive value is to be displayed in green.
In addition, for indicator widgets, you can also define whether an icon appears in the widget and select the color of the icon. For example, you can define a red arrow pointing downward for a negative value.
To define a conditional color formatting on the values of a field, proceed as follows:
Make sure that the widget designer tool is opened (see Customizing widgets using the widget designer).
Locate, in the data panel, the field whose color you want to configure.
In the box corresponding to the field, click the rectangle indicating the current color. A contextual window is opened.
Open the Conditional tab.
In each row, define an expression to be applied to the value of this field by selecting an operator and specifying a value, as illustrated in the following figure:
Conditional color formatting
Select a color for the field.
If required, add and define more condition rows by clicking +Add condition.
If required, reorder the conditions by dragging and dropping them in the desired location. In the dashboard, the conditions are evaluated in the order applied in this window, from top to bottom. The first condition that is true, determines the color.
Click OK to confirm. The contextual window is closed and your choice is applied to the value(s).
Renaming a data field in a widget
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This feature is managed by a Feature Flag
The feature described in this topic, as well as all related operations, is managed by a Feature Flag. If the Feature Flag is not activated in your system, you will not see this feature in your application.
The names of the fields used in widgets are taken from the data source of the report. As a result, the name of the fields can sometimes be hard to understand or not very user-friendly. The Advanced Analytics tool however enables you to rename the field(s) used in any given widget.
To rename a field in a widget, proceed as follows:
Make sure that the widget designer tool is opened (see Customizing widgets using the widget designer).
Locate, in the data panel, the field that you want to rename.
Click the
icon located in the upper-right corner of the box corresponding to the field in the data panel. A contextual menu is displayed, as illustrated in the following figure:
Field contextual menu
Click Rename in the menu. The name of the field is now editable.
Type the new name that you want to give to the field.
Click the green button to confirm. The field is now renamed according to your preference.
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Renaming a field only affects how it is displayed in the current widget. The actual name of the field is not affected, either in the data source is not affected or in other widgets using this field in the report.
Formatting numbers in a widget
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This feature is managed by a Feature Flag
The feature described in this topic, as well as all related operations, is managed by a Feature Flag. If the Feature Flag is not activated in your system, you will not see this feature in your application.
Advanced Analytics enables you to change the formatting of numbers in widgets. For instance, you can display a number as a percentage, and you can define the number of decimal places.
To format the display of a numeric field in a widget, proceed as follows:
Make sure that the widget designer tool is opened(see Customizing widgets using the widget designer).
Locate, in the data panel, the field that you want to format.
Hover over the box corresponding to the widget and then click 123 (this button is only displayed for numeric-type fields). A contextual window is opened, as illustrated in the following figure:
Widget formatting
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Select the tab corresponding to the formatting that you want to apply to the number among three options:
Number
Currency
Percentage
Adjust the formatting options inside the selected tab according to your preferences. The preview area at the bottom of the contextual window displays a preview of the appearance of the number(s) in the widget with the currently selected parameters.
Click OK. The contextual window is closed and your preferences are applied to the field.
Locale settings
The format of dates, times and numbers in your reports are based on the regional settings defined for the operating system of your computer or those defined for your Web browser (depending on the browser that you use).
The following locales are supported:
Unites States
United Kingdom
Israel
Canada
South Africa
Australia
Netherlands
Germany
Ireland
Mexico
France
China
Brazil
About null values in widgets
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This feature is managed by a Feature Flag
The feature described in this topic, as well as all related operations, is managed by a Feature Flag. If the Feature Flag is not activated in your system, you will not see this feature in your application.
In Advanced Analytics widgets, null values are displayed in all widgets by default. Displaying null values by default provides a more accurate picture of your data. However, in some cases, you may want to filter them out. For instance, in Cartesian charts may display gaps in your data that represent your null values.
The following list describes how null values are displayed in each widget type and how to filter them out if necessary:
Cartesian charts (area charts, bar charts, column charts and line charts): null values are displayed as gaps in your data.
Data break
If required, you can replace null data by zeroes in Cartesian charts. For more information, see Replacing null values with zeroes.
Tables: null values are displayed as #N/A in tables.
Pivot tables: null values are displayed as #N/A in pivot tables.
Pie charts: Advanced Analytics displays null values in pie charts in the "Others" slice. The null values are always aggregated to 0%, unless replaced using a conditional function (CASE/IF IsNull()).
Scatter charts: null values are not displayed in scatter charts. The legend of the chart includes the field value corresponding to the null value.
Tree maps: in tree maps, null values are included in the "Others" box.
Sunburst: null values are not displayed in sunburst widgets. The legend of the chart includes the field value corresponding to the null value.
Polar charts: in polar chars, an empty pole is displayed in place of null values.
Scatter maps: null values are displayed on scatter map. The size and color of the corresponding dots on the map are fixed.
Area maps: null values are included in area maps, but there is no visual representation of the values.
Filtering olut null values
It is possible to filter out null values to prevent them from being displayed in widgets. The method used to filter them out depends on the type of filter.
The following list details each filter type, how their Null values are displayed, and how you can filter them out:
Numeric filters (measures/formulas): clear the "N\A" value from a list filter or set an explicit condition on the numeric aggregations (such as X > 0)
Date filters (fields/dimensions): set a time frame, calendar or ranking condition, or exclude the "N\A" value using the list filter.
String filters (fields/dimensions): in addition to "N\A" (null) values, empty string values are represented by the string "(blank)". Both can be filtered out using the list filter (note the known limitations section below regarding the use of conditional filters over strings)
Null and empty values in export to CSV
When you export a widget to CSV, null and empty values are represented as follows:
Null values: , ,
Empty values: """"""
For example, when downloaded to CSV, a line which contains a "text" field, null, and empty string would look like this: "text", ," " " " "
Limitations
Null values in weeks do not fade when report filters are set to "Highlight"
Null values are never highlighted in pie charts
Null values are invisible on area maps, and therefore cannot be identified
Filtering using text conditions, such as "Country Starts With 'A'" always return null and blank strings in a result set
Replacing null values with zeroes
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This feature is managed by a Feature Flag
The feature described in this topic, as well as all related operations, is managed by a Feature Flag. If the Feature Flag is not activated in your system, you will not see this feature in your application.
If your data includes null values associated with a date, this can lead to gaps in widgets based on Cartesian charts (area charts, bar charts, column charts and line charts).
Consider the following example: you are working with a chart that starts in January and ends in December, but there are no values for October. You can choose to include the missing date on the x-axis and then you can:
Cut the graph where there are missing values, as illustrated in the following figure:
Broken line
Replace missing values (Null) with zeros, you can establish a continuous data flow, as illustrated in the following figure:
Continuous line
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To replace null values with zeroes, proceed as follows:
Make sure that the widget designer tool is opened (see Customizing widgets using the widget designer).
Click the
Click Display Missing Values as Zeroes. The contextual menu is closed.