Filters and Parameters

Implicit and explicit filtering, click behavior, paramters, and more.

Arcadia Enterprise uses filters and parameters to change the analysis criteria at run-time. Within a visual, the information on the Filter shelf defines the section of data used to build the chart. Within applications, application controls, such as filter widgets and parameter controls use parametrized filters. Filter scope determines the level at which the filters are active.

Application Controls

An application control is an element, such as filter widget or parameter control, that enables the user to change the content of visualizations at run time.

Filter Shelves

Filters control what sections of data are being examined in a visual or application.

By placing either measures or dimensions on the Filter shelf of the visual, you can exclude or include specific values or a range of values represented by the column. Subsequently, the filter is specified by one of two methods:

  • selecting value or values from a list or through a datatype-specific interface
  • specifying an expression that represents the filtering function

See Filter Shelves for further information on this topic.

Filter Widgets

A filter widget is a form of an application control that is tied to underlying column values from a table.

While building an app, on the Filters menu click on either a Dimension or a Measures field. Select Settings on the filter widget, and configure the options.

Note that for target visuals of the app, you must place the corresponding measure or dimension on the Filters shelf.

Parameter Controls

Parameter controls extent the concept of filters by passing any value, including arbitrary values, to the visuals.

While building an app, on the Filters menu click Create Parameter. Select Settings on the parameter, and configure the options.

After you define parameter controls, you can use them on the shelves of the visuals to dynamically update the output. The following syntax supplies the value of the variable to the visual. The value may be defined by functions and expressions, fields, or as discrete values.

<<variable:default-value>>

Filter Scope

Arcadia Data supports three distinct levels of scope for filtering: Explicit Filter Scope, Dataset Scope, and AppGroup Scope. These are all described in the section on Filter Scope.