Hierarchical Cross Tabulation Visuals

Arcadia Enterprise has an alternate solution for hierarchical dimension representation in cross tabulation visuals.

The following steps demonstrate how to create and configure a de facto dimensional hierarchy on the shelves of a cross tabulation visual. We are using dataset World Life Expectancy [data source samples.world_life_expectancy], to build a cross tabulation table that can switch between representations at three different levels of data granularity.

  1. Start a new cross tabulation visual on the World Life Expectancy dataset.

    See Cross Tabulation.

  2. Populate the shelves from the available Fields under Dimensions and Measures in the Data menu.

    • Under Dimensions, select un_region and drag it over the Row shelf. Repeat with un_subregion and country, adding them under un_region. Note that your placement of these fields is from the smallest to the greatest , top to bottom.
    • Under Measures, select population and drag it over Measures shelf. Ensure that the default aggregation is sum(population).
    Displaying the shelves of cross tabulation that implements a hierarchy. The Row shelf shows the three dimensions: un_region, un_subregion, and country.
    Building a Cross Tabulation with Three Related Dimensions

  3. On the Row shelf, on the un_region field, click the (down arrow) icon, and select Enable Expansion.

    Enabling expansion on the un_region field.
    Enabling Expansion on the Primary Hierarchical Dimension

  4. Similarly, on the Row shelf, on the un_subregion and the country field, click the (down arrow) icon, and select Enable Expansion.

  5. Click Refresh Visual.

    The cross tabulation table appears with a icon in the un_region, un_subregion, and country columns. This indicates that you can expand the data in these columns.

    The sum(population) column shows the combined population for all un_regions.

    Showing the hierarchical cross tabulation visual with three hierarchies: un_region, un_subregion, and country
    Cross Tabulation with Collapsed Hierarchy

  6. To see more detail, expand the un_region column of the visual by clicking the (plus) icon under the column header.

    Displaying the initial hierarchy graph with un_region expanded to show Africa, Americas, Asia,Europe, and Oceania.
    Expanded Primary Hierarchical Dimension

  7. Similarly, expand the un_subregion column of the visual by clicking the (plus) icon in the field next to one of the un_region. We chose to expand Africa.

    When you expand Africa, it generates a complete tabulation aggregated by un_subregion.

    Displaying the hierarchy graph with un_subregion (Africa) expanded, showing Eastern, Middle, Northern, Southern, and Western Africa.
    Expanded Secondary Hierarchical Dimension

  8. Finally, expand the country column of the visual by clicking the (plus) icon in the field next to one of the un_subregions. We chose to expand Middle Africa.

    When you expand Middle Africa, it generates a complete tabulation aggregated by country.

    Displaying the hierarchy graph with un_subregion (Middle Africa) expanded, to show Angola, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, and Sao Tome and Principe
    Expanded Tertiary Hierarchical Dimension

  9. Change the title to Hierarchical Cross Tabulation of Population.

  10. At the top left corner of the Visual Designer, click Save.

    clicking to save
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