Working with Selections of Data

As you specify which data members to include in an analysis, you create selections of data from the data source. Each selection specifies the criteria for a set of members for a particular column, such as Product or Geography. Each selection consists of one or more steps. A step is an instruction that affects the selection, such as add Product members whose values contain the text "ABC." The order in which steps are performed affects the selection of data. Each step acts incrementally on the results from previous steps, rather than acting on all the members for that column.

You can view these selection steps in the "Selection Steps pane." Steps are created using the following means:

When you add a column to an analysis, a selection step is created automatically to start with all members, unless you explicitly add specific members. As you drag and drop column members in the Results tab to add to the analysis, steps are also created automatically. For example, suppose that you drag and drop the FY2007 and FY2008 members from the Year hierarchical column to a pivot table. The selection step "Add FY2007, FY2008" is created.
As you add groups and calculated items, steps are created automatically.
When you use right-click interactions (such as Add Related or Keep Only) to refine the selection of data for a particular hierarchical column or attribute column, steps are created automatically. To remove these selection steps, use right-click interactions such as Remove Group or Remove Calculated Item. See "Right-Click Interactions in Views" for additional information.
You can create steps directly using the Selection Steps pane, to refine the selection of data for a particular hierarchical column or attribute column. You can display the Selection Steps pane from various places including the Results tab, the Criteria tab, and some view editors.

Selection steps can be one of the following types:

Explicit list of members — A step can include a list of members for a column, such as Boston, New York, Kansas, South. For hierarchical columns, the members can be from different hierarchy levels. For attribute columns, the members can be from only that column.
Condition step — A step can specify that members are selected from a column based on a condition, which can be one of various types including based on measures or on top/bottom values. This member list is dynamic and determined at runtime.
Based on hierarchy step — A step for hierarchical columns that enables you to select the type of relationship with which to select members. You can select a family relationship (such as children of or parent of), a specific hierarchy level (for level-based hierarchies only), or a level relationship (for level-based hierarchies only).
Groups and calculated items — A step can include a group or calculated item. Groups and calculated items can be used only with Add steps; they cannot be used in Keep Only or Remove steps.

For information, see "Working with Groups and Calculated Items."

Note:

When working with selection steps, if you search for members in hierarchical columns that are non-text (for example, date or time), then the search will yield no results.

Creating Selection Steps

You create steps in the "Selection Steps pane," which you can display in various places. The following procedure describes how to create steps in the Results tab.

To create selection steps:

Display the "Analysis editor: Results tab."
If the Selection Steps pane is not visible, then click the Show Selection Steps pane button on the toolbar to display it.

The pane might also be collapsed at the bottom of the Results tab. Click the plus sign icon to expand it.
For the column whose steps you want to define, click the Then, New Step link.
From the menu, select the option for the step type to create and complete the resulting dialog.

Selection steps are automatically created when you use the right-click interactions (such as Add Related or Keep Only) to refine the selection of data for a particular hierarchical column or attribute column in a view. See "Right-Click Interactions in Views."

After you add selection steps to the analysis, you can go to the "Analysis editor: Results tab" and add the Selection Step view to the analysis. If you add the Selection Steps view, at runtime the user can view the selection steps that are applied to the analysis. For more information about adding the selection steps view, see "Results tab: Selection Steps editor."

Editing Selection Steps

You can edit existing selection steps, as described in the following procedure.

To edit selection steps:

Hover the mouse pointer over the step in the Selection Steps pane and click a button on the resulting toolbar.

You can perform various tasks such as displaying a dialog for editing the step, deleting the step, or changing the order of the step in the list of steps.

For a group or calculated item, click its name to display a menu with options for editing and saving.

Saving Selection Steps as a Group Object

If you have created a set of selection steps, then you can save and reuse the set as a group object, as described in "Saving Groups and Calculated Items as Inline or Named."

Working with Selection Steps and Double Columns

If your repository is configured for double columns, then you can create a selection step on a double column. To do so, select the display values for that column and the step is automatically evaluated using the code values that correspond to those display values.

If you use double columns, then use care with the "New Calculated Item dialog." You can include a positional operator in the custom formula for the calculated item, such as $1, which specifies the column from the first row in the data set. When you include a positional operator, the display values cannot be mapped to the code values when evaluating the formula.

For information on double columns, see "Understanding the Double Column Feature."