Topics in this section describe various data shaping operations such as grouping, sorting and filtering.
Grouping
The dashboard allows you to group dimension values and displays summaries for entire groups rather than individual values. You can arrange dimension values in different sized groups by specifying the appropriate group interval. For instance, date-time values can be grouped by year, month, quarter, etc.
This topic describes how the Dashboard groups data by default and lists the supported text and date-time group intervals. It also explains how to change the default group intervals.
Grouping String Values
When you add a string field to the dashboard item, the Dashboard combines identical field values into a single dimension value. You can also enable alphabetical grouping to combine field values by their first characters.
The following grouping intervals are supported for string values:
No Grouping |
Each value is displayed “as is”.
The Dashboard groups unique underlying string values to a single dimension value by default.
If you add several fields, the Dashboard shows unique dimension value combinations.
|
Alphabetical |
Values are grouped alphabetically (for instance, A, B, C, … Z). |
Grouping Date-Time Values
Grouping allows you to combine underlying date-time values into years, quarters, months, etc. Note that the Dashboard uses the Gregorian calendar for grouping date-time values.
Date-time values are grouped by years by default. In this case, the Dashboard extracts a year from each date-time value and groups dates with the same year.
The image below shows how Dashboard groups date-time values by the same quarter in each year.
You can also add the same date-time field with different group intervals to display data hierarchically. For example, the image below shows how the Dashboard groups the Order Date field values when Year and Quarter group intervals are used.
Group interval |
Description |
Examples |
|---|---|---|
Year |
Values are grouped by year. |
2010, 2011, 2012 |
Quarter |
Values are grouped by quarter. |
Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4 |
Month |
Values are grouped by month. |
January, February, March, … December |
Day |
Values are grouped by the day of the month. |
1, 2, 3, … 31 |
Hour |
Values are grouped by hour. |
0, 1, 2, … 23 |
Minute |
Values are grouped by minute. |
0, 1, 2, … 59 |
Second |
Values are grouped by second. |
0, 1, 2, … 59 |
Day of the Year |
Values are grouped by the day of the year. |
1, 2, 3, … 365 |
Day of the Week |
Values are grouped by the day of the week. |
Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, … Saturday |
Week of the Year |
Values are grouped by the week of the year. |
1, 2, 3, … 52 |
Week of the Month |
Values are grouped by the week of the month. |
1, 2, 3, 4, 5 |
Week-Year |
Values are grouped by the date of the first day of the week (uses culture settings). |
7/1/2018, 7/8/2018, 7/15/2018, … 11/4/2018, 11/11/2018, 11/18/2018, … |
Month-Year |
Values are grouped by the month and year. |
January 2012, February 2012, … December 2012, January 2013, … |
Quarter-Year |
Values are grouped by the year and quarter. |
Q3 2012, Q4 2012, Q1 2013, Q2 2013, … |
Day-Month-Year |
Values are grouped by date. |
3/4/2012, 3/5/2012, 3/6/2012, … |
Date-Hour |
Values are grouped by date with an hour value. |
3/4/2012 0:00 AM, 3/4/2012 1:00 AM, 3/4/2012 2:00 AM, … |
Date-Hour-Minute |
Values are grouped by date with hour and minute values. |
3/4/2012 0:00 AM, 3/4/2012 0:01 AM, 3/4/2012 0:02 AM, … |
Date-Hour-Minute-Second |
Values are grouped by date with hour, minute and second values. |
3/4/2012 0:00:00 AM, 3/4/2012 0:00:01 AM, 3/4/2012 0:00:02 AM, … |
|
Exact Date
|
Each value is displayed “as is”. |
2009, Q2 2009, 6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM, … |
To obtain numeric values that should be displayed within a dashboard item, Dashboard calculates a summary function against the specified measure.
The following summary functions are available:
Summary functions |
Description |
|---|---|
Count |
The number of values. |
Count Distinct |
The number of distinct values. |
Sum |
The sum of the values.
 |
Min |
The smallest value. |
Max |
The largest value. |
Average |
The average of the values.
 |
StdDev |
An estimate of the standard deviation of a population where the sample is a subset of the entire population.
 |
StdDevP |
The standard deviation of a population where the population is the entire data to be summarized.
 |
Var |
An estimate of the variance of a population where the sample is a subset of the entire population.
 |
VarP |
The variance of a population where the population is the entire data to be summarized.
 |
Median |
The median of the values. A median is the number separating the higher half of a value range from the lower half. |
Mode |
The mode of the values. A mode is the value that is repeated more often than any other. |
Sorting
The dashboard allows you to change the sort order of dimension values displayed within a dashboard item. For instance, you can sort events in alphabetical order or you can sort transactions from highest to lowest measurement times (sorting by measure values).
By default, dimension values are sorted in ascending order. You can sort a dashboard item’s dimension independently of any other dimension.
Filtering
The dashboard allows you to create complex filter criteria to display only required data. To filter data, you can use dedicated Filter Editor dialogs provided by the dashboard designer.
You can filter data in the following ways:
- The Data source filter
Filters are applied to all dashboard items bound to this data source. - The Dashboard Item filter
Individual dashboard items are filtered independently. - The Measure filter
Only a specified measure in the dashboard item is filtered. - The Visible Data filter
Hides a part of the calculated data from the view. This filter type does not filter underlying data used in calculations or intermediate level aggregations.
Top N
The Top N feature allows you to display only a limited number of dimension values that correspond to the highest or lowest values of a particular measure. You can consolidate all values that are not the top/bottom ones in the “Others” value.
Measures and Dimensions
The main dashboard capabilities are aggregating and summarizing data obtained from the underlying data source. Dimensions and measures are key concepts used to perform these operations:
- The Dimension is used to provide discrete categorical information. These values can be of any type - string, date-time or numeric. In any case, the dashboard does not summarize the dimension values but groups identical values. You can perform grouping, sorting, or display the top values for the dimension values.
- The Measure is used to summarize data against grouped dimension values. These values can be of any type - numeric, date-time, or string. In any case, the dashboard will calculate an appropriate summary function against measure values. You can also customize the data format settings that affect how summary values are displayed.
A common term combining measures and dimensions is a data item that is an object used to bind a dashboard item to data source fields.