Introduction to Filtering Data

A filter sifts the data in your data source to bring back the information that answers exactly what you require. When you analyze a report, it is important to understand the filter conditions that are being applied to the report. This allows you to better understand what data is being excluded from the results.

You can see filter definitions and apply a filter in several ways:

• Looking at the definition of a report's filter: To see the filtering conditions that the report designer applied to the report, see How to Display a Report's Filter.

• Creating a view filter: You can apply a filter to the current instance (or view) of a report using a view filter. The view filter limits the data being displayed on a report without re-executing the report against the data source. See Apply a View Filter to a Report

  You can apply a view filter to a report displayed in a document. For steps, see Introduction to View Filter Editor for Report Services Documents.

• Creating a report filter: If you are a report designer and want to know how to apply conditions to a report filter or create a stand-alone filter object, see Introduction to Filters.
• Displaying or hiding rows and columns: You can narrow your view of a report to only the rows and columns that you want to see. This is achieved using the Filter on Selections feature. See How to View Specific Rows and Columns: Filter on Selections.