Metric Set Qualification

A metric set qualification lets you define the attributes to be used in a filter by restricting the attributes in the set based on the value, rank, or rank percentage of a metric associated with the attributes. For example, a store manager wants to see sales numbers for products whose current inventory count falls below a certain level. A metric set qualification lets the manager restrict data based on a set of attributes, in this case certain products, based on a metric value, rank, or rank percentage, in this case, inventory count below a certain level.

The results report displays the sales data for only those products with inventory counts below the threshold value. This report does not necessarily display the inventory figures for those products.

For a more detailed explanation of this example, see the Building Query Objects and Queries, for Designers chapter of the Basic Reporting Help.

For steps to create a stand-alone metric set qualification filter, see To filter data based on a metric value, rank, or rank percentage.

Filters and metric calculations: Output, Break By, and rank

A metric set qualification is additionally defined by an output level and a break by setting. The output level specifies the level at which the metric is calculated, and the break by setting allows you to choose the level at which to restart counting rank or percent values for a metric. For a more detailed explanation, including examples of output level, break by, and rank, see the Advanced Reporting Help.

The output level of a metric qualification in a filter can be specified in the following ways:

An attribute list allows you to specify the exact set of attributes (such as day, month, or year) to use as the output level.
Report level means that the output level is defined by the attribute level of the report that contains the metric qualification. For example, if the lowest attribute level of the report is year and the output level is set to report level, the metric is calculated for the year.
Metric level means that the output level is defined by the level, or dimensionality, of the metric itself, regardless of the level of the report.
Default level. When a user selects the Default level as the output level, the results are calculated using the metric's dimensionality.

Break by allows you to choose the attribute level at which to restart counting rank or percent values for a metric in a filter qualification. This attribute level must be higher than or equal to the level of aggregation for the metric itself. Consider the following report example:

The report has three attributes, Region, Category, and Employee, and one metric, Revenue. The metric is aggregated at the lowest attribute level on the report, which is Employee. Therefore, the break by value can be Category or Region, but not Employee. For example, you can break by Category where the Rank of Revenue is Top 2.

Also, if you select both Region and Category while setting the break by condition for this report, the report displays the top two Revenues for each category, for each region.

Rank allows you to choose the rank level at which to return report results. For example, you may have a report containing the Employee attribute and the Revenue metric that you want to filter so you can see only the top or bottom 10% of employees by revenue.

Allowing user input into the filter: Prompted metric set qualification

You can allow a user to modify a filter, by including a prompt in the filter definition. You can use an existing prompt or create an prompt embedded in the filter. Prompts in metric set qualifications can allow a user to:

Type the value to compare the metric value to. For example, a filter on the Revenue metric contains a value prompt. When the report is run, the user types a value to answer the prompt.
Create the qualification, by selecting the operator and the metric value to compare to. For example, a filter on the Revenue metric contains a qualification prompt. When the report is run, the user can select the Greater Than Operator and type a value to answer the prompt.

Steps to use an existing prompt or create an embedded prompt are included in To filter data based on a metric value, rank, or rank percentage below.

You can also use an existing prompt as the filter's complete definition, as described in To use a prompt to filter data based on a metric value, rank, or rank percentage.

To filter data based on a metric value, rank, or rank percentage

Click Create on any page, and select New Filter. The New Filter page opens.
In the pane on the left, navigate to the metric on which you want to filter data.
Right-click the metric and select Add to Filter.

If DHTML is disabled, select the metric and click Add > to add the metric to the Filter panel.
You can create the qualification, or create a prompt that allows the user to create the qualification. Do one of the following:
- To create the qualification, perform the following steps:
  1. From the first drop-down menu, select an operator that describes how you want to filter data, such as Equal To or Less Than.
  2. In the field on the right, define the value against which the metric calculation will be compared. Do one of the following:
    - Type a value. Depending on the operator you selected from the previous drop-down menu, you may need to type multiple values. For example, the operator Between requires two values.
    - To use an existing prompt, drag and drop a value prompt from the pane on the left to the last field. The value prompt can be a numeric prompt, long prompt, or Big Decimal prompt.
    - To create a value prompt, click Create Value Prompt . To modify the prompt that is automatically created, click the Value link (for example, if you are creating a prompt on the Revenue metric, the link is named Revenue Value). The Prompt page opens. You can change the prompt's title, description, and display style; restrict the number of prompt answers; and determine whether prompt answers can be saved and reused. For steps, see Value Prompt.
- To create a prompt that allows the user to create the qualification by selecting the operator and the metric value to compare to, perform the following steps:
  1. Click Create Qualification Prompt . A prompt is created that allows either a qualification or selection expression.
  2. To modify the prompt, click the Qualification link (for example, if you are creating a prompt on the Revenue metric, the link is named Qualification on Revenue). The Prompt page opens. You can add metrics; change the prompt's title, description, layout, and display style; restrict the number of prompt answers; determine whether prompt answers can be saved and reused; and define the qualification. For steps, see How to Create a Metric Qualification Prompt.
Click the Apply icon .
From the File menu, select Save.
Navigate to the folder where you want to save the filter. Type a Name and Description for the filter, and click OK.

The filter that you created can now be added to a report. For steps, see Adding a stand-alone filter to a report.

To use a prompt to filter data based on a metric value, rank, or rank percentage

Create the metric qualification prompt to be used as the filter definition. For steps, see How to Create a Metric Qualification Prompt.
On the home page, click New Filter .

If you are on a folder page, you can click Create on the icon bar on the left, and then click New Filter.
In the pane on the left, navigate to the prompt to use as the filter definition.
Click Save .
Navigate to the folder where you want to save the filter. Type a Name and Description for the filter, and click OK.

The filter that you created can now be added to a report. For steps, see Adding a stand-alone filter to a report.