Formatting metrics (metric level formatting)

In the Metric Editor, you can specify metric format properties such as the display of numeric values, font styles and sizes, and cell display colors. This formatting is used for the particular metric, regardless of the report on which it is placed. This is called metric level formatting , as opposed to formatting metrics at the individual report level. Formatting a metric at the report level overrides formatting at the metric level. For more information on metric formatting at the report level, see Formatting metrics on a report and the Advanced Reporting Help.

You can also modify the formatting of metrics using the Find and Replace dialog box. For more information on modifying metric formats using Find and Replace, see Find and Replace dialog box.

Formatting at the metric level is typically used for number formatting only, that is, currency, percentage, date, and so on. For other types of metric level formatting to display on a report, you must change settings on the report. For instructions to change the settings, see Steps to allow metric level formatting on a report.

The purpose of formatting metrics at the metric level

Formatting metrics allows you to specify metric format properties such as the display of numeric values, font styles and sizes, and cell display colors. You can create different formats for metric column headers (that is, the titles) and metric values (that is, the numbers calculated by the metric and displayed in the report).

You can specify the following formatting options:

Formatting the number display allows you to determine how the metric values will be displayed. For example, you can format numbers to appear as dollars and cents, as percentages, or even as scientific notation.
Formatting the font allows you to set the color of the metric header and the metric values. For example, you can display all the data for sales metrics in a bold blue font, while you show all the profit metric data in green.
Formatting the pattern allows you to specify foreground and background patterns and colors for the metric report header and metric values.
Formatting the alignment allows you to set alignment options for the data on the report inside their respective cells.
Formatting the borders allows you to apply border options, such as the style and color of the border line. You can also set which borders (top, bottom, left, and right) appear on the report.
Formatting the chart color allows you to apply a background pattern and color for a metric when it is displayed as a series in a graph report.

By default, the chart color that you define for a metric overrides any default color schemes for the graph report, although you can disable this metric formatting. For more detailed instructions, see Defining a graph color for metrics.

A metric used on a report inherits the number formatting set at the metric level, but you can:

Apply all or some of the metric level formatting to the metric on a particular report. See Steps to allow metric level formatting on a report.
Customize the appearance of the metric for that particular report. See Formatting metrics on a report for more information.
Change the graph color for a metric in a graph report. This affects the color of the series in the graph. See Defining a graph color for metrics for instructions and an example.

Prerequisite

This procedure assumes you have created a metric. For instructions, see Creating metrics.

To format a metric (metric level formatting)

Metric level formatting is used for a particular metric, regardless of the report on which it is placed. It is typically used for number formatting only, that is, currency, percentage, date, and so on. For other types of metric level formatting to display on a report, you must change settings on the report. More information is included in the procedure below.

Open an existing metric in the Metric Editor. How?
You can format the data values or the column header of the metric using the Format Cells dialog box.
- To format the data values of the metric, point to Formatting on the Tools menu, and select Values. The Format Cells dialog box opens.
- To format the header of the metric, point to Formatting on the Tools menu, and select Headers. The Format Cells dialog box opens.
Set the number formatting of the metric. How?
To format other settings at the metric level, you must change settings on the report when you place the metric on a report. For specific instructions to format other settings at the metric level, choose from the following:
To retain the new formatting, save the metric.