Types of qualifications

A filter is composed of one or more qualifications. Qualifications are the actual conditions that must be met for the data to be included on a report. Examples include "Region = Northeast" or "Revenue > $1 million". Multiple qualifications are combined with operators such as AND and OR.

You can use the following types of qualifications when creating either a stand-alone filter or a filter within a report:

Filter Type	Filter Name	What Data It Is Designed to Filter
Attribute qualifications These types of qualifications restrict data related to attributes on the report.	Attribute form qualification Create a filter based on attribute forms. See Creating an attribute form qualification.	Filters data related to a business attribute's form(s), such as ID or description.For example, the attribute Customer has the forms ID, First Name, Last Name, Address, and Birth Date. An attribute form qualification can filter on the form Last Name, the operator Begins With, and the letter H. The results show a list of customers whose last names start with the letter H.
	Attribute element list qualification Create a filter based on attribute elements. See Creating an attribute element list qualification.	Filters data related to a business attribute's elements, such as New York, Washington, and San Francisco, which are elements of the attribute City. For example, the attribute Customer has the elements John Smith, Jane Doe, William Hill, and so on. An attribute element list qualification can filter data to display only those customers that you specify in the qualification.
	Attribute-to-attribute qualification Create a filter that compares two attributes through attribute forms. See Creating an attribute-to-attribute qualification.	Filters data related to business attributes' forms that are compared by the attributes' forms, such as ID or description. For example, the attributes Call Center and Customer City both have the form City. An attribute-to-attribute qualification can compare the City form of both attributes to display only the Call Centers and Customer Cities that are in the same city.
Set qualifications These types of qualifications restrict data based on the value, rank, or percentage of a metric, or based on the relationships between the attributes on the report.	Metric set qualification Create a filter based on metric value or rank. SeeAbout metric set qualifications.	Filters data related to a set of attributes that are determined based on the metrics associated with those attributes. For example, a metric set qualification might filter data to display sales data for only those products with an inventory count below a specified number.
	Relationship set qualification Create a filter based on relationships between attributes. SeeAbout relationship set qualifications.	Filters data based on a specific relationship between two attributes. For example, a relationship set qualification can filter data to display those stores selling Nike shoes in the Washington, DC area.
Shortcut qualifications These types of qualifications restrict data related to existing report results or an existing filter.	Shortcut-to-a-report qualification Create a filter based on the results of an existing report. SeeShortcut-to-a-report qualifications.	Uses the result set of an existing report as is, or with additional conditions, as a filter in a different report. For example, you can use a shortcut-to-a-report qualification by taking the result set of one report showing all customers in the Southwest region, placing that result set as a filter into a new report, adding a new filter qualification for active customers in the current year, and displaying all currently active customers in the Southwest region.
	Shortcut-to-filter qualification Create a filter based on an existing filter. SeeShortcut-to-a-filter qualifications.	Uses an existing filter as is, or with additional conditions, in a report. For example, you can use a shortcut-to-a-filter qualification by taking an existing filter for Region = Northeast and Year = 2026, placing it in a report, and adding a new filter qualification for Month of Year = December.
Advanced qualifications These types of qualifications restrict data by allowing you to create customized, complex filters.	Custom expression Create a filter using Apply functions and relationship filters. SeeCreating a custom expression qualification.	Allows you to create highly customized filter expressions. By typing syntax instead of using point-and-click functionality within MicroStrategy, you are able to dictate filter criteria that is more specific and sophisticated than the MicroStrategy interface allows. For example, you can use a custom expression with a string function to count the number of characters in a customer name. Those customers with longer names can be printed on longer mailing labels than those with shorter names.
	Joint element lists Create a filter that joins attribute elements and then filters the result sets. See Creating a joint element list qualification.	Allows you to choose attribute elements from different attributes to filter the report result set. Unlike attribute qualifications, joint element lists also allow you to join attribute elements and then filter on that attribute result set. For example, you can use a joint element list to combine Year and Store. This allows you to filter not only on a particular year, but also on a store during that year.

You can also add a prompt to most qualification types. A prompted filter provides dynamic report definitions which can change with every report execution. Most qualification types allow prompts. For more information, see Prompted filters.

You can use different types of qualifications in the same filter. For example, you can combine "Region = Northeast" (an attribute qualification) with "Revenue > $1 million" (a metric qualification).

You can also create, edit, or delete multiple filters at the same time by using a Command Manager script. Command Manager is a MicroStrategy tool designed to automate certain tasks and processes. See the Command Manager Help for more information.