Creating a conditional format or threshold based on multiple metrics or attributes

You can create a conditional format or threshold based on multiple metrics or attributes. Each conditional format or threshold can contain multiple conditions, and each condition is based on a metric or attribute. This allows you to define very specific conditions.

For example, you can format the font color of Cost values of employees based on the geographical region they belong to. The threshold contains multiple conditions, where each condition specifies a font color for a particular region.

You can create alerts to notify users when a metric or attribute on a report meets a specific threshold condition. For information to create mobile or email alerts, see the Basic Reporting Guide.

To create a conditional format or threshold based on multiple metrics or attributes

In MicroStrategy Web, open the document in Design or Editable Mode.
Right-click the control you want to format in the document layout area. Depending on the type of control you select, proceed as follows:
- For a report or Grid/Graph:
  1. Point to Conditional Formatting, then select Advanced. The Visual Conditional Formatting Editor opens.
  2. From the drop-down list at the top left, select the metric that you want to apply the formatting to.
- For a text field, image, section, and so on: Point to Conditional Formatting, then select Advanced. The Conditional Formatting dialog box opens.

To specify the qualifications

From the Filter On drop-down list, select the attribute or metric on which to base the threshold or conditional format.
If you are creating a condition based on a metric, complete the following steps:
1. Select a comparison operator such as Greater Than or Less Than.
2. Type a value in the field on the right, or click Select Metric to choose another metric to compare the original metric to.
3. Click the Apply check mark to create the new threshold or conditional format.
If you are creating a condition based on an attribute, do one of the following:
- To define your condition by typing specific attribute form values:
  1. Select the Qualify option.
  2. From the drop-down list on the left, select the attribute form on which to base the condition. For example, you can qualify the condition based on the attribute element's ID form, one of its description forms, or the DATE if the attribute is time-based.
  3. From the next drop-down list, select a comparison operator such as Greater Than or Less Than. The operators available for a selection depend on the attribute form you chose above.
  4. Do one of the following:
    - To compare the attribute form to a specified value, type the value in the field.
    - To compare the first attribute form to a second attribute form, click Select Attribute, then select the second attribute form from the drop-down list.
  5. Click the Apply check mark to create the new threshold or conditional format.
- To define your condition by selecting attribute elements from a list:
  1. Choose the Select option.
  2. From the drop-down list on the left, select In List or Not In List. If you select Not In List, then the attribute elements in the Selected list will not be included in the condition.
  3. Move attribute elements from the Available list to the Selected list. Elements in the Selected list are included in the condition.
    
    To search for a specific element, use the Search for field. Select the Match case check box to return only items that match the upper and lower cases you typed in the Search for field. For examples of searches, click Help.
  4. Click the Apply check mark to create the new threshold or conditional format.
To add more conditions to a threshold or conditional format, select the threshold or conditional format, click the Add Condition icon on the toolbar, and repeat the appropriate steps above to define each condition. For example, you can change the formatting of the names of employees who belong to the Northeast region and have a revenue of more than $30,000. You must create a threshold with two conditions, one condition for selecting employees from the Northeast region and another for selecting employees with revenue greater than $30,000.
It can be convenient to make a copy of a threshold or conditional format if you plan to create similar thresholds in the document. To copy a threshold or conditional format, select the threshold or conditional format and click the Copy icon on the toolbar. Then click the Paste icon on the toolbar.

To specify the formatting

To specify how data that meets the defined condition is formatted, click the threshold or conditional format, then click the Cell Formatting icon on the toolbar. The Format dialog box opens.
Specify a name for the threshold or conditional format in the Name field.
Depending on the control type you are applying the conditional formatting to, you can replace data with text, an image, a symbol, or hide the control. For a table that lists the conditional formatting available for all control types, see Formatting conditional data in documents. Select the Replace Data check box and select one of the following from the drop-down list:
- Replace Text: Replace data with any text you specify. For example, a document shows the financial values of various sales opportunities. For those sales opportunities that have been lost, you can display the word LOST in red, rather than displaying the financial value. A common use of this option is to display the word EMPTY when a data value is null. If you select this option, type the text with which to replace the values in the corresponding text field.
- Quick Symbol: Replace the normally displayed data with a common symbol. For example, a document shows the financial contribution of various sales groups to overall sales office activity. For the monthly trend column, you might show a green plus + and a red minus - symbol to represent positive and negative contribution trends.
  
  If you select this option, select the symbol with which to replace the values from the corresponding drop-down list.
- Image: Replace the normally displayed data with an image, such as an arrow or a green dot. You can specify the path to the image by typing the address using one of the following:
  - Absolute path: The default, for example, C:\images\img.jpg
  - Relative to HTML Document directory: A relative path from the document directory where the image is stored, for example, images\img.jpg
  - On the network: A path on your local area network, which is in a UNC (Universal Naming Convention) format, for example, //machine_name/shared_folder/img.jpg
  - On the web: A URL to an image file, for example, http://www.microstrategy.com/images/img.jpg
- Hide: Hide the control. For example, a document shows an image if the number of units sold is less than a specified value. You can hide this image when the units sold is greater than or equal to the target value.
Make selections in the Font, Number, Alignment, and Color and Lines tabs to change the font, color, alignment, and other options for data the meets the defined condition. Click Help for details on each option.
Click OK to apply the changes.
To determine whether a background color is applied to graphs in which thresholds are met, select the Enable Thresholds on Graph icon.
To determine how to apply conditional formatting if the control you are formatting is the target of a selector, select one of the following options on the toolbar:
- To apply conditional formatting only when metrics are selected in the selector, click the Format metrics only icon.
- To apply conditional formatting for both metrics and the Total option, click the Format metrics and subtotals icon.
To add additional conditions to a threshold or conditional format, click the Add Threshold icon, then follow the appropriate steps above to define each threshold or conditional format.
Click OK to apply the new threshold or conditional format to the document.

Once you create a conditional threshold, you can allow users to decide whether or not to display conditional formats. See Displaying or hiding conditional formatting.