MicroStrategy ONE

Formatting conditional values on a grid: Thresholds

Data in a report can be set up to appear with special formatting if it satisfies a particular condition. The condition that the data needs to satisfy and the special formatting that it will appear with are pre-determined by the user. For an introduction to thresholds, and for prerequisites to define conditions and formatting, see Formatting conditional values on a grid: Thresholds.

MicroStrategy Web comes with several default thresholds:

  • Quick thresholds: Quick thresholds allow end users to apply green, red, or yellow colors or symbols to metric values on your report. The end users can automatically format the thresholds, and add them to a report quickly. See Formatting conditional values on a grid: Thresholds.
  • Visual thresholds: Visual thresholds allow end users to use range expressions (such as Greater Than, Less Than, or Top N%) to determine whether a metric has met the condition. If a metric meets the condition, the end users can apply special formatting to the values, or replace the values with an image or a symbol. See Formatting conditional values on a grid: Thresholds.
  • Advanced thresholds: A Web Professional can use advanced thresholds to apply formatting to a report or a grid in a document, based on multiple metrics and more complex expressions than a visual threshold. This allows for very specific conditions to be defined. Advanced thresholds allow Web Professionals to create conditions based on metrics or attributes, and a single advanced threshold can be based on multiple conditions.

Steps are below to create an advanced threshold.

To create an advanced threshold

  1. In MicroStrategy Web, click the name of the report to run it.
  2. From the Data menu, select Advanced Thresholds Editor.

Specify the threshold's conditions

  1. From the Filter On drop-down list, select the attribute or metric on which to base the threshold.

  2. If you are creating a condition based on a metric, do the following:

    1. Select a comparison operator such as Greater Than or Less Than.
    2. Enter a value in the field on the right or click Select Metric to choose another metric to compare the original metric to.
    3. Click Apply.

  3. 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 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 Apply.

    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 threshold condition.

    3. Move attribute elements from the Available list to the Selected list. Elements in the Selected list are included in the threshold 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 .Apply.

Specify the formatting for the threshold

  1. To specify how data that meets the threshold is formatted, click the threshold, then click the Cell Formattingicon on the toolbar.
  2. Specify a name for the threshold in the Name field, if desired.

  3. To replace the threshold values with text, an image, or a quick symbol, 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 might 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 could show either a green plus + or a red minus – symbol to represent positive or negative contribution trends.
    • If you select this option, select the symbol with which to replace the values from the corresponding drop-down menu.
    • Image: Replace the normally displayed data with an image, such as an arrow or 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 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 the 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
  4. To format the threshold values by adjusting the font, color, alignment, and other options, make the appropriate selections within the Font, Number, Alignment, and Color and Lines tabs. Click Help for more information on the options available.

  5. You can create, edit, and delete thresholds:

    • It is often convenient to make a copy of a threshold if you plan to create similar thresholds in the report. To copy a threshold, select the threshold in the Advanced Threshold Editor and click Copy, then paste the copied threshold by selecting the threshold and clicking Paste.
    • To delete a threshold, select the threshold and click Delete Threshold.
    • To move a threshold above or below other thresholds, select the threshold and click Move up or Move down.
    • To add an additional condition to a threshold, select the threshold and click Add Condition.
    • To clear the conditions from a threshold, select the threshold and click Clear Conditions.
    • To determine whether to apply the specified background color to graph reports in which thresholds are met, select the Enable Thresholds on Graph icon .
    • To have an email automatically delivered to you or other users when the threshold is met, click Create Email Alert or Create Mobile Alert. For details on using the Alerts Editor, click Help.

  6. To determine what parts of the report are formatted when a threshold is met, select one of the following options on the toolbar:

    • To apply the formatting only to the metric, click the Format metrics only icon.
    • To apply the formatting only to the metric's totals, click the Format subtotals only icon.
    • To apply the formatting to both the metric and its totals, click the Format metrics and subtotals icon.
  7. To add another threshold condition, click Add a New Threshold , then repeat the appropriate steps above.
  8. Click OK.