Add a text filter to an analysis

You can use a text field to create a variety of different text filters.

Prerequisites

  • You have the Insights Reader license.

  • You have the Insights Author license.

Page location

Insights > Analyses > Click an analysis

Procedures

Filter a text field by including and excluding values

You can filter a text field by selecting values to include or exclude from a list of all values in the field.

  1. Create a new filter using a text field. For more information about creating filters, see Add filters to an analysis.
  2. In the Filters pane, click the new filter. The Edit filter pane opens.
  3. Select Filter list from the Filter type drop-down list.
  4. Select Include or Exclude from the Filter condition drop-down list.

  5. Select the check box in front of each value that you want to filter on.

    If there are too many values to choose from, enter a search term into the Search values field above the checklist. Search terms are case-insensitive, and wildcards aren't supported. Any field value that contains your search term is returned. For example, searching for L returns al, AL, la, and LA.

    The values display alphabetically. If there are more than 1,000 values, the field displays a search box instead. Each time that you search for the value that you want to use, it starts a new query. If the results contain more than 1,000 values, you can scroll through the values with pagination.

  6. Click Apply.

Filter text field values by a custom list

You can specify one or more field values to filter on and whether you want to include or exclude records that contain those values. The values that you enter must match the actual field values exactly for the filter to apply to a given record.

  1. Create a new filter using a text field. For more information about creating filters, see Add filters to an analysis.
  2. In the Filters pane, click the new filter. The Edit filter pane opens.
  3. Select Custom filter list from the Filter type drop-down list.
  4. Select Include or Exclude from the Filter condition drop-down list.
  5. Enter a value that you want to filter on in the List field. The value that you enter must match an existing field value exactly.
  6. (Optional) To add additional values, enter them in the List field, one per line.
  7. Select Exclude nulls, Include nulls, or Nulls only from the Null options drop-down list.
  8. Click Apply.

Filter a text field by a single value

With the Custom filter filter type, you enter a single value that the field value must match in some way. You can specify that the field value must equal, not equal, start with, end with, contain, or not contain the value you specify. If you choose an equal comparison, the value you enter must match exactly with an actual field value in order for the filter to apply to a given record.

  1. Create a new filter using a text field. For more information about creating filters, see Add filters to an analysis.
  2. In the Filters pane, click the new filter. The Edit filter pane opens.
  3. Select Custom filter from the Filter type drop-down list.

  4. Select one of the following from the Filter condition drop-down list:

    • Equals – The values included or excluded in the field must match the value that you enter exactly.
    • Does not equal – The values included or excluded in the field must match the value that you enter exactly.
    • Starts with – The values included or excluded in the field must start with the value that you enter.
    • Ends with – The values included or excluded in the field must start with the value that you enter.
    • Contains – The values included or excluded in the field must contain the whole value that you enter.
    • Does not contain – The values included or excluded in the field must not contain any part of the value that you enter.

    NOTE   Comparison types are case-sensitive.

  1. Do one of the following:

    • Enter a literal value in the Value field.

    • Select Use parameters to use an existing parameter, and then choose a parameter from the list.

      For parameters to appear in this list, create your parameters first. Usually, you create a parameter, add a control for it, and then add a filter for it. For more information, see Parameters in Insights.

      The values display alphabetically in the control. If there are more than 1,000 values, the control displays a search box instead. Each time that you search for the value that you want to use, it starts a new query. If the results contain more than 1,000 values, you can scroll through the values with pagination.

  2. Select Exclude nulls, Include nulls, or Nulls only from the Null options drop-down list.
  3. Click Apply.

Create a top and bottom text filter

You can use a Top and bottom filter to show the top or bottom n value of one field ranked by the values in another field.

EXAMPLE   You show the top five salespeople based on revenue.

You can also use a parameter to allow dashboard users to dynamically choose how many top or bottom ranking values to show.

  1. Create a new filter using a text field. For more information about creating filters, see Add filters to an analysis.
  2. In the Filters pane, click the new filter. The Edit filter pane opens.
  3. Select Top and bottom filter from the Filter type drop-down list.
  4. Select Top or Bottom.

  5. For Show top (or Show bottom), do one of the following:

    • Enter the number of top or bottom items to show in the Integer field.

    • To use a parameter for the number of top or bottom items to show, select Use parameters. Then choose an existing integer parameter from the Select a parameter drop-down list.

      EXAMPLE   

      You want to show the top three salespersons by default. However, you want the dashboard viewer to be able to choose whether to show 1–10 top salespersons. In this case, take the following actions:

      • Create an integer parameter with a default value.
      • To link the number of displayed items to a parameter control, create a control for the integer parameter. Then you make the control a slider with a step size of 1, a minimum value of 1, and a maximum value of 10.
      • To make the control work, link it to a filter by creating a top and bottom filter on Salesperson by Weighted Revenue, select Use parameters, and choose your integer parameter.

  6. For By, select a field to base the ranking on.

    EXAMPLE   To show the top five salespeople per revenue, choose the revenue field.

    You can also select the Aggregation that you want to perform on the field.

  7. (Optional) Click + Tie breaker and then select another field to add one or more aggregations as tie breakers.

    EXAMPLE   Tie breakers are useful, in the case of this example, when there are more than five results returned for the top five salespeople per revenue. This situation can happen if multiple salespeople have the same revenue amount.

    To remove a tie breaker, click the trash can icon.

  8. Click Apply.

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