Work with Analyzer Fields

Using Fields in Analyzer Reports

An Analyzer report is a collection of fields and filters that is displayed in a specific report format. You can think of a report as a file (like a spreadsheet file), except that when you open a report or make a change, the report connects to your database so it displays the latest data. Reports are stored in a repository, so you can access reports from any computer.

When you create a new Analyzer report from the ground up, you select a data source first. The data source determines which fields will be available when you build your report. For example, if you choose orders as your analysis area, you most likely will see all fields related to orders.

Types of Fields

Examples of fields include 'Sales Revenue', 'Profit Margin' ,'Product Name', 'Region Name', and 'Fiscal Year'. Fields are what define the content of your report. The following types of fields are available:

Levels. Fields, such as Names, Types, and Categories are most often text-based. For example, if you were working for an athletic equipment vendor, you would use 'Product Name' Level in your reports. In this level, you might have 'Snow Sports' and 'Cycling' as possible values for the Product Name field. These individual values are often referred to as members of that level.

Time Period Fields: While Time fields are technically Level fields as well, Time fields are critical to nearly all reports and are often regarded as their own category of fields. Time period fields such as 'Fiscal Year' and 'Order Month' are commonly used in reports. Possible values for those fields could be '2004' and 'Jan-2006', respectively.

Measures: Measure fields are numeric and most often represent business metrics. These types of fields are designed for mathematical activities such as summing, dividing, and creating averages. 'Sales Revenue' and 'Profit Margin' are examples of measures.

In Analyzer reports, fields are color-coded by type in both the report and the Layout pane. The colors are assigned as follows:

•     Levels including Time Period fields are defaulted with a yellow background.
•     Measures are defaulted with a blue background.

You can create a report without any knowledge of field types, but knowing how field types work can sometimes help you understand how different charts display data and how filters work together.

About Field Hierarchies

Some level fields (time periods, names, types, categories, etc.) belong to field hierarchies. Here are two examples of field hierarchies:

•     Product Line  >>Product Name
•     Year  >>Quarter >>Month >> Week >> Day

The field hierarchies help you in two primary ways. First, it provides a quick and easy way to drill into more details on a report:

• Click on a level field on the report, such as 'Fiscal Quarter', and then click Also Show from the context menu. If the field is part of a hierarchy, all these fields will be available for selection.
• Click on a level field value on the report, such as the year '2007'. The context menu displays the option Keep Only 2007 And Show Quarters.

Second, when creating a filter, field hierarchies narrow down the list of available values. For example, if you have a filter Product Line='Snow Sports', then the list of possible choices when you filter Product Names are limited to the products that are part of the Snow Sports product line.

Additionally, field hierarchies sometimes control how fields are placed on the report. For example, fields from the same field hierarchy need to be placed on the same axis (row/column) and the report will automatically enforce this rule as you move and arrange your fields.

Viewing the Definition of a Field

You can view the definition of a level or measure field from the Layout panel and the report in Analyzer. The definition includes those attributes which defined the field when the data model was built.

• In the Layout Panel or the report, right-click the field name, then click Tell me about... from the menu. The About dialog box displays for the field. You can view the following information about the field:

Viewing and Editing the Properties of a Field

You can view the properties of a level or measure field from the Available Fields list in Analyzer. The properties include those attributes which defined the field when the data model was built.

While most users can view the properties of a field in Analyzer, select users can edit a few of these properties, depending on the type of the field, such as level, time period, or measure. To edit these properties, you must be assigned the 'Manage Data Sources' operation permission in Users and Roles. For more information on setting and maintaining permissions and roles for users, see Use Pentaho Security.

• In the Available Fields list, right-click the field name, then click Properties from the menu. The Properties dialog box displays for the field. You can view or edit the following information about the field:

Renaming a Field

To rename a field within a report, do the following:

1. Right-click the field you want to rename in the report.
2. Select Edit or Column Name and Format from the menu to open the Edit dialog box for that field.
3. Enter the new name in the Name field. Note that you can also view the original name of the field in this dialog box.
4. Optionally, enter the plural version of the new name (if applicable) in the Plural Name used within this report field. (Plural versions of a field name are useful because the Pentaho interface often uses field names in menus and dialog boxes. If you enter a plural version of the new field name, it automatically will be used in situations where the plural form is grammatically correct.)
5. Click the OK button to save the new field name.

Renaming the field only effects the contents of the report. A user can view the original name of the field by viewing the definition of the field.

To remove a modified (renamed) field name, open the Edit dialog box and delete the existing entries using the Backspace key.

Viewing the List of Available Fields

You may organize the list in four ways:

• By Category (default). This grouping is set by an administrator.
• By Type. Lets you see the list where all measure fields  come first, followed by level fields.
• A->Z. Alphabetical order with no grouping.
• By Schema. This displays the grouping as defined by the administrator in the cube’s underlying schema.

To change the organization, click the View button at the top of the pane.