In Chapter 12, In-Memory Cubes and Visual Insight, we learned how to control a visualization from another using the first as a filter. Now we will create a filter that affects all the visualizations in the same panel.
From the Express main page, click on the dashboard that we saved in the last recipe to open it:
- Open the context menu of the visualization pane named Grid (on the right, in the title bar just before the red X), and select Change Visualization….
- Click on the group named Matrix of bar graphs (first on the left of the second row) and pick the first thumbnail named Vertical Bar – 100% Stacked.
- Open the context menu of the pane titled Graph Matrix, and choose Show Properties.
- In the Properties pane, change Shape to Line. Go back to the Graph Matrix pane by closing the Properties pane with the X button.
- Move to the Filters pane: we need to remove the default filter. Hover the cursor on the Year of Date header and open its context menu, click on Remove filter.
- Repeat step 5 with the other objects in the pane until it is completely empty.
- Drag the Country Name attribute to the Graph Matrix | MATRIX | Rows area.
- In the Graph Matrix | GRAPH AXIS | X Axis area, there is a Metrics placeholder, click on it and drag it to the Graph Matrix | MATRIX | Rows area just below the Country Name attribute.
- Move the mouse to My Data pane and find the metric named Finance: GDP Per Capita (current Us$), pick it and move it to the Graph Matrix | GRAPH AXIS | Y Axis area, overlapping the existing metric. When the cursor changes to a black arrow with a blue indicator, drop it to replace the underlying object.
- In My Data pane select Country Name, drag-and-drop it into the Filters pane. See that a new Country Name selector is created with a textbox.
- Open the context menu of Filters | Country Name and choose Display Style | Check Boxes.
- Uncheck (All) and type
Brazilin the Search… textbox and check Brazil, the line chart changes instantly. - Repeat the search with
Italyand check it. Now typeRussianand add Russian Federation to the graph. There is a clear decline in 2008 that affected both Italy and Russia but less so in Brazil. - Click on the context menu of the Vertical Bar - 100% Stacked visualization and rename it
GDP per capita. - Now click on the insert visualization button on the toolbar (third from the left, tool tip: Insert Visualization).
- A new Visualization2 pane appears. Click on Select a Visualization and pick Vertical Bar - 100% Stacked.
- Modify the Graph Matrix pane adding and removing objects until it looks like the following screen capture:
- Rename this pane
Internet Users. - Click on the Tools menu in the toolbar and select Insert Text Field.
- When the new text field appears, change it to
World Bank data 2000 – 2010. - Click on the Save button in the lower part of the screen.
Congratulations! You can now analyze data of different countries just by changing the filter.
Selections in the filter pane affect every visualization in the layout, both existing and new ones. If you need to create a visualization not affected by the filter, you can add a new layout (white on blue plus button top right).
To clear the filter, use the small funnel with red X icon next to the filter title (Clear All Filters) or near the object header inside the pane (Clear Filter).