Report Filters - Base, Lens, Pre-set & Custom

Overview

Report filters allow you to state field criteria to meet in a search to focus in on a subset of Records in Reports meaning that you can tune in on the items in the process that require attention. In order to achieve this there are four levels of filtering adhering to the following hierarchy of application. There is also Grouping and Sorting which we will look at when we view each level in more detail.

1. Base Filters - These are field conditions that are set up by the App Builder and are always in place when looking at the Report.
2. Lenses - These are scenario based filter conditions such as 'Status equals Red' or 'Priority greater than 60'. They appear as a list of sub-reports in the left menu indented below the main report.
3. Pre-Set Filters - These are a set of commonly used filter conditions that can be applied to the main report and any lenses that have been set up. This may be to filter records based on business unit.
4. Custom Filters - Users then have the option to tailor the filter by applying additional field conditions that are for a more specific requirement they are performing.

The different methods allow you to have greater flexibility over the filter applied by using them in combination.

In this article we are going to look at a KPI Scorecard App that tracks monthly metrics input via a table Report. We make use of all of the filter levels to get to filter through to a particular subset of KPIs that we input.

1. First we will base filter to the KPIs that are non-numeric and scored on level 1-5 definitions.
2. Then we will use a Lens to narrow in on the KPIs that are scored monthly.
3. To further fined the results we will select a pre-set filter that focuses on Customer & Branding KPIs
4. Finally we will look at a more ad hoc scenario requiring custom filter such as time pressures meaning we must prioritise strategic KPIs and filter to score these first.

Level 1 Filtering - Base Filters, Grouping and Default Sort

Base filters are field conditions that are set up by the App Builder and are always in place when looking at the Report. To see which conditions have been set we click on the funnel icon at the top right of the Report and this will show us the filter criteria in the bottom of the slide out pane.

Also displayed in this pane will be the grouping that has been set by the App Builder and the Default Sort Order. These two give a logical presentation to the Records in the Report for gaining insight or working to a process.

Level 2 Filtering - Lenses

These are common scenario based filter conditions such as 'Status equals Red' or 'Priority greater than 60'. They appear as a list of sub-reports in the left menu indented below the main report. In our use case for the KPI Scorecard App, we have three Lenses which relate to the Calculation Frequencies as in this particular clients process they enter the Monthly, Quarterly and Year metrics in meetings dedicated to those particular groupings.

A Lens will inherit the filter criteria from the base filter and apply in combination so in our Monthly Actual Report, it will maintain the base filter that Calculation Type is non-numeric and in addition add that Calculation Frequency is Monthly. All combined field filtering will be displayed in the bottom of the filter pane. 

Grouping and default sort order are specific to each Lens so as we are now looking at only monthly Records it makes sense that the App Builder has defined a new Grouping and Default Sort order (in this case Group By KPI Type and Default Sort by KPI Title).

Level 3 Filtering - Pre-Set Filters

These are a set of commonly used filter conditions that can be applied in addition to any base filters or lenses on any Report. This may be to filter records based on Assigned Business Unit or a Record Type. In our KPI Scorecard App the App Builder has set up Pre-sets for us to filter based on the KPI Type. To do this:

1. Open the filter pane by clicking the funnel icon
2. Toggle from Custom filter conditions to Pre-Sets by clicking the Bookmark icon at the bottom of the filter pane
3. Apply a pre-set by clicking on one from the list that appear when the bookmark is toggled
4. Clear the Pre-Set by selecting the 'Clear Preset' option below the pre-set filter list
5. Toggle the Bookmark to apply Custom Field criteria in addition to the Pre-set as explained in Level 4 filtering below

Continuing our KPI Scorecard scenario, we have applied the Customer & Brand pre-set filter which filters the Monthly Lens to KPIs of this type. We can see that it is applied as it is written in the bottom of the filter pane below the grouping and default sort order for the Report and above additional filter criteria from base and lens filtering.

When a Pre-set or custom filter criteria has been added, the funnel will show a red dot indicating there has been custom selected filters in addition to the base and lens filtering.

Level 4 Filtering - Custom Field Filters & Custom Sort Order

Custom Field Filters

An App Builder can select a number of the Fields in the App to be available for End Users to add Field Criteria of their own to the filtering. To apply these:

1. Open the filter pane by clicking the funnel icon
2. Pin the filter pane open by toggling the pin icon at the top left of the filter pane
3. Click on the '...' beside the Field you would like to filter on and select the filter operator such as 'Is' or 'One Of' which allows multiple selection
4. Then select the value for the fields that are within the range depending on the filter operator selected
5. To clear filters. select the bin icon beside the specific field criteria or select the clear all option at the bottom of the filter pane

Note: The field Type will determine the options available such as greater than for numeric or earlier than for date.

Here we can see that we have applied a custom filter of (Status is one of Green OR Amber) AND (Strategic equals Strategic). This is applied in addition to the base and lens filter conditions.

Custom Sort By

Another customisable aspect of viewing a Report is the order the Records will appear in. The App Builder will determine the Report Grouping as this pertains to the Process being followed in the App but the Sort By is more subjective to how individuals work.

The App Builder will make a subset of Fields 'Sortable'. If a Field is sortable then you will be able to click on the column heading for that Field and select to order by it ascending or descending. In the example below this is to change the Sort Order from KPI Type to KPI Title, but it is commonly used to sort records by priority order or by maturity stage a record is into a process.

As with any custom field filtering, clear all will return the Report back to the default sort order.