The Filter action is the most common. From one or multiple Source Worksheets, you can filter one or numerous target Worksheets. The next screenshot is an example of a Filter action where the selection of a State filters the Sales and Profit by Sub-category and Profit Evolution Worksheets in that State:
The Filter is the only Action with a quick shortcut: when you select a Worksheet, click on the funnel icon, Use as Filter, and a Filter Action is automatically generated with the selected Worksheet as Source and all the others as targets.
You can, of course, also add a Filter... Action from the Action menu. You can only edit and configure the Action Filter from the Action menu. Here's the configuration window of the example at the beginning of this section:
In the configuration window, you can specify:
- The Name of the Action—here Filter by State
- The Source Sheets—in the example, only the Profit by State Worksheet triggers an Action
- The trigger—Select (a click on Mark) in the example
- The Target Sheets—Sales and Profit by Sub-category and Profit Evolution Worksheets are the Target
- The comportment when clearing the selection—in the preceding example, we decided to Show all values
- The Target Filter—fields, by default All Fields from the Source are filtered on the Targeted Worksheets, but it's possible, by using Selected Fields, to choose which fields should be used
With the Action Filter, you can specify exactly which fields need to be filtered. You can also dictate the behavior when clearing the Action (removing the mouse from a Mark for Hover, or unselecting it for Select and Menu). There are three different behaviors:
- Leave the filter: When you clear the selection, the Filter stays as it is.
- Show all values: When you clear the selection, you'll see all the values. It's the default option for the Select trigger.
- Exclude all values: When you clear the selection, the target Worksheets turn blank as all values have been excluded. It's only when you trigger the Action again that they'll display some data.
The next Action is Highlight. It's a great way to help the users understand the related Fields in your Dashboard.