Editing the Layout of Column Contents

You can use the Column Format tab of the Column Properties dialog box to perform
the following tasks:

• Specify whether the column should appear in results.
Columns are usually visible in results by default. However, you may want to include
a column in your report that you do not want displayed in results, such as a column
used in creating a filter.
• Assign alternate table and column headings and apply custom formatting to
them.
• Control the display of duplicate data such as repeating column labels.
The data in one column of a table may be repeated in relation to rows of data in
other columns in the table. For example, if one column lists customer names and
another column lists the regions those customers are in, the region data could be
repeated for each customer row. You can choose to display duplicate data only
once, or display it for every row. Displaying repeating or duplicated data only
once can make a table somewhat easier to read, and can make distinctions in
that data more apparent.

Your selections apply only to the contents of the column for the report with which you
are working.

How to…

Hide a Column in the Results

1. Click the button for the column, and choose Column Properties from the dropdown
menu. The Column Properties dialog appears.

2. Click the Column Format tab.

Column Format Tab

3. Select the Hide checkbox to hide the column in the results.

4. Click the OK button.

 

Create Custom Table and Column Headings

1. Click the  button for the column, and choose Column Properties from the dropdown
menu. The Column Properties dialog appears.

2. Click the Column Format tab.

3. In the Headings section, select the Custom Headings checkbox.
This allows you to change the heading text or the heading formatting (or both the
text and the formatting).

4. To change the text of the folder or column heading, type a new heading into the
appropriate text box.
The heading is used in the report instead of the default heading.

 

Suppress Duplicate Data

1. Click the button for the column, and choose Column Properties from the dropdown
menu. The Column Properties dialog appears.

2. Click the Column Format tab.

3. In the Value Suppression section, choose the appropriate option:

• To display repeating data only once and suppress duplicate rows, select the
Suppress radio button.
• To display repeating data for every row, select the Repeat radio button.

 

Specify What Happens When Users Click the Column

1. Click the  button for the column, and choose Column Properties from the dropdown
menu. The Column Properties dialog appears.

2. Click the Interaction tab.

3. Specify what should happen when users click the column by choosing the appropriate
options in the Column Heading and Value drop-down menus.

You can choose from among the following options:

• To specify drill-down capability, choose the Drill option.
• To enable navigation, choose the Action Links option.

To add an action link, do the following:

a. Click the  button. The New Action Link dialog appears.
b. In the Link Text field, specify the text to use as the link.
c. Click the  button and choose the type of action using the drop-down
list.
Choosing Navigate to BI Content enables a file selection window to select
a specific report or dashboard. Choosing Navigate to a Web Page
enables a pop-up to input a URL.
d. Click the OK button.
To edit an action link, select the item and click the button. Modify the settings,
as required, and click the OK button.
To delete an action link, select the item and click the  button.
Use the arrows to the right of the Action Links table to reorder the list of action
links and change the order of how they are displayed in the action link menu.

• To disable drilling or navigation, choose the None option.

4. Click the OK button.