Using Selection Steps

You can use selection steps to create and modify steps for selecting data. Filters and
selection steps are applied on a column-level basis and provide two methods for limiting
the data in an analysis:

• A filter is always applied to a column before any selection steps are applied.
• Selection steps are applied in their specified order.

Selection steps are applied after the query is aggregated and affect only the members
displayed, not the resulting aggregate values. For example, suppose that you
have a list of hierarchical members in which the aggregate sums to 100. If you remove
one of the members using a selection step, then the aggregate sum remains at 100.

You can use the Selection Steps pane to create and modify steps. The steps in this
pane apply to all views for the analysis.
note: If your business has Translation Workbench enabled in Xactly Incent, you can
create a selection step on a double column. To do so, simply select the display values
for the column (Analytics automatically evaluates the step using the corresponding
key value). For more information about double columns, see “Understanding Custom
Translations and Double Columns” on page 4.

 

How to …

Define Selection Steps

1. Create a new report, or open and edit an existing report.

2. Click the Results tab.

3. Expand the Selection Steps pane, if necessary.

4. In the List field, choose the columns or measures to view in the pane using the
drop-down list.
You can view all columns and measures, just measures, or specific columns.

5. In the Column area, indicate the start of the list of steps for each column.
For hierarchical columns, the name of the hierarchy is included with the column
name. This area includes the following types of steps:

• Start With—Serves as the starting selection for a column. This step is populated
automatically when you select columns or hierarchy levels from a subject
area.
For every column that you select, an implicit Start with All Members step is
added for that column, where All implies all the members for the column after
filters are applied.
For every hierarchy level that you select, an implicit Start with all level-name
step is added for that level, where All implies all the members for the level after
filters are applied. For example, if you select the Fiscal Quarter hierarchy level,
then a step is created with a name such as Start with All Fiscal Quarter.
• Add—Adds the selected members to the selection.
• Keep only—Keeps only the selected members and remove all others.
• Remove—Removes the selected members from the selection.

6. Click the Then, New Step link, and choose an option from the drop-down menu
that appears.

You can choose from among the following options:

• Select Members—Displays the New Select Members dialog, allowing you to
create a step of the specified members.
• Add Groups or Calculated Items—Display a submenu with the following
options:
• Select Existing Groups and Calculated Items—Display the New Select Existing
Groups and Calculated Items dialog, allowing you to select an existing
group or calculated item.
• New Group—Display the New Group dialog, allowing you to add a new
group.
• New Calculated Item—Display the New Calculated Item dialog, allowing
you to add a new calculated item.
• Apply a Condition—Display the New Condition Step dialog, allowing you to
create a condition step.
• Select Members Based on Hierarchy—Display the New Hierarchy Selection
Step dialog, which is available for hierarchical columns only.

7. Click the Name of Group or Calculated Item link for a group or calculated item to
display the Edit Group or Edit Calculated Item dialog respectively.

8. Hover the mouse pointer over a selection step to display the selection step toolbar.

The toolbar contains the following buttons:

• Edit—Display a dialog allowing you to edit the step. For a Start with step, this is
the only button available.
• Move Up—Move the step one level up in the list of steps.
• Move Down—Move the step one level down in the list of steps.
• Delete—Delete the step from the list of steps.

9. Click the button (Save Selection Steps). The Save Selection Steps dialog
appears allowing you to save the steps for the column or hierarchy level as a
group.
This button is available only when you have more than a single Start With step in
the list for a column. This button is not available if you try to save a set of steps as a
group and one of the steps includes a calculated item.