AX1835

Configuring column properties for a web report

The column properties define the presentation of each column in the grid. Using the column properties, you can configure:

Display properties such as header text, column width, alignment, and number formatting
Data properties such as column filters, alternate aggregation, and display formats for data
Grid behavior properties such as inclusion in the total row, and whether end users can sort and filter using the column

In the Report Builder, the column properties are defined in the right-hand Configuration Panel.

To configure column properties for a column in a web report:

In the Report Canvas of the Report Builder, click a column name in either the Row Dimensions box or the Column Definitions box to select that column.

You must select the column name in the setup boxes and not the column name in the grid below. Selecting a column name in the preview grid causes the Grid Configuration to display instead of the Column Configuration.
Complete the Column Configuration properties that display in the Configuration Panel.

The column configuration properties are separated into two tabs:

General: Basic column properties that should be reviewed and configured for all columns in the grid.
Advanced: Advanced column properties to be configured as needed.

General column properties

The following column properties are available for web reports on the General tab of the Column Configuration panel. These properties apply to table columns and to calculated columns.

Item	Description
Column or Calculation	The following information displays at the top of the panel to identify the column: Column: If the column is a table column, the full Table.Column path displays for your reference. Calculation: If the column is a calculated column, a text representation of the calculation displays for your reference. You can click the Edit icon to the right of the box to open the Edit Calculated Column dialog and edit the calculation as needed.
Header	The header text to display on the column header. Enter the desired header text. If the column is a table column, the column name is used as the header text by default. If the column is a calculated column, the text "Calculation" is used as the header text by default.
Column width	The width of the column in the grid, in pixels. Enter the desired column width as a whole integer between 20 and 1000. The default width depends on the column data type, and is configured at the grid level. If you do not enter a custom width, then the default width displays in the Column width box in gray text. If you leave this default width and the grid-level defaults are changed, then column will update to use the new default width. For more information, see Default column formats.
Alignment	The alignment of the column values. Select one of the following: Default, Left, Right, Center. The default alignment depends on the column data type, and is configured at the grid level. If a column is set to use Default and the grid-level defaults are changed, the column will update to use the new default alignment. For more information, see Default column formats.
Number Format	The number format used by the column. Only applies to columns that hold numeric data. Select one of the following: Default: The column uses the default number format as defined for the column's data type at the grid level. If a column is set to use Default and the grid-level defaults are changed, the column will update to use the new default number format. For more information, see Numeric properties. Currency, Decimal, Number, Percent, or Dimension: The column uses the default number format as defined for the selected data type. For example, you may have a column that is natively a Decimal column, but you want it to display using Currency format in a particular report. If a column is assigned to a different number format, it will also inherit the default column width and alignment set for the associated data type, if the column is using the default column with and alignment. Custom: The column uses a custom number format as defined in the column properties. If Custom is selected, then several additional properties become available to configure the number format. In this case, the column is no longer tied to any particular default number format. Decimal places: Specify the number of decimal places to display, from 0 to 10. Use 1000's separator: Specify whether the number uses a thousands separator or not. Negative number format: Specify the format to use for negative numbers.
Aggregation	The aggregation type used to aggregate data queried from the database column. Does not apply to calculated columns or to columns used as row dimensions. If you want to override the default aggregation type for a database column, select an aggregation type.
Data filter	Optional. Defines a filter to limit the data shown in this column. The column-level data filter should be used instead of a grid-level data filter when you want the filter to impact just this column. Click the Edit button to open the Filter Wizard and define a filter. Once you have defined a filter, it displays in the Data filter box. If you want to change or remove the filter, click the Edit link again and change or delete the filter within the Filter Wizard. The Data filter box is not directly editable. Data filters defined at the column level are combined with any filters defined at the column group level and at the grid level. All relevant filters are combined using AND to determine the data that can display in a particular column. NOTES: If a data filter is defined for a calculated column, the filter is applied to the columns referenced in the calculation. Column-level data filters cannot be defined for columns used as row dimensions. To limit the rows shown in the grid, use the grid-level filter in the Grid Configuration properties.
Enable filter	Specifies whether end users can filter based on the column contents. If enabled (default), and if Enable Column Filters is enabled in the Grid Configuration properties, then a filter icon is available on the column in the rendered report. Users can use this column to filter the grid based on the column contents. If disabled, then the filter icon is not available on the column. This property does not apply to columns used as row dimensions. It also does not apply to the entire grid if Use fixed rows is enabled in the Grid Configuration properties. Fixed row reports do not support end-user column filtering.
Hide column	Specifies whether the column is hidden in the report: If enabled, then the column is hidden. The column remains visible in the Report Builder so that you can continue to configure the column as needed. If disabled (default), then the column is visible.
Show description	Specifies whether you want descriptions to display for dimension values. This option only applies to key columns and validated columns that have an associated description column. If enabled (default), then descriptions display alongside the dimension values or instead of the dimension values. For example, if the column is Acct then you likely want the account descriptions to display along with the account codes. When this option is enabled, the Description display format field becomes available. Select the desired display format from this list. By default, the format Description (Value) is used. If disabled, then only the dimension values display. For example, if the column is Acct then only the account codes will display. NOTE: If the dimension table has multiple description columns (meaning columns where Describes Key is True), then the first description column is used.
Include in total row	Specifies whether the column is included in the total row, if a total row is enabled in the Grid Configuration properties. Select one of the following: Default: The column is included or not based on its data type. All numeric columns are included by default unless they are the Dimension data type. All other non-numeric columns are not included by default, unless you change the aggregation so that the column returns a number (such as using Count aggregation on a String column). Include: Override the default behavior and include the column in the total row. Exclude: Override the default behavior and exclude the column from the total row. This option does not apply if Use fixed rows is enabled in the Grid Configuration properties. Columns will be included or excluded in subtotal or total rows using the default behavior.

Advanced column properties

The following column configuration properties are available for web reports on the Advanced tab of the Column Configuration panel:

Header Properties

Item	Description
Header text (row 1)	The header text to display on the column header. Enter the desired header text. NOTES: This is the same property that displays on the General tab as Header. The header text can be edited from either tab. The (row 1) label only displays if Multi-row header has been enabled. In this case, the property defines the header text for the top row of the multi-row header.
Header text (row 2)	The header text to display on the second row of the column header. Enter the desired header text. This property is only available if if Multi-row header has been enabled.
Multi-row header	Specifies whether the column header has multiple rows: If enabled, then the header text property updates so that there are two properties: Header text (row 1) and Header text (row 2). The default header text populates row 1. You can define additional text to display on row 2. If disabled (default), then only one row of header text can be defined. Keep in mind that enabling a multi-row header is different than wrapping header text. If you enable multi-row headers, then you can define two separate rows of header text. A line break separates each row. If autowrap is enabled, then each row of header text wraps individually. If you just want a single row of header text that wraps, you can leave this option disabled and then enable Autowrap header text.
Autowrap header text	Specifies whether header text wraps: If enabled, then header text that exceeds the column width will wrap. If Multi-row header is enabled, both rows of header text will wrap individually. If disabled (default), then header text that exceeds the column width is truncated. The user can resize the column wider to view the full header text.
Header alignment	The alignment of the header text. Select one of the following: Default, Left, Right, Center. All column headers use Default alignment by default. By default, the header text uses the same alignment as the column contents (as determined by the Alignment property on the General tab). If you leave the header alignment set to Default, then the header alignment will adjust to match the column alignment. If, however, you want the header alignment to be different than the column alignment, you can configure this property.

Frequently asked questions

I defined a column filter but it isn't impacting the grid data as I expected—why do I still see rows that don't match the column filter?

A column filter only filters the data coming into that specific column. If you want to define a filter that impacts the entire report, including the row data, then you should define a filter at the grid level. Select the grid and then use the Grid Configuration properties to define a Data Filter.

To illustrate the difference, imagine the following uses of a filter to only show data from the West region:

Grid: When the filter Dept.Region='West' is defined for the grid, the entire grid is filtered to only show data from the West region. Row dimension values (such as departments) will only display if they belong to the West region, and column data is limited to only show data for the West region.
Column: When the filter Dept.Region='West' is defined on a column, that single column is filtered to only show data from the West region. Other columns and row dimension values are not limited by this filter. You might do this if you want to create a report that shows the different region data in different columns, such as to compare data from the West, East, North, and South regions side-by-side.