How to Edit Column Properties

Column properties are any type of metadata available for the columns (and, in some cases, also for hierarchies) in your data table. For example, this could be the name or number of decimals of a column, the data type, an optional description of the column content, or, a customized sort order for a string column. Many properties are available in the details view of the expanded Data in analysis flyout.

All properties can also be viewed, and some can be edited, by selecting Data > Column Properties.

To change a column name:

If the Data in analysis flyout is not already open, click .
In the flyout, click the column of interest.
Make sure Details on selected column is selected in the expanded flyout.
In the expanded flyout, click Rename column , and type the new name.

To change the formatting of a column:

If the Data in analysis flyout is not already open, click .
In the flyout, click the column of interest.
Make sure Details on selected column is selected in the expanded flyout.
Under Formatting, change the formatting to another type in the drop-down list, or click Formatting settings , change the settings for the category of your choice, then click OK.

Comment: See Formatting Settings for more information about the various options. For example, to change the number of decimals displayed for a Real column, select Number and click on the Formatting settings button. Then change Decimals to the desired number.

To change the data type of a column:

If the Data in analysis flyout is not already open, click .
In the flyout, click the column of interest.
Make sure Details on selected column is selected in the expanded flyout.
Under Data type, select the new data type.

Comment: Note that not all data is suitable to be converted to all data types. You can always undo your choice or select a different data type if this should happen.
For some types of conversions you may also need to click Settings, , and specify additional conversion settings, to get the result that you want.

Note: In the Settings dialog, there are different conversion settings available depending on the data and data types. For example, if the column values must be rounded off in the conversion, you can specify which rounding method to use. In the case of rounding, there are three rounding methods available: Floor (nearest integer down), Ceiling (nearest integer up), and Round (halves away from 0).

To create a custom sort order for a string column:

Note: Custom sort order can only be applied to string columns, not to columns of other data types.

If the Data in analysis flyout is not already open, click .
In the flyout, click the column of interest.
Make sure Details on selected column is selected in the expanded flyout.
Under Sort order, select Custom from the drop-down list.
Click Settings .

Response: The Custom Sort Order dialog is displayed.
Move the values up or down in the Value order list, to create the desired sort order.
Click OK to close the dialog.

To delete a column from the data table:

If the Data in analysis flyout is not already open, click .
In the flyout, click the column of interest.
Make sure Details on selected column is selected in the expanded flyout.
In the expanded flyout, click Delete column , to the right of the column name.

Comment: You can hide columns from separate visualizations using the appropriate page in the Visualization Properties dialog without actually deleting the column. Likewise, you can hide filters that you do not wish to use in the Organize Filters dialog.

To edit a calculated column:

Tip: You can also edit a calculated column from the Data canvas, by clicking on the final data table node, and, from the step group in the lower left part of the canvas, selecting Edit calculated column.

If the Data in analysis flyout is not already open, click .
In the flyout, click the calculated column of interest.
Make sure Details on selected column is selected in the expanded flyout.
In the expanded flyout, under Expression, click Edit.

Comment: For information about how to write expressions for calculated columns, see General Syntax, and the related topics.

To edit a hierarchy:

Tip: You can also edit a hierarchy from the Data canvas, by clicking on the final data table node, and, from the step group in the lower left part of the canvas, selecting Edit hierarchy.

On the menu bar, select Data > Column properties.
If you have more than one data table in the document, select the Data table to work on.
Locate the hierarchy of interest by scrolling in the list or by typing a search expression in the field provided.
In the lower part of the dialog, click Edit.

To edit the link template for hyperlinks in tables:

It is possible to display the text in a table as clickable hyperlinks by setting the renderer for a column to Link Renderer. Setting a template in Column Properties provides a default suggestion for the Link Renderer. The default template is "http://{$}/", where {$} represents the value from the table cell.

On the menu bar, select Data > Column properties.
If you have more than one data table in the document, select the Data table to work on.
Locate the column of interest by scrolling in the list or by typing a search expression in the field provided.
Click to select the column.
On the Column Properties tab, scroll down to locate the Link Template property and click to select it.
Click Edit Value.

Response: The Edit Value dialog is displayed.
Type a new template for the format of the links.

Comment: For example, "http://www.{$}.com".
Click OK to close the Edit Value dialog.
Click OK.