Filtering data

You can base the visualizations on the entire set of data, or you can base them on certain data values you have filtered to.

When loading data into Spotfire, each column in the data table is represented by a filter.

When you filter data, certain values in the data table are filtered out, and only the filtered values, that is the remaining values, are included in what is being visualized. All visualizations that are based on this data table will immediately update to reflect only the filtered values. However, you can anytime change what is filtered, or return to the full set of data.

Note: Not only visualizations on the open page are affected; every visualization that is based on this data table will be updated in your analysis (if they use the same filtering scheme).

The filtering is handled from the Data in analysis flyout or the Filters panel. If you think of your loaded data as a table with rows and columns, each column gets a filter of its own in the panel. If any column value is filtered out, every row that contains that value will temporarily be taken away.

As data columns contain different types of data, their associated filters are of different types to make it easy to filter to the values you want to keep. However, you can change the filter type that is suggested, if desired.

How to filter data is described in Filtering data using the Data in analysis flyout and Filtering data using the Filters panel. An analysis author with access to the installed client can also add filters to a text area.

Information about filtered data

How many rows that remain after filtering, and the total number in the data table, can be viewed in the status bar at the bottom or top of a page, if you are working with in-memory data. If the information is not visible, click

. In this example, the entire data table consists of 216 rows and 83 rows remain after filtering.

Details about which columns have been filtered, and to which values, are also shown at the bottom of the Data in analysis flyout and the Filters panel. If you want to modify what has been filtered in a filter, you can open the filter from here by simply clicking it.

Above, the expanded view for the Filters panel is shown. To collapse the filter details, click the

button.

Filters can be reset to their original state (all values selected) in different ways:

Click the buttons to reset separate filters.
Right-click a filter in the upper section of the Filters panel and select Reset filter.
To reset all filters, click the button in the detailed view of the Filters panel or the Data in analysis flyout, or select Edit > Reset all filters.
To reset only visible filters, click the Reset Visble Filters button, , in the header of the Filters panel or select Edit > Reset visible filters. This functionality is based on which filters are shown in the Filters panel only, and not related to any filters added to a text area. This means that if a filter is hidden from the Filters panel, it will not be updated using this action, regardless if it is visible in the text area or not.