How to Work with Show/Hide Items

You can apply a number of different rules to determine which items to show or hide. Which rules are available in a certain situation depends on the data type and aggregation method of the currently selected column to apply the rule on. Below are few examples of how different rules can be set up.

• To show only the top 5 bars in a bar chart:

1. In the Visualization Properties dialog, go to the Show/Hide Items page.

2. Click on the Add... button to add a rule.

Response: The Add Rule dialog is displayed.

3. Determine which Column or expression to apply the rule on.

Comment: This can either be set to use the same column and expression used on the value axis of the bar chart, or, it can be set to ${Axis.Y.Expression} using a Custom Expression. In the latter case, the rule will always show the top five bars of whatever is selected on the value axis in the bar chart.

4. Make sure that Top is selected in the Rule type drop-down list.

5. In the Value field, type 5.

6. Under When this rule is matched, select Show items.

7. If you are going to trellis the visualization, determine whether or not to Apply individually for each trellis panel.

Comment: See the description of this option under Details on Add/Edit Rule for an example.

8. If desired, type a Display name.

Comment: The display name can be displayed in the legend of the visualization.

9. Click OK.

Response: The rule is added to the Rules list and it is applied in the visualization.

• To hide all values less than a specified value:

1. In the Visualization Properties dialog, go to the Show/Hide Items page.

2. Click on the Add... button to add a rule.

Response: The Add Rule dialog is displayed.

3. Determine which Column or expression to apply the rule on.

Comment: The column used to define the rule does not have to be used on the axes in the visualization.

4. Make sure that Less than is selected in the Rule type drop-down list.

5. In the Value field, click on the icon, , to open the menu.

6. Select Value from the menu.

Comment: You can also select a calculated value from the menu (e.g., the Average).

7. Type the desired limit value in the Value field.

8. Under When this rule is matched, select Hide items.

9. Click OK.

Response: The rule is added to the Rules list and it is applied in the visualization.

• To add a boolean rule as a custom expression:

1. In the Visualization Properties dialog, go to the Show/Hide Items page.

2. Click on the Add... button to add a rule.

Response: The Add Rule dialog is displayed.

3. Right-click on the column selector under Column and select Custom Expression... from the pop-up menu.

Response: The Custom Expression dialog is displayed.

4. Type a boolean expression determining what should be shown or hidden in the visualization.

Comment: For example, entering (Sum([Sales])>60000) AND (First([Region])~="West") in a bar chart where [Region] is used on a grouping axis (e.g., the Category Axis) would show only those bars where the sum of sales is greater than 60000 and the sales transaction belonged to the region "West".

5. Click OK when you are done.

6. Make sure that Boolean expression is selected in the Rule type drop-down list.

7. In the Value field, click on the icon, , to open the custom expression dialog.

8. Make sure that Axis.Value is selected and click on Insert Columns.

Response: [Axis.Value] is inserted into the Expression field.

Comment: This means that if the expression entered earlier is true the items will be shown (or hidden, depending on the settings below).

9. Click OK.

10. Under When this rule is matched, select whether to Show items or Hide items.

11. Click OK.

See also:

What is Show/Hide Items?

Details on Add/Edit Rule