Managing Report Layout, Sorting, Filtering and Grouping

The Data Viewer provides many features to customize reports including sorting columns, reordering columns, filtering, and grouping. The Data Viewer layout is shown below for reference.

Managing Columns

Data Viewer columns can be added, reordered, hidden, or sorted as described below.

Adding and Removing Columns

Hiding Columns

Hiding columns can be useful when a filtered column has only one data value. See Hiding Filtered Columns below for details on hiding columns.

Reordering Columns

Columns can be reordered using the mouse. To reorder a column:

  1. Click a column header.

  2. While holding down the mouse button, drag the column to the new position you would like it to appear on the report.

Columns can only be reordered within their own data source. For example, in a report containing Site and Permit data sources, a Permit column can be moved to another location under the displayed Permit data source header, but not under the Site data source header.

Sorting on a Single Column

To sort on a single column, click the column header. Clicking the same header multiple times toggles between ascending and descending sort order.

  • Ascending sort order:      

  • Descending sort order:    

Sorting on Multiple Columns

Sorting can also be be performed on multiple columns. For example, on a Site report, you can sort the sites on Ownership within County. To do this, first sort on County, and then sort on Ownership as follows:

  • Sort on County

    1. Right-click the County column (the first column clicked is the first level of the sort). A pop-up menu appears.

    2. Click the menu option for the desired County sort order (Sort Ascending or Sort Descending).

    3. Wait for the report to refresh.

  • Sort on Ownership

    1. Right-click the Ownership column. The pop-up menu appears.

    2. Click the menu option for the desired Ownership sort order (Sort Ascending or Sort Descending).

    3. Wait for the report to refresh.

If you instead wanted to sort on County within Ownership, you would reverse the above sequence, first sorting on Ownership, and then sorting on County.

Clearing a Sort

To clear a sort, right-click the desired column and select Clear Sorting.

Searching and Filtering

Data Viewer provides several methods for searching and filtering records. These are categorized as Global Search, Basic Filtering, and Advanced Filtering.

Global Search Filtering

The Data Viewer has the ability to perform a global search using the search field. Entering a value in the search field will filter records where any of the columns in the record contain the search field. The Data View display highlights the matches in the search result. 

For example, entering "Charleston" in the search field finds records containing Charleston in any report column.

Basic Column Filtering

To apply a basic filter:

  • Click the filter icon in the header of the column you wish to filter on. A pop-up menu appears, listing filter values.

  • Select the desired filters.

  • Click the OK button.

When applying basic filters, rows with no data in the column are excluded from the filter results.

Some filter data may have long text which can end up being cut off from viewing in the selection window. To see the full text, the selection window may be resized by clicking on the edge or corner  of the selection window and dragging while holding down the left mouse button.

Advanced Filtering - Show Filters

Advanced filtering is enabled by selecting the Show Filters option from the menu.

After selecting Show Filters, a filter row appears beneath each column header. Clicking the magnifying glass provides a set of comparison operations that can be performed in the filter. These comparison operations vary depending on the type of data contained in the column.

  • Example operators for a text column:  

  

  • Example operators for a numeric column:   

  • Date fields provide a calendar control that can be accessed by clicking on the calendar icon: 

To apply an advanced filter (after selecting Show Filters from the menu to turn on advanced filtering):

  1. Click the magnifying glass field to select the comparison operation.

  2. Enter the filter comparison value in the search box next to the comparison icon.

  3. The filter is applied automatically and the report is refreshed.

Advanced Filtering - Filter Builder

nVISAGE supports advanced filtering through a filter builder tool. This provides the ability to create more complex filters containing grouped Boolean logic. 

Advanced filtering is enabled by selecting the Show Filters option from the menu. After selecting Show Filters, the advanced filter icon appears below the data grid:



Clicking the Advanced filter opens the Filter Builder. The Filter Builder displays the filter expression as a tree structure, where nodes represent simple filter conditions. Each condition consists of a data field, an operation and a value. A logical operation combines conditions into groups.

For example, the following image shows how a filter expression appears in the Filter Builder user interface:

The above filter is the equivalent of:

Product Name Starts with "Super" And Cost is Greater than or equal to $300 )  Or  ( Product Name Contains "HD" And Cost is Less than $200 )



After creating/editing an advanced filter, click OK to save the filter and run the report.

Hiding Filtered Columns

Columns can be hidden in the report. As differentiated from removing a column from a report, hidden columns are retrieved in the report, but they are not displayed.

To hide a column:

  1. Right-click the report column header that you wish to hide. A pop-up menu appears.

  2. Click Hide Column. The field is removed from the display.

To un-hide a column:

  1. Either:

    1. Right-click the report Entity Header, or

    2. Click the Data Viewer Menu.

  2. Click Choose Columns from the pop-up menu.

  3. Click (check) the hidden column. The column is added back to the display.

Grouping Data

Data can be grouped into expandable subtables within a report.

To group data:

  1. Right click the report column header that you wish to group by. A pop-up menu appears.

  2. Click Group by This Column.

  3. The report refreshes to display the data grouped by the selected column. The count of matching records is displayed in each group heading.

  4. To expand or collapse a group, click the expand/collapse arrow displayed to the left of the group heading.

Ungrouping Data

To remove a group:

  1. Right click on the group heading. A pop-up menu appears.

  2. Click Ungroup.

The group is removed from the report.