Global filters are a unique and powerful way to change overall data displays in Harmoni. They are a top-level filter option that is applied to the project, view, story, and dashboard.
When a global filter is active, views are filtered to show only data applicable to that filter. This filtering occurs on the fly and will be seen in projects, analyses, stories, and dashboard displays.
Global filters allow you to tailor the view of data to a specific group or individual; this helps ensure privacy and targets data displays to specific areas of interest.
The application of Global filters is driven by a combination of personalization keys, meta-data input in the form of an excel spreadsheet, data inclusions defined in the Project, and the settings applied to the analysis view when saved to a story.
In this article
1. Personalization keys
Filter specifications need to be set in the admin console. At this stage, this needs to be done by Infotools. As with all personalization keys, these can be set at the Site, Group or User levels.
|
What |
Description |
Personalization Key |
Setting |
| Global Filters Enabled |
Used to turn on the ability to use Global filters. Determines if Global filters are switched on or off. |
Menu.GlobalFilter.EnableView |
True or False
|
| Ability to change the default Global Filter |
Set whether global filters can be changed. Limit what users can see to ensure privacy target data displays. |
Menu.GlobalFilter.EnableChange |
True or False
|
| Filtering Axis |
The axis containing the distinguishing characteristic to filter on. |
Menu.GlobalFilter.Category |
Axis name This will be the default filter category when global filters are on. For example, use the axis Country if you want filters to work at the Country level or Region if you want them to work at a regional level. Axis must exist in your project and be defined in your global filters spreadsheet.
|
| Filtering Element |
Default element from the axis specified in the Filtering Axis: (Menu.GlobalFilter.Category)
|
Menu.GlobalFilter.Option |
Element name This will be the default filter element when global filters are on. The element must exist in your project and be defined in your global filters spreadsheet. |
| Global filter upload |
Used to turn on the ability to upload the global filters file. |
Menu.GlobalFilter.Upload |
True or False
|
Enable change - True
In the example above, Global filters have been enabled and set up to allow for the user to change filters. The axis is Country of Origin and the element NZ are the default settings when Global Filters are on, but the user can interact with and change the filters.
Enable change - False
In the example above, Global filters are enabled but the user is not allowed to change filters. The axis Country of Origin and the element NZ are the default settings when Global Filters are on. In this case, the user can only see NZ (i.e. can't interact with the filters).
2. Global filters spreadsheet
The global filters spreadsheet identifies the axis (or axes) and/or elements displayed in the global filters drop down menu and the project tree. These items can be then used for analysis and reporting.
In the file, you don't need to list each and every single item, you only need to identify the exceptions. In other words, you need to include the items you want to limit to a particular group. Items that don't need to be filtered don't need to be added in the exceptions file.
It is important not to have any special formatting in your file (e.g., bold, italics, etc.). You can remove cell formatting in Excel using the Clear Formats option. This will not affect the contents of the cells.
Item labels in your project must be the same as in the global filter
spreadsheet. If you change the label of the items in the project, you must
update the global filter file.
File name globalfilter.xlsx
The spreadsheet must be called globalfilter.xlsx. All letters must be lowercase. The spreadsheet can be uploaded and downloaded within Infotools Harmoni by clicking on the Globe icon next to the Global Filters menu icon. The ability to upload the the global filter spreadsheet is set by the Menu.GlobalFilter.Upload personalization key.
When you first upload your global filter spreadsheet, you must do so through the landing page before loading a project. Once you have loaded it to the site, you can also access it through the relevant Project.
Once a global filter file is loaded to your site, you can continue to make changes to the spreadsheet and reupload it. We recommend that when you need to make changes, always download the global filter file first, and make changes to this latest version. Once updated, upload the file.
- To upload, click the globe icon and select upload.
- Select your globalfilter.xlsx file.
- Harmoni will ask you if you want to overwrite the existing file. (The first time you load the spreadsheet from the landing page, Harmoni will not ask to overwrite the existing file).
- Click the overwrite button to upload the new file.
Label exceptions can be set at the Header, Axis or Element level.
- The first three columns of the spreadsheet are used to identify the items in the project tree that are exceptions and need to be filtered.
- The columns after the first three columns, are where you identify each Global Filter Category. You may have one or multiple Global filter categories. The categories and elements display in the global filter drop down menu.
|
Header A |
Axis B |
Element C |
Axis (Menu.GlobalFilter.Category) D onwards |
| Header Name | Axis Name | Element Name |
Element (Menu.GlobalFilter.Option) |
When creating your global filter spreadsheet, it is important to consider two questions. Remember that any item you list on your spreadsheet is an exception.
a) Exceptions at the header level
- If an exception is set at the header level, everything under that header is only displayed when the global filter is set to the option(s) mentioned in the global filter category field.
- When specifying an exception at the header level, no entry is required in the axis or element fields.
- If applying a global filter to a grid, the grid name must be specified in the Header field.
Examples:
- The CONSUMPTION section (header) has been filtered to be available only when the Country of Origin is USA.
- Filter by: Country of Origin-USA
- See in the project tree: Consumption Grid
- The Brand Image Grid (header) and axes within the Grid have been filtered to be available only when the Country of Origin is NZ.
- Filter by: Country of Origin-NZ
- See in the project tree: Brand Image Grid
b) Exceptions at the axis level
If an exception is set at the axis level, the axis, and every element in it is only displayed when the global filter is set to the option(s) mentioned in the global filter category field.
- When specifying an exception to an axis, no entry is required in the header or element fields.
- If applying a global filter to an axis within a grid, the grid name must be specified in the header field and the axis name in the axis field.
Example:
-
The axis Region - NZ has been filtered to be available only when the Country of Origin is NZ.
- Filter by: Country of Origin-NZ
- See in the project tree: Region - NZ
c) Exceptions at the element level
- If an exception is set at the element level, that element is only displayed when the global filter is set to the option(s) mentioned in the global filter category field.
- If an item is required for multiple options of a category, then the same Header/Axis/Element combination must appear on multiple rows, one for each category option it needs to appear in.
Example:
- For the axis Favorite Ice Cream Brand, certain brands (elements) have been filtered to be available only when Country of Origin is NZ, USA or UK. Brands not included in this list will be displayed for all markets.
- Filter by: Country of Origin - Selected country
- See in the project tree: Favorite Ice Cream Brands from selected country
- Country elements (NZ, UK or USA) have been filtered to only be available when the Country of Origin is the relevant market.
- Filter by: Country of Origin - Selected country
- See in the project tree: Selected country in any axis with the same elements as Country of Origin.
d) Grid Exceptions
When adding exceptions to the spreadsheet to allow filtering of different axes and elements within a grid, the two levels of filtering (axes and elements) need to be applied separately.
To filter the elements within a grid, the grid name should be added to the header (column A), and the element name to the element field (column C) in the same row as the applicable global filter label. The axis field should be left blank.
To filter the axes within a grid, the grid name should be added to the header (column A), and the axis name to the axis field (column B) in the same row as the applicable global filter label. The element field should be left blank.
In this way, you can control which axes display with which elements within a grid.
3. Editing a project with global filters
When global filters are turned on, the edit functionality in the design menu is limited. Global filters can reduce the availability of variables so it can be necessary to turn global filters off when editing a project.
As a Project Owner with global filters on, the design menu displays the items under construct. The other sections of the design menu are not available.
As a Creator (non-owner) or Explorer with global filters on, users will also see items available under construct specific to these user types.
Where to from here?
Learn more about global filters.
Useful Resources
Example of global filters spreadsheet