Adding Controls for Parameters

You can create controls using existing parameters to let dashboard users easily choose a value for a predefined filter or URL action. In analyses and dashboards, parameter controls appear at the top of the sheet.
    Note:
  • Multiselect list controls are compatible with analysis URLs, dashboard URLs, custom actions, and custom filters. The filters must be either equal or not equal to the values provided. No other comparisons are supported.
  • Lists display up to 1,000 values in alphabetical order. If there are more than 1,000 distinct values, a search box appears so that you can filter the list. Wildcard search is supported. For more information, see Searching for Specific Values.
To add a control for an existing parameter:
  1. Click Dashboards tab, the Dashboards tab.
  2. Click Dashboard Designer, in the bottom-left corner.
  3. On the Analyses dialog, click Options button, the Options button, next to an analysis and select Edit.
  4. On the analysis page, click Parameters button, the Parameters button, on the toolbar to display the Parameters panel.
  5. In the Parameters panel, hover over a parameter, then click Options icon, the Options icon, and select Add control.
  6. In the Add control dialog, enter a name for the control.
    Add control dialog

    The specified name is used as the control label that is displayed at the top of the sheet in the analysis and in the published dashboard.

    You can include a parameter in the name of the control.

  7. Under Style, select one of the available control types:
    • Text field: Lets you type a custom value in the control. This option is available for numbers and strings.
    • Text field - multiline: Lets you type multiple custom values in the control. This option is available for numbers and strings.
    • Dropdown: Lets you select a single value from a drop-down list. This option is available for numbers and strings.
    • Dropdown - multiselect: Lets you select multiple values from a drop-down list. This option is available for numbers and strings.
    • List: Lets you select a single value from a list. This option is available for numbers and strings.
    • List - multiselect: Lets you select multiple values from a list. This option is available for numbers and strings.
    • Slider: Lets you select a numeric value by sliding the control from one end of the bar to another. This option is available for numbers.
    • Date-picker: Lets you select a date from a calendar control. This option is available for dates.

    The available options depend on the data type of the parameter and whether the parameter has a single value or multiple values.

  8. For Text field and Text field - multiline controls, enable the Show helper text in control option to include instructions for using the control.
  9. For Text field - multiline controls, specify whether to separate the values you enter in the parameter control by a line break, comma, pipe (|), or semicolon under Separate values by.
  10. For Slider controls, enter values for the slider range and step size under Minimum value, Maximum value, and Step size.
  11. For Date-picker controls, enter the date format that you want to use under Date format.
    For more information on the supported date formats, see Custom Date and Time Formats.
  12. For Dropdown, Dropdown - multiselect, List, and List - multiselect controls:
    1. Under Values, specify a list of values or use a field from the dataset.
      • To create a list of specific values, select Specific values and enter the values one per line, with no separating spaces or commas. The values that you enter are displayed alphabetically in the control.
      • To link to a field, select Link to a dataset field and select the dataset and the field. Calculated fields are not supported.

        To limit the values displayed in the control based on the values selected in other controls, enable the Show relevant values only option. Then, select the controls that determine what values are available for selection.

      The values that you specify for the control in the Values section are combined with the static default values from the parameter settings. If you change the default values in the parameter, click Options icon, the Options icon, next to the control on the sheet and select Reset to display the new values from the parameter.

    2. To remove the option to select all the items in the control, enable the Hide Select all option from the control values if the parameter has a default configured option. Make sure that the parameter has a static default configured.
    3. For List and List - multiselect controls, enable the Hide search bar when control is on sheet option to hide the search bar from the control.
    4. For Dropdown - multiselect, enable the Show an apply button option to include an Apply button in the control and pause immediate updates on new selections.
  13. Click Add.

The controls that you create are displayed at the top of the sheet inside a bar. To interact with a control, expand the controls bar, click Options icon, the Options icon, next to the control, and select one of the options available in the menu:

  • To move the control inside the sheet, select Move inside this sheet.
  • To reset the control to the default values, select Reset.
  • To refresh the values retrieved from the dataset, select Refresh. This option is available only for controls that are linked to a field in the dataset.
  • To edit the control, select Edit and update the settings from the Format control panel on the right.
  • To remove a control, select Delete.

Parent topic: Using Parameters