Custom Sets

Visualizer Custom Sets can be used to filter Visualizer reports or as a dashboard filter. You can also use a custom set as an additional column in a Visualizer report. This concept is known as set based filtering in Designer reports so if you are familiar with its usage in Designer, you can apply similar use cases in Visualizer.

The following animated gifs will demonstrate how you can use a Custom Set (based on a Saved Visualizer report) for use in another Visualizer report. If for some reason your browser does not render the embed gifs, you can view the same demo at Working with Custom Sets.

Important: If you move your Custom Set to another report catalog folder, the Custom Set will not work. For more information about the Report Catalog, see Managing Files in the Report Catalog.

Step 1: Create the Custom Set

In this example, the report contains customers by Qty sold in descending order and filtered for quantities that are less than or equal to 7500. Before you can make this a custom set, you must save the report. Then you will select the option to create a custom set. Important: You must use a tabular report to create a custom set. Note: Custom Sets can be saved to a Custom Subject Area or your default subject area. If you save a custom set to a custom subject area, it is no longer available for use in the default subject area.

Step 2: Create a new report for which you want to use the custom set(s). Custom sets can be used as additional columns in a report, to filter a report, and to sort a report.

The following example illustrates how to apply custom sets to a Visualizer report as additional columns, filters and sorting.

Note: Custom Sets can also be applied as filters on a Dashboard.

Creating Advance Filters using custom sets made easy:

Like other dashboard filters, you can select which dashlets the filter applies.

The filter card (applied custom set) displays on the dashboard.

Custom Expressions in Custom Sets

Report level expressions (custom expressions) are handled as post-aggregation (logical layer) calculations in Visualizer reports unless that same report is employed as a Custom Set within a Visualizer report. Custom Sets that employ custom expressions and are employed in another Visualizer report will be treated as pre-aggregation level calculations that run at the database level like custom measures. For more information see Pre-aggregation and Post-aggregation.

To better illustrate, I created two visualizer reports that utilize pre-aggregation and post-aggregation calculations and inserted them into a dashboard for easy side-by-side comparison. One report uses the Custom Measure Sales which is calculated at the database level or what we call pre-aggregation. The other report uses Revenue that is created by an expression in the Visualizer BQL editor using the following formula, (Quantity * Average unit price). The difference in calculations is because Sales is calculated by multiplying every quantity by its actual price at the time of sale and Revenue is using the average unit price and multiplying by the total aggregated quantity. This is not as accurate as you can see here.

I have also applied a Top 10 result and descending sort which returns not only different measured values but a different result set for the top 10 Customers. In the Sales (pre-aggregation) based report, Lehmans Marketstand is the 10th ranked customer and in the Revenue (post-aggregation) report, Lehmans Marketstand is the 6th ranked customer. Additionally, Hanari Carnes is ranked 8th in the Sales based report and not listed at all in the Revenue based report which has been replaced by the Hillarion-Abastos Customer in the 10th ranked spot.

If I were to save the Revenue (post aggregation) report as a Custom Set and apply it to another report as a filter. The result set would be different than the one listed here because Birst sends the custom expression calculation for Revenue in the Custom Set to the database rather than applying it post aggregation in the logical layer.

The following report uses the Custom Set (based on the Revenue defined by the custom expression) but now the results are identical to the report built using the custom measure, Sales (pre-aggregation). Lehman's is ranked 10th and Hanari Carnes returns to the result set. The measure values were also calculated identically this time because the expression was applied to every row of data in the database just like the Sales custom measure.

Pushdown and Custom Sets

Visualizer Pushdown lets you use pushdown (pre-aggregation calculations) at the Visualizer report level. By default, Custom Sets will automatically enable this feature and prevent users from turning this feature off when employed as a Custom Set.

Custom Sets Known Limitations

  • Using a custom set as a column fails when the custom set was defined using a report containing Custom Groups.
  • Custom sets cannot be used as a cluster group in the Visualizer Advanced Analytics feature.
  • Custom sets cannot be used as filters on Designer Reports.
  • Using a custom set as a column fails when the custom set was defined using a report containing Saved Expressions in its filter.
  • Custom set filters are not honored when exporting dashboards or dashlets, with Deep linking, Bookmarks or report notifications.
  • Custom sets using Average measures, containing null or 'is missing' values, return unexpected results.
  • Cannot use the Benchmark “Advanced Analytics” function with reports using a custom set as a column.
  • Cannot save a custom set in a private folder in Birst (if report is in a private folder)
  • Custom sets stop functioning if the report defining it is moved to a new report catalog folder.
  • Cannot configure Report level drilling using custom sets.
  • Column selector does not support Custom sets.
  • Custom sets do not support drill across action on a dashboard.
  • Custom sets cannot be applied as filters to a web page on a dashboard.
  • Custom sets do not support conditional display.
  • Custom sets cannot be used for filter groups or linked filters.
  • Custom sets cannot be used as embedded filters on as dashboard.
  • Deleting the report used to define a custom set renders the custom set unusable.
  • If a dashboard prompt is created using a custom set and that custom set is later deleted, the dashboard prompt filter will display an error message each time it is rendered.
  • Custom Sets does not support visual filtering.