Using Filters

Data, Univariate and Cross tabulation reports can be filtered when their data is stored in a database.

When data is stored in more than one format, a Data menu appears at the top of these pages:
Data:  Table EXAMPLES_STORE Normalized Database Text File
Change the choice to analyze data from different storage formats. See Save page for how to change where the data is stored.

Otherwise, a simple message acts as a reminder of where the data resides:
Data:  from database table

The Filter menu appears next. Use the pull down menus below to see more of the options.
Filter: None Date UserID Sequence ratings_service ratings_price ratings_selection recommend Improvements Name Comments must be  equal to not equal to answered not answered < <= > >= between LIKE this value: 

The "Filter" dropdown lists all the fields in the form, as well as the date when the questionnaire was submitted, the user ID if it was saved, and the sequence number of the record. The "must be" dropdown specifies the relationship to the value entered in the "this value" field. Note the following recommendations:

The "answered" option selects only those records where the respondent answered the selected question

The "not answered" option selects only those records where the respondent didn't answer the question

The "answered" and "not answered options" can be used with any field, and they are specially useful with text and comment fields.

When Date is chosen, an explanation is shown: Date format: M/d/yy which means that the date must be entered in that format, eg 3/31/06. Pressing on the Change link switches to My ViewsFlash, where the format of entered dates can be changed.

When a checkbox question is chosen, the options in the must be menu become "any of", "answered" and "not answered". Selecting "answered" will include records where any of the checkboxes was checked. Selecting "not answered" will include records where all the check boxes were left unchecked. Selecting "any of" will include records where any of the values listed in "this value" is checked, separated by commas. For example, if the values stored are "vanilla","strawberry","chocolate" and "mint", entering "mint,vanilla" (without the quotes) will select only those records.

When selecting "must be between", an extra field opens up to select a range of records. This is useful for selecting records between a range of dates, for example.

The Custom option shows a field where you can enter a WHERE and ORDER BY clauses:

The filter can use arbitrary WHERE and ORDER BY clauses, such as:
(In Oracle) WHERE country='USA' AND residence='USA' AND ROWNUM < 10 ORDER BY age DESC
(MySQL) WHERE country='USA' AND residence='USA' ORDER BY age DESC
(MySQL)ORDER BY age DESC
(In Oracle) WHERE ROWNUM < 10 ORDER BY age DESC

Troubleshooting filters

After selecting a filter, press the Submit button at the bottom of the page. After the page is submitted, the "Show filter SQL" link, which is displayed below the Filter menu, will display the portion of the SQL WHERE clause that will be used to enforce the filter. This can be useful when a filter is not producing the desired result.

If a report produces unreasonable results, it's a good idea to retrieve the actual data using  Data retrieval, both with the same filter and with no filter.

Next: Univariate Analysis