The way you create a selector depends on what the target and source are, as well as personal preference for a particular interface. The following table helps you choose between the methods.
You can choose to either automatically maintain the targets of attribute and metric selectors, or manually define these targets. (The targets of a selector are the Grid/Graphs and/or panel stacks that the selector affects.) If targets are automatically maintained in the layout, attribute and metric selectors automatically target all Grid/Graphs and panel stacks that are in the same panel or document section as the selector. For more information about automatically maintaining targets for selectors, including instructions to enable and disable the functionality, see Automatically maintaining targets for selectors.
Note: You must always select targets for panel selectors, regardless of whether targets are automatically maintained. To target another selector, automatic target maintenance must be disabled. Alternatively, you can keep automatic target maintenance if you can place the target selector on a panel in the same document section as the source selector; the source selector will automatically target that panel stack.
You can also determine whether the selector filters or slices the data:
The selections made in a filtering selector are used to filter the underlying dataset before the metric values are aggregated at the level of the Grid/Graph that is displayed in the document.
The selections made in slicing selectors are used to determine which slices of data are combined and shown in the Grid/Graph.
For more details on the differences, including examples, see Applying selections as filters or slices.
Note: You must always select targets for panel selectors, regardless of whether targets are automatically maintained.
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To Create a New Selector |
Do This... |
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With a panel stack as the target |
Right-click the panel stack and select Create Panel Stack Selector. |
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With a Grid/Graph as the target and elements as the source |
Right-click the attribute, custom group, or consolidation on the Grid/Graph and select Create Selector. |
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With a Grid/Graph as the target and a metric as the source |
In Web, right-click the word Metrics on the Grid/Graph and select Create Selector. |
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With an attribute as the source |
Right-click the attribute in the Dataset Objects and select Create Selector. The new selector does not have a target; you must specify the Grid/Graph or panel stack to use as the target; see Enabling a Grid/Graph to control another Grid/Graph. |
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That filters a metric value |
From the Insert menu, point to Selector, then select either Metric Slider or Metric Qualification. For detailed steps, see Creating a selector that filters metric values. |
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That updates a dynamic text field on a panel stack |
Insert a selector. Specify the panel stack to use as the target and the attribute for the source; see Enabling a Grid/Graph to control another Grid/Graph. |
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With a specific style |
Do one of the following: From the Insert menu, point to Selector, and then choose the style from the list. Click the arrow next to the Selector icon on the toolbar, and then choose the style from the list. Next, click in the Layout area to add the selector. The new selector does not have a target; you must specify the Grid/Graph or panel stack to use as the target; see Enabling a Grid/Graph to control another Grid/Graph. The default action type is select elements, although you can change it to select metrics or panels. |
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That is formatted differently in Flash Mode and becomes interactive when a user hovers the cursor over them. An example is the Fish Eye Selector, which magnifies the item that is hovered over, while the remaining items are minimized and displayed in the background of the selector. |
For information and instructions, see Creating an interactive, Flash-only, selector. |
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With the same style as the last selector you added. |
Click the Selector icon in the Controls toolbar. Click in the Layout area to add the selector. The new selector does not have a target; you must specify the Grid/Graph or panel stack to use as the target; see Enabling a Grid/Graph to control another Grid/Graph. The default action type is select elements, although you can change it to select metrics or panels. |
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That filters another selector |
For steps, see Creating selectors that target other selectors. |
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That allows a user to submit, recalculate, or discard changes to data displayed in a Transaction Services-enabled document |
For steps, see the Report Services Document Creation Guide. |
You can also use an attribute on a Grid/Graph as a selector that targets a panel stack or another Grid/Graph. If a user clicks an attribute on the first Grid/Graph, the target changes to display information for only that attribute. For more information, see Enabling Grid/Graphs to control other Grid/Graphs. Automatic selector maintenance applies to these types of selectors, as well. All the Grid/Graphs and panel stacks in the same document section or panel as the selected Grid/Graph are chosen as targets.
You can also determine whether the selector filters or slices the data:
The selections made in a filtering selector are used to filter the underlying dataset before the metric values are aggregated at the level of the Grid/Graph that is displayed in the document.
The selections made in a slicing selectors are used to determine which slices of data are combined and shown in the Grid/Graph.
For more details on the differences, including examples, see Applying selections as filters or slices.
The target selection mode allows you to quickly and easily choose the target of the selector. When in target selection mode you click the Grid/Graph or panel stack to use as the target of the selector. For more information, see Choosing targets for a selector. Target selection mode is not available when targets are automatically maintained.