# Introduction to Inforiver Inforiver offers the **fastest** way to build Power BI reports, using a comprehensive set of **features** enabled by cutting-edge **user experience**. ## **Use cases supported** You can leverage Inforiver to support several use cases such as the following: 1. Storytelling with annotations 2. Free-form data exploration 3. Visualizations 4. Commenting & collaboration 5. Formatted and paginated reports 6. Spreadsheet-like pivot analysis 7. What-If simulations 8. Visual-level formula & calculations 9. Write back data to databases and shared drives 10. Manual data entry & capture 11. Forecasting, planning & budgeting 12. Scheduling

## 5 reasons to get started with Inforiver #### **1. Your productivity suite for data** The Inforiver matrix & charts together constitute a **productivity suite for your data**. #### **2. Frequently asked features** Inforiver delivers capabilities available in other BI & visualization software (such as Tableau, Spotfire, Qlik, Cognos and SAP BusinessObjects) but not in Power BI. #### **3. Rich user experience** With Inforiver, report creators and consumers can perform a wide variety of user actions unlike what they have experienced in traditional BI & visualization software. #### **4. Accelerate your digital transformation** Automate your Excel-based processes by consolidating legacy BI reports and dashboards into Power BI, and eliminating data silos with governed datasets. #### **5. Best practices and standards** Inforiver adopts a business-responsive design, that can help users deliver [IBCS-compliant](https://inforiver.com/ibcs-reports-powerbi/) business, management, variance, and performance reports in a single click. Learn more about the [5 reasons to get started with Inforiver](/introduction-to-inforiver/why-inforiver). # Why Inforiver Inforiver offers the **fastest** way to build Power BI reports, using a comprehensive set of **features** that enable a cutting-edge **user experience**. ## 8 reasons to choose Inforiver ### 1. Consolidate all data & analytics needs in Power BI Inforiver for Power BI helps you retire legacy tools and deliver all analytics needs from Power BI: * Retire visualization software like Tableau, Spotfire, and Qlik * Migrate from reporting tools like Cognos, WebFOCUS, SAP, and more * Avoid spending on add-ons for PowerPoint reports such as think-cell and Mekko Graphics * Eliminate Excel-based worksheets used for maintaining forecasts, budgets, master data, pivot reports, and more

### 2. End-to-end Security and Governance Inforiver visuals are [certified](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/developer/visuals/power-bi-custom-visuals-certified) by Microsoft. In addition, the product enables three levels of security inside your Power BI reports: 1. Security provided by your tenant / Power BI at the workspace and data levels (including RLS or row-level security) 2. Inforiver-level security - e.g., administrators can decide whether Inforiver users can write to Snowflake 3. Report-level security - e.g., report creators can authorize specific users to perform specific actions in the report, such as who can comment, enter data, create scenarios, etc.

### 3. Built for business users with no coding experience Inforiver is a no-code product built to support business users and casual users with zero coding skills. It automates many activities for you that require you to write DAX or Power Query scripts or create applications using Microsoft Power Apps. You can create the following without writing a single line of code: * Forecast templates * Financial statements * Commenting & collaboration * Data writeback * ... and more

### 4. Get features 'highly voted' by industry peers Inforiver delivers a variety of features that have repeatedly been [requested in Power BI idea place and community forums](https://inforiverstage.wpengine.com/blog/category/feature-highlights/). In essence, these features are not available in Power BI today. While some can be implemented using workarounds, many of these are simply not achievable even with DAX and Power Query scripting.

### 5. Deliver functionality missing in Power BI Using Inforiver, you can implement key features available in other BI tools but not seen in Power BI yet, such as: 1. Visual PivotTable for your hierarchical data on all three axes (x,y,z) like Spotfire 2. Small multiple for all charts like Tableau and Spotfire 3. Split and group measures into small multiple panels like Tableau 4. Flexible chart combinations in small multiples like Tableau 5. Lasso and reverse lasso selections like Qlik and Tableau 6. Small-multiple tables with Excel-like formatting

### 6. The best no-code writeback in the industry Inforiver offers the best solution for writeback across all BI platforms (and not just Power BI). The no-code writeback capability enables use cases such as the following: * Persisting data that is edited, cleansed, or updated * Creating forecasts and budgets * Track comments and data-level conversations * Create scenarios and snapshots * ... and more

### **7. Best practices and standards** Inforiver adopts a business-responsive design that can help users deliver [IBCS-compliant](https://inforiver.com/ibcs-reports-powerbi/) business, management, variance, and performance reports in a single click. Inforiver offers a wide variety of [charts](https://inforiver.com/ibcs-reports-powerbi/ibcs-charts-powerbi/) and [table](https://inforiver.com/ibcs-reports-powerbi/ibcs-tables-powerbi/) templates, advanced[ small multiples](https://inforiver.com/advanced-small-multiples-powerbi/), data-level comments, top N + others, pixel-perfect Export to PDF, and many more.

### 8. One-stop shop for all your needs Procure visuals from one provider for all your requirements, ensuring standardization and ease of maintenance * Analytics+ with 50+ charts, cards & tables * Matrix for reporting and scheduling * Forecasting, planning, budgeting with writeback * Table editor with governance, workflow and audit * Project management / Gantt visual (xViz) * Performance flow for creating trees, process & network diagrams (xViz)

In the next section, we'll be looking at how to [get started with Inforiver](/introduction-to-inforiver/get-started). # Get Started In this guide, we'll be covering the Inforiver Reporting Matrix and Writeback Matrix. A quick introduction to the two products is given below. For more details, refer to the links or the [website](https://inforiver.com/). ## Overview [Inforiver Reporting Matrix](https://inforiver.com/reporting-matrix/) - For management, financial, IBCS, and paginated reporting, data exploration, excel-like pivot analysis, visual-level formula calculations, what-if analysis, simulations, forecasting, and formatted export to PDF/Excel. The Reporting Matrix is a Microsoft-certified visual. [Inforiver Writeback Matrix](https://inforiver.com/writeback-matrix/) - For advanced data input (forecasts, text, drop-down lists, etc.), writeback, commenting & collaboration, report scheduling & bursting. Highly useful for use cases such as what-if analysis, simulations, sales forecasting, planning, forecasting, budgeting, and more. Comes in two editions – SaaS and On-Premise. You can try Inforiver for free or purchase licenses through the two ways listed below: 1. **Microsoft appsource** - for seamless license procurement and administration using Microsoft's framework and for use in Power BI Desktop and Service 2. **Inforiver website** - for free trials without credit card, license purchase for use in Power BI Report Server, or Embedded or OEM applications [Know more about the pricing tiers for Inforiver.](https://inforiver.com/pricing/) ## 1. Microsoft Appsource Inforiver Reporting Matrix and Writeback Matrix visuals can be downloaded from Appsource. Free trials are available through Microsoft Appsource *only for certain pricing tiers*. * Follow the steps [here](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/developer/visuals/import-visual) to download a free version (only for Power BI Desktop). Note: Search for “Inforiver” in the import AppSource visuals section: * To purchase and manage licenses through Microsoft [AppSource](https://appsource.microsoft.com/marketplace/apps?page=1\&product=power-bi-visuals), read this [blog](https://powerbi.microsoft.com/en-au/blog/introducing-a-new-way-to-purchase-licensed-power-bi-visuals-and-manage-licenses-through-microsoft-platforms/). Navigate to the Appsource admin portal: * For FAQs on Microsoft Appsource purchase, visit this [page](https://inforiver.com/microsoft-appsource-purchase-faq/) and this [page](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/developer/visuals/licensing-faq). ## 2. Inforiver website The latest features and hotfixes are available on the Inforiver website before they are released on AppSource. You can download and install the Reporting Matrix and Writeback Matrix visuals directly from the website if you do not require certified visuals. ### STEP 1: Download Inforiver You will receive an email with a link to download the visual as a .pbiviz file if you have registered for a trial of the [Inforiver Reporting Matrix](https://inforiver.com/trial/) or [Writeback Matrix](https://inforiver.com/writeback-matrix/trial/) from the Inforiver website or have a [paid subscription to Inforiver](https://inforiver.com/login/), The visual is already embedded with a unique dynamically generated license key for paid subscriptions - you do not have to enter any license key in the visual. #### **TROUBLESHOOTING:** #### 1. When I download, I get the message ‘This XML file does not appear to have any style information.’ Your download link has expired. Please verify your email at to access the new download link. #### 2. I haven't received the welcome email Ensure there are no spelling mistakes/typos in the mail ID used for registration. Check your spam folder or whitelist . If that doesn’t work, reach out to your IT team and ask them to whitelist the domain at the firewall level. You will start receiving subsequent emails from us in your inbox. If you are still having difficulties, reach out to us [here](https://inforiver.com/contact-us/). ### STEP 2: Install Inforiver There are 2 different methods to deploy Inforiver in Power BI: #### 2.1 Install for yourself * You can use this option to install the visual on your own in the Power BI desktop or service, without help from your IT or Power BI administrator. * You must share the Inforiver build file (.pbiviz file) with additional report authors/creators if they need to use Inforiver. * In the future, when there is a newer version of Inforiver, you need to follow the same process to update each of your reports. [Learn more about installing Inforiver for yourself.](/introduction-to-inforiver/get-started/installing-inforiver-for-yourself) #### 2.2 Install for your Organization (Organization Visual) * Under this option, your Power BI Administrator uploads Inforiver to the **Organizational Custom Visual (OCV)** * Once uploaded, the custom visual becomes available to all users within your organization who log on to Power BI. You need not share the build file (.pbiviz file) with every creator; they do not have to individually install or update visuals. * Any future updates done to the visual – when uploaded to the repository by the administrator – will automatically update all the reports in your organization. [Learn more about installing Inforiver for your organization.](/introduction-to-inforiver/get-started/installing-inforiver-for-your-organization-org-visual) If you have any other queries, reach us through the [Inforiver Community](https://community.inforiver.com/). Paid customers can also email the Inforiver support team (mentioned in your purchase email). In the next section, we'll look at installing Inforiver. # Installing Inforiver for yourself This section outlines the steps involved in installing the Inforiver visual for yourself. 1. Open your report in Power BI Desktop or Power BI service. 2. Select the ellipsis from the visualizations pane.

3\. Select **Import a visual from a file** from the menu.

4\. If you get a message cautioning you about importing custom files, select **Import.**

5. Navigate to the folder that has the custom visual file (.pbiviz) and open it. 6. When the visual has successfully been imported, select **OK**.

7. The visual now appears as a new icon in the visualizations pane of the current report.

8\. If you want the visual to remain on the visualization pane for all reports right-click on it and select **Pin to visualizations pane**.

9. The visual gets pinned.

In the next section, we'll look at how an admin can install Inforiver for the organization. # Installing from AppSource To install the certified Inforiver visuals from Microsoft AppSource, follow the steps below. 1. Click the '...' icon in the Visualizations pane and select **Get more visuals**.

2. Navigate to the **AppSource visuals** tab and type Inforiver in the search box. Select Inforiver Reporting Matrix.

Select the Inforiver Reporting Matirx visual

3. Click **Add**.

4. The visual gets added.

Inforiver visual added to the Visualization pane

5. Click on the Inforiver icon to add the visual to the canvas. Click on 'Format your visual' and enter the license key in the field highlighted.

# Installing Inforiver for your organization (Org visual) Your Power BI administrator must access the admin portal and install Inforiver under Organization visuals. [Learn more about installing organization visuals](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/fabric/admin/organizational-visuals). To add Inforiver under the “**My Organization**” Tab in Power BI, ask your Power BI Admin to follow the steps [here](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/admin/organizational-visuals#organizational-visuals). In the next section, we'll cover the prerequisites for Inforiver Writeback Matrix. # Inforiver Writeback Matrix prerequisites To set up Inforiver Writeback Matrix, two additional steps must be completed in collaboration with the Power BI administrator. * Since Inforiver is an add-on visual that operates on top of the Power BI framework, users must log in with their Microsoft O365 account. [Admin consent](/introduction-to-inforiver/get-started/inforiver-writeback-matrix-prerequisites/admin-consent-for-inforivers-entra-id) will be required to log in, add writeback destinations, or connect to integrations like Teams or SharePoint. * Network firewalls block connections from IP addresses that do not have permission. [Whitelist Inforiver’s outbound IPs in your Azure SQL database firewall rules.](/introduction-to-inforiver/get-started/inforiver-writeback-matrix-prerequisites/whitelist-inforiver-ips) # Whitelist Inforiver IPs Inforiver's outbound IP address must be whitelisted in the customer's network or database firewalls to access Inforiver services. ### 1. Whitelisting Inforiver for On-Prem Writeback Inforiver writeback may be unable to connect to on-prem databases hosted in data centers or office networks. This happens because the network firewall between your database and Inforiver blocks the inbound communication initiated for writeback. For writeback to work with on-prem databases, the admin must whitelist the below 5 Inforiver outbound IPs in the network firewall. {% hint style="info" %} ### Inforiver IP addresses to be whitelisted: For [addons.inforiver.com](https://addons.inforiver.com): * 20.80.81.140 - 20.80.81.143 * 172.170.162.240 For [euw.addons.inforiver.com](https://euw.addons.inforiver.com): * 20.229.172.84 - 20.229.172.87 * 57.153.117.230 {% endhint %} ### 2. Whitelisting for Azure SQL Azure SQL destinations have firewall rules that block connections originating from non-whitelisted IPs.

firewall blocking the inbound communication to Azure

To connect to Azure SQL databases from Inforiver, you must create a firewall rule to open the firewall for a specific range of IP addresses. [Learn more about creating firewall rules.](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/database/firewall-create-server-level-portal-quickstart?view=azuresql) {% hint style="info" %} ### Inforiver IP addresses to be whitelisted: For [addons.inforiver.com](https://addons.inforiver.com): * 20.80.81.140 - 20.80.81.143 * 172.170.162.240 For [euw.addons.inforiver.com](https://euw.addons.inforiver.com): * 20.229.172.84 - 20.229.172.87 * 57.153.117.230 {% endhint %} Follow the steps in the image below to whitelist the Inforiver outbound IP addresses.

The screengrab below shows the firewall rules configured for Inforiver.

# Admin consent for Inforiver's Entra ID Inforiver is an add-on visual that operates atop the Power BI framework. Power BI does not share user details, hence users must login with their Microsoft O365 account. Admin consent will be required to login, add writeback destinations, or connect to integrations like Teams or SharePoint. Users may get an approval window as shown in the screenshot.

A tenant admin can provide basic access or give full admin consent by following the steps outlined: * [Basic consent](/introduction-to-inforiver/get-started/inforiver-writeback-matrix-prerequisites/admin-consent-for-inforivers-entra-id/basic-consent) * [Full admin consent](/introduction-to-inforiver/get-started/inforiver-writeback-matrix-prerequisites/admin-consent-for-inforivers-entra-id/full-admin-consent) The user will be able to login to the Inforiver console, connect to integrations, or add writeback destinations once the admin has approved. # Basic consent When users login to the Inforiver portal for the first time, admin consent will be required to authenticate the user. The portal utilizes Inforiver’s Entra ID app to authenticate the user and admins need to provide consent for users to be able to login. **STEP 1:** Admins can directly navigate to the consent URL. ``` https://login.microsoftonline.com/common/oauth2/v2.0/authorize?client_id=91891913-3884-46d3-bb4c-f68d33f43d4b&response_type=code&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Faddons.inforiver.com%3A443%2FRedirect&response_mode=form_post&scope=https%3A%2F%2Fgraph.microsoft.com%2FUser.ReadBasic.All https%3A%2F%2Fanalysis.windows.net%2Fpowerbi%2Fapi%2FReport.Read.All https%3A%2F%2Fanalysis.windows.net%2Fpowerbi%2Fapi%2FDataset.Read.All https%3A%2F%2Fanalysis.windows.net%2Fpowerbi%2Fapi%2FWorkspace.Read.All https%3A%2F%2Fgraph.microsoft.com%2FGroup.Read.All https%3A%2F%2Fgraph.microsoft.com%2FGroupMember.Read.All&prompt=consent ``` Users can either use the **Copy Link** option highlighted in the screenshot below or open the consent URL and share it with the admin.

**STEP 2:** Admins can approve the permissions listed in the screenshot to allow users to login.

**STEP 3:** Additional permissions are required to add functionalities like inviting other users in the organization and connecting to Power BI with Inforiver. Admins can navigate to the consent URL: ``` https://login.microsoftonline.com/common/oauth2/v2.0/authorize?client_id=91891913-3884-46d3-bb4c-f68d33f43d4b&response_type=code&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Faddons.inforiver.com%3A443%2FRedirect&response_mode=form_post&scope=https%3A%2F%2Fgraph.microsoft.com%2FUser.ReadBasic.All https%3A%2F%2Fanalysis.windows.net%2Fpowerbi%2Fapi%2FReport.Read.All https%3A%2F%2Fanalysis.windows.net%2Fpowerbi%2Fapi%2FDataset.Read.All https%3A%2F%2Fanalysis.windows.net%2Fpowerbi%2Fapi%2FWorkspace.Read.All https%3A%2F%2Fgraph.microsoft.com%2FGroup.Read.All https%3A%2F%2Fgraph.microsoft.com%2FGroupMember.Read.All&prompt=consent ``` Admins need to provide all the permissions shown in the screenshot and check the ‘Consent on behalf of your organization’ option.

Note: After clicking Accept, admins may get a ‘Login Failed’ page, this is expected behavior if they aren’t a member of the Inforiver portal. **STEP 4:** After providing permissions, the Inforiver Entra ID app’s permissions page in the Enterprise Applications section should look like this.

# Full admin consent Users may encounter the "Need admin approval" page when they try to connect to integrations (like Microsoft Teams/SharePoint) or add writeback destinations. The tenant admin needs to provide consent to Inforiver’s Entra ID app. **STEP 1:** Admins can navigate to the URL: ``` https://login.microsoftonline.com/organizations/adminConsent?client_id=91891913-3884-46d3-bb4c-f68d33f43d4b&redirect_uri=https://addons.inforiver.com ``` **STEP 2:** Click Accept to provide consent for all the permissions listed.

# Inforiver Customer Portal Inforiver offers a 'Customer Portal' through which **web store customers** can view and update their subscription and billing information, payment methods, upgrade or modify their subscriptions, download the latest releases, and more. This section explains how to use the customer portal in detail. ## 1. Where to access? The customer portal can be accessed by clicking **Login** from [https://inforiver.com](https://inforiver.com/), as shown below.

## 2. Who can access it? The **Billing** and **License** admins can access the customer portal. 1. **Billing Admin** * Receives invoices and payment-related emails * Can update their profile information, billing and shipping details, and payment methods * Can modify, cancel, or reactivate their subscription plans. 2. **License Admin/Shipping Admin** * Receives subscription-related emails * Manages licenses and their sharing across the organization's users * Generates or downloads the latest builds as required. The billing and license admins are usually the same person, but there can be exceptions. They use separate logins, as explained in the next section. ## 3. How to access it? The portal has two login options: account-based login for billing admins and subscription-based login for licensing admins. **Account-based login:** The billing admin can log in using the registered email ID as shown below. A 6-digit verification code would be sent to the registered email ID.

**Subscription-based login:** The license admin can click the link available for the subscription-based login and then log in using the registered email ID and subscription ID, as shown below. A 6-digit verification code will be sent to the registered email ID.

## 4. What can you access? The information accessible to the billing and license admins is outlined [here](#who-can-access-it). Let's now explore it in detail in the coming sections. # Billing Admin Billing admins receive invoices for successful payments and other payment-related emails. After logging in, they can access the dashboard. The dashboard offers a unified interface for the billing admins to view and [update their profile](/introduction-to-inforiver/get-started/inforiver-customer-portal/billing-admin/update-profile) and [subscription-related information](/introduction-to-inforiver/get-started/inforiver-customer-portal/billing-admin/update-subscriptions) by clicking on the highlighted links as shown below. They can also view upcoming payment details and promotional credit balances, if any.

## 1. View Credit Note and Promotional Credits The billing admins can easily view their available credits—both credit notes and promotional credits—directly from the dashboard in the customer portal. ### 1.1. View available credits For paid subscriptions, the dashboard looks as shown below. On the dashboard, the **Available Credits** KPI is displayed, representing the total amount of credits available.

### 1.2. Credits breakdown When hovering over the Available Credits KPI, it shows the breakdown: * Promotional Credits * Credit Notes

### 1.3. Understanding the credits * **Credit Notes:**\ These are credits generated automatically from the system—often resulting from subscription downgrades or adjustments. * **Promotional Credits:**\ These are manually issued by the company as part of promotional campaigns, customer goodwill gestures, or special offers. {% hint style="info" %} Detailed information about all credit notes associated with a specific subscription can be viewed from the subscription details page as explained [here](https://docs.inforiver.com/introduction-to-inforiver/get-started/inforiver-customer-portal/pages/HQmLiazkueLkLKvKyZTw#id-4.-view-detailed-credit-notes-per-subscription). {% endhint %} ## 2. View and Download Invoice For paid subscriptions, the dashboard looks as shown below. They can view and download the latest invoice by clicking **Download Invoice.**

The dashboard has a dropdown menu, **Menu** with which users can switch between the pages — Profile, Subscriptions, and then back to the Dashboard.

We will now look at managing the [profile](/introduction-to-inforiver/get-started/inforiver-customer-portal/billing-admin/update-profile) and [subscriptions](/introduction-to-inforiver/get-started/inforiver-customer-portal/billing-admin/update-subscriptions) in the coming sections. # Update Profile Billing admins can view and update their profile by clicking **View full profile**. Alternatively, they can click **Menu → Profile** to navigate to the Profile page.

The billing admin can update the billing address, additional contact details, and payment methods on the profile page by clicking the relevant links as explained below. If there are any changes in the domain, please contact us at . Any cross-domain request will be validated by our team. After validation, the details will be updated and notified to the requested customer.

## 1. Update Billing Information The billing admin can update the billing information by clicking **Update Billing Info**. The window below opens, and they can update the information by clicking **Update**.

## 2. Add Additional Contact When billing admins require additional users to assist with tasks such as managing licenses, monitoring subscriptions, generating and working with builds, etc., they can add additional contacts to the account by clicking **Add Additional Contact** on the Profile page. \ They can add their name and email ID and specify whether they should receive only billing or subscription-related emails. Based on the access configured here, these additional users receive appropriate emails and can log in to the portal using an account/subscription-based login.

## 3. Update Payment Method The billing admin can update the payment methods as and when required by clicking on **Update Payment Method** on the Profile page. Users can quickly add or modify their debit/credit card information here without waiting for the payment link in the mail.

The next section details the **Subscriptions page**, where we manage subscription-related information. # Update Subscriptions ## 1. View Subscriptions To view and update subscription-related details, billing admins can click on the **Subscriptions** tile or **Menu → Subscriptions** from the dashboard.

The billing admin can now view a list of all active and past subscriptions, including trial, paid, and cancelled subscriptions.

Every subscription has a unique subscription ID and important dates, such as the expiration date for trial subscriptions, the upcoming payment date for paid subscriptions, and the date of cancellation for cancelled subscriptions. Click on the subscription of interest, and this opens the [Subscription Details page](#id-2.-subscription-details-page), which is explained below. ## 2. Subscription Details page This page allows billing admins to view detailed information about a subscription and make changes to it. When you click on any of the subscriptions from the list, the corresponding subscription details page opens as shown below, where they can view the plan details, [credit details](#id-4.-view-detailed-credit-notes-per-subscription), upcoming payment date and amount, invoices, and [update the shipping information](#id-5.-update-shipping-details).

{% hint style="info" %} Refer to the section below to know how to [upgrade a trial subscription](#id-3.1.-trial-to-active-subscription) to a fully paid active subscription or to [change the subscription plan](#id-3.2.-modify-subscription-plan). To reactivate a previously cancelled subscription, refer to [this section](#id-9.-reactivate-cancelled-subscription). {% endhint %} ## 3. Modify a Subscription This section explains how billing admins can upgrade or modify their subscriptions. Upgrading the subscription plan enables more user licenses to be added to the account at an efficient price per user. ### 3.1. Trial to Active Subscription Customers with active trial subscriptions can seamlessly upgrade to a full subscription directly from the customer portal. When you click open the Subscriptions page, a list of all subscriptions will be displayed as discussed in the above section. Subscriptions that are currently in the trial phase will be labeled as **Trial**. 1. **Select a Trial Subscription to Activate** The billing admin can select the required trial subscription to activate. The Subscription Details page opens, displaying information such as the subscription's next billing date, current shipping address, and plan details.

2. **Click** **'Upgrade'** In the Plan Details section, click on **Upgrade**. 3. **Complete the basic requirements—if unavailable** Before proceeding to the 'Upgrade' page, the system will check for the following required details: * Billing Address * Shipping Address * Card Information * Auto-Collection If any of these are missing, a page will appear prompting the billing admin to provide the required information, along with relevant links.

Complete all basic requirements to proceed

Once all required information is provided, the billing admin will be redirected to the 'Upgrade' page. 4. **Upgrade your Subscription** On this page, the customer can: * Change the Plan * Change the Billing Frequency (Monthly or Yearly) * Choose the Number of Users

5. **Complete the Upgrade** Click on **Preview Changes** to preview the changes made. Complete the process by clicking on **Upgrade** to activate the subscription.

The subscription is activated.

### 3.2. Modify Subscription Plan Customers have full control to modify their subscriptions directly from the customer portal — including upgrades, downgrades, changing billing frequency, and adjusting user counts. 1. **Select a Paid Subscription to modify** The billing admin can select the required paid subscription to modify. The Subscription Details page opens, displaying information such as the subscription's next billing date, invoices, downloads, current shipping address, and plan details. 2. **Click 'Modify'** For paid subscriptions, there will be a **Modify** button next to the plan details. Click on it to modify the subscription plan.

{% hint style="info" %} Plan changes are not available for all subscriptions. Only eligible plans, as defined by the company, can be modified. If the **Modify** option is not visible, the plan may not allow changes through the portal. Please contact support for further assistance. {% endhint %} 3. **Complete the basic requirements—if unavailable** Before proceeding to modify the plan, the system will ensure that the following details are available: * Billing Address * Shipping Address * Card Information * Auto-Collection If any of these details are missing, a prompt will appear, directing the billing admin to enter the missing information before proceeding. Once all required information is provided, the billing admin will be redirected to the 'Modify Subscription' page. 4. **Modify Your Subscription** On this page, the customer can: * Change the Plan * Change the Billing Frequency (Monthly or Yearly) * Increase or Decrease the Number of Users (Upgrade or Downgrade)

5. **Preview and Save Changes** Once the changes are done, the billing admin can click on **Preview Changes** to preview the changes and apply the modifications instantly by clicking **Modify**. ## 4. View Detailed Credit Notes per Subscription Customers can access detailed information about all credit notes associated with a specific subscription via the subscription details page. On the Subscription Details page, all credit notes linked to the selected subscription will be listed, including their status and associated amounts.

### 4.1. Credit Note Status Explained: * **Refund Due:**\ **Credits are available** and have not been fully used. This status also applies when credits have been partially used. * **Refunded:**\ All available credits have been used. The status automatically updates from **Refund Due** to **Refunded**. * **Voided:**\ The credit note has been cancelled and is **no longer valid for use**. * **Adjusted:**\ The credit note has been **applied towards an invoice**, reducing the invoice amount accordingly. ## 5. Update Shipping Details Click on **Update Shipping Info** on the Subscription Details page to update the shipping information.

The shipping address can differ from the billing address, but the domain in the shipping email must match the billing email. Click **Update** to save changes.

## 6. Generate and Download Builds/Get License key {% hint style="info" %} Billing admins can generate and download builds **only if they are also the license admins**. Otherwise, only [license admins](/introduction-to-inforiver/get-started/inforiver-customer-portal/license-admin) will be able to generate or regenerate builds and download them. {% endhint %} In the ‘Downloads/Licenses’ section, the billing admin can generate and download the latest builds by clicking **Generate Build**. After the build is generated, they can click **Download**. The latest three versions will be available for admins to download at any time. For certified visuals, the license key can be copied from this section.

## 7. Regenerate Build Billing admins, who also serve as license admins, can regenerate builds for applicable versions directly from the Subscription Details page. If a build has already been generated for a subscription/version, a 'Regenerate Build' button will appear next to it. Clicking this button will regenerate the build.

## 9. Reactivate Cancelled Subscription Customers can easily reactivate their cancelled subscriptions directly through the customer portal. The Subscriptions page lists all subscriptions, including cancelled subscriptions.

1. **Select a Cancelled Subscription** Click on the subscription that is currently cancelled to open the Subscription Details page.

2. **Click 'Reactivate'** Click **Reactivate** on the Subscription Details page. 3. **Checks before Reactivation** Before proceeding to the reactivation page, the system will validate if: * Billing Address is configured * Shipping Address is configured * Card Information is available * Auto-Collection is enabled If any of these are missing or not set correctly, the customer will be redirected to a configuration page to update the necessary information. 4. **Complete Reactivation** Once all checks are completed, the customer is directed to the reactivation page, where they can confirm and complete the process of restoring the subscription by clicking on **Reactivate.**

{% hint style="info" %} Some plans do not support reactivation. The option to reactivate will appear only if your plan allows it. If reactivation is restricted for a plan, customers will need to contact support for further assistance. {% endhint %} ## 10. View Scheduled Changes Customers can view and understand any scheduled changes to their subscriptions directly from the Subscription Details page. When customers click on any of their active subscriptions, if a scheduled change exists for that subscription, the 'Scheduled Changes' section will appear and a summary will be displayed.

Click on **Details** to view full details.

# License Admin License admins can access only the **Subscriptions page** after they log in using their registered email ID and subscription ID. They can view the plan details and shipping information, generate the Inforiver visual for the available versions, or get the license key in case of a certified visual. ## 1. Generate and Download Builds/Get License key In the ‘Downloads/Licenses’ section, the license admin can generate and download the latest builds by clicking **Generate Build**. After the build is generated, they can click **Download.** The latest three versions will be available for the license admins to download at any time. For certified visuals, the license key can be copied from this section.

Unlike billing admins, they cannot view invoices or change billing/subscription information. They receive emails from Inforiver to download the visual once they sign up and whenever new releases become available. {% hint style="info" %} License admins will always have access to the most recent three versions for download. {% endhint %} ## 2. Regenerate Build License admins can regenerate a build for applicable versions directly from the Subscription Details page. If a build has already been generated for a subscription/version, a 'Regenerate Build' button will appear next to it. Clicking this button will regenerate the build.

Regenerating the build is useful when you want to make sure that any configuration changes or the latest settings are applied. {% hint style="info" %} The 'Regenerate Build' button appears only for subscriptions that already have a previously generated build. For versions with no existing builds, there will be a 'Generate Build' Button. {% endhint %} We hope this guide has answered all your questions. If you have any further inquiries or subscription-related issues, you can reach out to us at [inforiver.com/contact-us/](https://inforiver.com/contact-us/) # Licensing When you purchase a certified Inforiver Reporting Matrix visual from AppSource, you will need to assign licenses to report developers from the [Microsoft Admin Portal](https://admin.microsoft.com/Adminportal/Home?#/licenses). **Who is a license admin?** The person responsible for purchasing the Inforiver product is the license administrator. After the payment details are updated successfully, the purchaser becomes the license admin. If the purchaser intends to use Inforiver, they must assign a license to themselves as well. Learn more about renewing licenses in the next section. # License renewal This section is intended for Inforiver Reporting Matrix customers who use a licensed, Microsoft-certified version of the visual from AppSource. The Inforiver support team will share a license key file in JSON format with you. The license needs to be applied to every Inforiver Reporting Matrix visual and has a validity of 1 year. At the end of the validity period, follow the steps outlined to apply the renewed license for all Reporting Matrix visuals in your Power BI reports(pbix files). ### 1. Power BI reports which do not have a theme applied **STEP 1:** Navigate to the View ribbon in the Power BI toolbar > click the **Browse for themes** option from the dropdown menu.

**STEP 2:** Select the license theme file shared by the Inforiver support team.

Sample license theme file:

**STEP 3:**You'll get a pop-up notification once the theme file is added:

Notification after successfully importing the theme file

After importing the theme file, the license key will automatically be updated in all the Inforiver Reporting Matrix visuals in that particular pbix file. The license will also be applied to any new Reporting Matrix visuals added to the Power BI report. You can verify that the license key has been updated from the Formal Visual pane.

Verify that the license key has been updated

### 2. Power BI reports which already have a theme applied **STEP 1:** If your report already has a Power BI theme applied, you will need to export the theme by clicking the **Save current theme** option from the ribbon menu.

**STEP 2:** Open the saved Power BI JSON theme file. Append the contents of the license key shared by the Inforiver team to the theme file. If you have both Reporting Matrix and Analytics+ visuals, you can append both license keys to the theme file. A sample Power BI theme file with the Reporting Matrix and Analytics+ licenses applied is shown below:

Sample file with Reporting Matrix and Analytics+ licenses appended

Follow the steps listed in the [previous section](#id-1.-power-bi-reports-which-do-not-have-a-theme-applied) to import the theme file and apply the license key. # Registering Inforiver on Azure AD (Entra ID) Azure active directory app registration is required for every app that requires Microsoft to perform Identity and Access Management. Additionally, Inforiver uses multiple Office 365 APIs to fetch information like Power BI report metadata, user emails and groups, SharePoint, and OneDrive integration, etc. This requires app registration to deploy Inforiver successfully. ### Pre-requisite We will use certificate-based authentication for Microsoft Entra ID. Follow the steps outlined in the Microsoft documentation to create a self-signed public certificate. {% embed url="" %} Steps to create a self-signed certificate {% endembed %} ### Registering the Inforiver application **STEP 1:** Login to your Azure Portal. **STEP 2:** Click on **Manage Azure Active Directory** from the menu. **STEP 3:** Click **App registrations** from the left sub-menu. **STEP 4:** Click the **New Registration** tab in the top menu bar, as shown.

**STEP 5:** Enter an **Application Name** to be displayed to the users **STEP 6:** Select **Accounts in this organizational directory only** for the **Who can use this application** option. **STEP 7:** Leave the **Redirect URI** blank for now. This needs to be filled in after we get the application URL. **STEP 8:** Click Register to register the application.

### Uploading your self-signed certificate **STEP 1:** Click on **Certificates & secrets** in the left-hand menu. **STEP 2:** Navigate to Certificates > Upload certificate. **STEP 3:** Select the certificate file to upload. It must be one of the following file types: .cer, .pem, .crt. **STEP 4:** Click Add.

### Environment variable settings Navigate to your app service and select Environment variables from the left-hand side menu. Add the variables listed below: * **O365\_APP\_CERTIFICATE\_CREDENTIALS**: Self-signed certificate body.

Environment variable for Certificate body

* **O365\_APP\_PRIVATE\_KEY:** Self-signed certificate private key.

Environment variable for RSA private key

* **O365\_APP\_CERTIFICATE\_THUMBPRINT: T**humbprint value of self-signed certificate. This can be obtained from your Azure AD application Certificate section.

Save the settings after all three environment variables are added. The appservice will restart automatically to reflect the changes. # Working with Inforiver This guide for Inforiver Reporting Matrix and Writeback Matrix is intended for users across departments and functions who are looking to leverage Power BI for enhanced data exploration, visualizations, analysis, visual calculations, what-if simulations, budgeting and more. To know more about the use cases supported by Inforiver, refer to this [page](/). While this guide can be used as a quick reference for specific features, it is also structured as an end-to-end self-paced Inforiver training. The guide is organized as follows. **1. Build your first Inforiver report** - Adding the visual, configuring the initial report layout using the launch wizard and mapping the data are covered in the [build your first Inforiver report](/working-with-inforiver/1.-build-your-first-inforiver-report) section. **2. Displaying information** - The report interface, layout options, templates, basic formatting and basic inline charts are covered in the [displaying information](/working-with-inforiver/2.-displaying-information) section. **3. Basic interactions** - Basic interactions such as explorer, Top N ranking, search & filter, sorting, managing column widths, managing hierarchies, and grouping rows and columns, are covered in [basic interactions](/working-with-inforiver/3.-basic-interactions). **4. Adding business logic and formulae** - Inserting calculated and manual input rows/columns, quick formulas, and a list of formulae available in Inforiver are covered in the [adding business logic and formulae](/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae) section. **5. Conditional formatting** - The [conditional formatting](/working-with-inforiver/5.-conditional-formatting) section covers various options such as quick rules, color scales, conditional formatting based on nested if conditions, segmentation, Top N ranking and more. **6. Working with charts** - The charts and visualizations have a number of customization options such as reference bands and lines, scaling, comparison bands etc. which are covered in [working with charts](/working-with-inforiver/6.-working-with-charts). **7. Planning, budgeting & forecasting** - What-if analysis & simulations, scenarios, budgeting, allocations, set versions and snapshots are covered in [planning, budgeting & forecasting](/working-with-inforiver/7.-planning-budgeting-and-forecasting). **8. Paginated reporting** - The [paginated reporting](/working-with-inforiver/8.-paginated-reporting) section covers options such as pagination, header & footer, and report layouts which allow you to build highly formatted & interactive paginated reports. **9. Commenting & collaboration** - The [commenting & collaboration](/working-with-inforiver/8.-commenting-and-collaboration) section covers adding notes, annotations & comments, using @mentions, replies, email notifications, comment digest and more. **10. Exporting reports** - The [exporting reports](/working-with-inforiver/10.-exporting-reports) section covers export to Excel and PDF and ad-hoc emails. **11. Scheduling reports** - The [scheduling reports](/working-with-inforiver/11.-scheduling-reports) section covers report bursting and scheduling to emails and shared drives. **12. Data writeback** - The [data writeback](/working-with-inforiver/12.-data-writeback) section covers configuring writeback destinations, writeback to different databases, shared drives and URL destinations, writeback logs and more. To start building your first Inforiver report, refer to the [first section](/working-with-inforiver/1.-build-your-first-inforiver-report). # 1. Build your first Inforiver report This guide is designed to get you up and running with Inforiver Reporting Matrix & Writeback Matrix as quickly as possible. If you have not already installed Inforiver, see the install guide [here](/introduction-to-inforiver/get-started). The datasets used throughout the guide can be downloaded below. You can also use your own datasets and follow the steps outlined. {% file src="/files/T4W6WvNgDUrWh2gXUrq0" %} Sample dataset used in the guide {% endfile %} ### 1. Add the visual The first step to using Inforiver is to add it to the Power BI canvas. Click on the Inforiver icon in the visualization pane. Resize it to fill the entire screen.

Add Inforiver visual to the canvas and expand to fullscreen

{% hint style="info" %} *Inforiver can be used with other native and custom Power BI visuals, but throughout this guide, we will be using Inforiver in full-screen mode for the best experience.* {% endhint %} To start building reports in Inforiver, a) Use the Launch Wizard (optional) The Launch Wizard is used to configure the initial report view by applying customizations such as theme, templates, and subtotals/totals. These changes can also be made once the data is assigned. b) Start assigning the data ### **2. Launch wizard** a) Once you expand to full screen, you can see the 'Get Started' section in the Launch Wizard. Click on 'Start building'.

b) The customization screen opens up. You can apply a template such as financial, change the subtotal position, enable/disable grand total, and apply a light/dark theme.

You can apply a template, configure the subtotals position, enable/disable grand total and apply a theme

c) As you configure, the changes are reflected in the preview screen.

Once you have made the desired configurations, you can start adding the data as explained in [assign data](#3.-assign-data). ### **3. Assign data** Similar to using a pivot table, to use the visual you need to specify 3 things: * Rows * Columns (optional) and * Values If you’ve used pivot tables before, this experience should feel familiar. If you have experience with Power BI, this process is identical to any other Power BI visual, especially a table or matrix visual. In the below image, Region hierarchy, Category & Year, and Sales have been assigned as Rows, Columns & Values respectively.

You can see that the canvas shows a matrix based on the data assigned. Notice that the position of subtotals and grand totals that were defined in the Launch Wizard have been applied. Apart from AC/PY/PL/FC, Inforiver will allow you to add any number of additional measures/dimensions in the Others(OM) parameter.

{% hint style="info" %} You can add dimensions like category or region in the Values(AC) section or the PY/PL/FC sections. Special characters in the data like % or # symbols will be supported and displayed as is. {% endhint %} {% hint style="info" %} Inforiver Writeback Matrix requires the report creator to sign in while creating the report. Without creators signing in, other users will be able to view the report but will not be able to save any changes made to the report. Interactions with the report would mimic using a free version of Inforiver {% endhint %} ### **4. View licensing details and statistics** Click on the Inforiver icon at the bottom right corner of the visual to view the license details and visual statistics like the number of row/column dimension categories, total number of rows, number of forecasts/data inputs, etc.

In the next section, we'll be covering how to [display information](/working-with-inforiver/2.-displaying-information) using Inforiver. # 2. Displaying information We successfully created a simple Inforiver report in the [previous section](/working-with-inforiver/1.-build-your-first-inforiver-report). In this section, we'll cover the following: **1. Report interface** - An Inforiver visual has the following elements - toolbar, report header, report canvas, status bar, zoom in/out controls and pagination controls. To learn more about the report interface, refer to [Report interface](/working-with-inforiver/2.-displaying-information/the-report-interface). **2. Layout options** - Inforiver offers two major types of layout options - Table layouts and Measure layouts. Each of these comes with its own set of variations and can be used together in a single layout. To learn more, refer to [Layout options](/working-with-inforiver/2.-displaying-information/layout-options). **3. Templates** - In addition to the layout options, Inforiver provides three types of quick-start business templates, each of which can be customized further. To learn more, refer to [Templates](/working-with-inforiver/2.-displaying-information/templates). **4. Basic formatting** - Inforiver provides a number of options to format the values such as numbers, text, dates, totals etc. To learn more, refer to [Basic formatting](/working-with-inforiver/2.-displaying-information/basic-formatting). **5. Basic inline charts** - With Inforiver, you can deliver a range of charts and visualizations in your matrix reports in a single click. To learn more, refer to [Basic inline charts](/working-with-inforiver/2.-displaying-information/add-basic-inline-charts). # Report interface The Inforiver matrix report interface contains the following sections:

1. Toolbar: The multi-tab toolbar has several action items that can be used to configure the report 2. Report header: The multi-line, formattable report header can be used to provide additional information on the report 3. Report canvas: this section contains the body of the report where information is displayed in tabular form 4. Status bar: The status bar contains information such as the following * Aggregation information: Displays the number of rows. When a measure is selected, this section can also show metrics such as sum, average, and count.

* Zoom/Un zoom controls: You can use the controls provided in the footer or use the keyboard shortcuts (Ctrl + / Ctrl -) * Pagination controls: You can use first-previous-next-last navigation controls, and also set the number of rows per page. In the next section, we'll look at the available [layout options](/working-with-inforiver/2.-displaying-information/layout-options). # Layout options Inforiver offers two major types of layout options - **Table layouts** and **Measure layouts**. Each of these comes with its own set of variations and can be used together in a single layout. The Table Layout lets you determine how categories in rows need to be displayed. The Measure Layouts give you flexibility specifically with respect to how measures are displayed. {% embed url="" %} Table and measure layouts - Overview {% endembed %} ## 1. Table layouts ### a. Hierarchy By default, Inforiver delivers data in a hierarchical, expand/collapse-enabled format.

When you select the Layout item from the menu, you will notice the selection defaulted to 'Hierarchy'.

Changing this selection helps you modify the report layouts to the other types listed below. ### b. Outline The outline layout shows the row categories in individual columns. By default, the 'ruler' is also enabled for this layout. The ruler is used to easily resize rows and columns as you do in spreadsheets, and to select a specific column. You can hide the ruler by de-selecting the ruler icon on the toolbar.

### c. Table The table option shows categories in a tabular format, without any expand-collapse hierarchies for rows. Note that the hierarchy expand/collapse option is available for columns (Quarter-Month).

### d. Performance mode {% hint style="info" %} This feature is coming soon and will be part of the 3.9 release {% endhint %} Inforiver’s differentiated architecture enables faster processing of large hierarchies, ensuring optimal performance while creating reports with complex hierarchical data. To efficiently analyze extensive hierarchical datasets without compromising on performance, we recommend switching to the new Performance Table layout.

### e. Stepped The stepped layout is similar to the outline layout in that each category is listed in a column. The difference is in the availability of a separate total row for each branch of the hierarchy.

### f. Drilldown The drill down layout lets you explore one branch at a time in the hierarchy. This is also an ideal option when you have a huge volume of rows.

## 2. Measure layouts The default Measure layout is used in all the Table layouts listed above. ### a. In rows When you change this to 'In rows', the measures are displayed as shown below.

To re-order rows while using Measure in rows layout, you can click on row gripper and drag the rows to be re-ordered. Another way to do this is via the ‘Manage rows’ popup screen. Click on the gripper and drag and drop the measures as desired.

You can view the hidden row dimension under the 'Manage Rows' options in your 'Measure on Rows layout'. You can unhide the row dimension by checking box.

The hidden dimension is displayed under the Manage Rows in the Measure on Rows Layout.

### b. In columns When you change this to 'In columns', the measures are displayed above the column hierarchy categories.

In the next section, we'll look at the [one-click templates](/working-with-inforiver/2.-displaying-information/templates) offered by Inforiver. #### Resources: [Table and Matrix Layouts in Power BI](https://inforiver.com/blog/general/table-matrix-layout-powerbi/) [Measures in Rows vs. Columns vs. Nested Columns](https://inforiver.com/blog/general/measures-rows-columns-nested-columns/) [Pivot analysis using Inforiver](https://inforiver.com/excel-like-pivot-analysis-powerbi/) [Nesting Measures in Inforiver](https://inforiver.com/blog/general/nesting-measures-inforiver/) [Table and Matrix as Visuals = The Same but Different, Use Wisely](https://inforiver.com/blog/general/table-and-matrix-as-visuals-the-same-but-different-use-wisely/) [7 scenarios where Table, Matrix or Scorecard visuals are better than Charts](https://inforiver.com/insights/scenarios-where-table-matrix-scorecard-visuals-are-better-than-charts/) # Templates In addition to the [layout options](/working-with-inforiver/2.-displaying-information/layout-options), Inforiver provides three types of quick-start business templates, each of which can be customized further. {% embed url="" %} Templates - Overview {% endembed %} These templates can be accessed from the 'Templates' icon under the 'Home' tab.

{% hint style="info" %} You can switch between these templates at any time. However, any customizations you have done with the already existing template may be lost depending on the template you choose. {% endhint %} ## 1. Grid templates Grid templates are used to build typical tabular reports. ### a. Default grid The Default grid option is featured below.

### b. Spreadsheet grid The Spreadsheet grid option is very similar, but it evokes the feeling of working with spreadsheet software like Excel. The spreadsheet option is featured below.

## 2. Financial templates The financial templates are ideal for building financial reports and statements. It comes in two variations, the Simple option, and the Standard option. ### a. Simple template The Simple option is shown below. By default, the row categories are given more space to accommodate longer category names in financial statements such as 'Number of shares outstanding.

### b. Standard template The standard option uses a currency symbol for all the measures (which can be customized or removed for specific measures).

## 3. Performance templates Inforiver offers five (5) types of performance templates. All of these templates are based on designs recommended by International Business Communication Standards ([IBCS](https://www.ibcs.com/)). {% hint style="info" %} The performance templates are useful when you need to showcase observed performance against a benchmark (say, sales vs. plan, budget, forecast, or prior year sales). {% endhint %} In our case, we have chosen to map the measures as shown below.

The five performance template options available are listed below. ### a. Template T01 This template tracks current period performance vs. till date performance. In this case, Q4 vs. YTD. A unique feature of this template is that it has the categories listed in the middle. Note that this template would make sense only if you have time series mapped in the columns.

### b. Template T02 This is similar to template T01, except that the variances are shown in graphs. We can instantly recognize that the performance in Q4 has dipped w\.r.to the forecast. Again, this template would make sense only while using time series in the columns.

### c. Template T03 This template produces a standard hierarchical report with negative values in red.

### d. Template T04 This template shows hierarchical data in rows and columns with absolute and percentage variances graphically. Note that while the IBCS standards are not designed for hierarchical data in columns, Inforiver does support hierarchies while using these templates. Of course, you will have to use the scroll bar to navigate all the months when you expand, say, Q1.

### e. Template T05 This template is similar to T04, with the exception of actuals data (AC) which is shown in charts. This template also uses scale bands (as recommended by IBCS standards - these are the blue lines with two blue dots at the bottom) to compare varying scales of observed values and the absolute variance.

In the next section, we'll be covering the [basic formatting](/working-with-inforiver/2.-displaying-information/basic-formatting) options available in Inforiver. #### Resources [IBCS table templates in Inforiver](https://inforiver.com/ibcs-reports-powerbi/) [IBCS tables in Inforiver - Highlights](https://inforiver.com/ibcs-reports-powerbi/ibcs-tables-powerbi/) # Basic formatting Once you have chosen the layouts and/or templates, it is time to apply some basic formatting to the report. In this section, we cover the following: **1. Number formatting** - Inforiver comes prepackaged with *intelligent number formatting & scaling recognition* capabilities which will be covered in [Number formatting](/working-with-inforiver/2.-displaying-information/basic-formatting/number-formatting). **2. Cell & value formatting** - In Inforiver, you can change the font color, style, size, and text alignment in a cell, or apply formatting effects. To learn more, refer to [Cell & value formatting](/working-with-inforiver/2.-displaying-information/basic-formatting/cell-header-and-value-formatting). **3. Totals & subtotals** - Be it a typical table or a hierarchical matrix style report in Power BI, Inforiver allows you to seamlessly manage subtotals and grand totals in a couple of clicks. To learn more, refer to [Totals & subtotals](/working-with-inforiver/2.-displaying-information/basic-formatting/totals-and-subtotals). **4. Insert blank rows** - Financial statements and reports often require options to add white spaces for formatting. Inforiver provides the insert 'empty row' option to achieve this in a single click. To learn more, refer to [Insert blank rows](/working-with-inforiver/2.-displaying-information/basic-formatting/insert-blank-rows). # Number formatting Inforiver for Power BI comes prepackaged with *intelligent number formatting & scaling recognition* capabilities that help display data in a perceptive manner in your table/matrix style reports right out of the box. {% embed url="" %} Number formatting - Overview {% endembed %} ## 1. Number scaling Let us take a sample dataset as shown below. You can immediately spot data of mixed granularity – with values in millions, thousands, and even one that is just a few dollars worth.

Let us see how you can handle a dataset of varying granularities & formats using Inforiver. In the Home tab, click on the 'Quick format' dropdown. There are several options, let us look at each of them in detail.

### a) Measure level scaling By default, when you assign this data to Inforiver, each measure is formatted using an individual scale. The scaling for each measure is shown in the column header. This is useful to show measures of varying granularities (e.g., Revenue & Quantity) in the same table.

### b) Uniform scaling The 'Uniform' option applies one fixed scale to the entire table and moves the scaling unit display to the header. This is useful when all the measures are of comparable magnitude (e.g., Sales vs Forecast) in the same table.

Inforiver automatically chooses the scaling based on the values. But you can change it if needed. When you expand the dropdown again, you can see more options. You can select millions, billions, etc. as needed.

### c) Auto scaling When using the 'Auto' option, each cell is formatted individually. In the below image, you can see the suffixes - m and k to denote millions and thousands.

### d) Native scaling If you do not want any fancy formatting and need the numbers just as they are in the source data, select the ‘Native’ option.

Inforiver also shows the unscaled values in the tooltip (available upon publishing to service). This helps you scale values without losing the ability to look up the unscaled value whenever required.

Tooltip shows unscaled values in 'Reading view'

## 2. Percentage, prefix/suffix, and decimals Inforiver provides options to fine-tune the format at a row, column/measure, or cell level using the icons just below the 'Quick format' dropdown. These options include conversion to % format, attaching prefix/suffix, and increasing/decreasing decimal spaces.

In this example, we have current year and prior year sales, YoY sales, and Margin. ### a) Percentage As you can see in the footnotes, the measure Margin is actually Margin% and needs to be converted as a percentage. To do this, let's select the column. % icon gets enabled. Once you click on the icon, the values get converted to percentages.

Percentage option gets enabled on selecting a column/row/cell

### b) Prefix/suffix Using Inforiver, you can insert prefixes such as currency or suffixes like units. In the below example, the price is $ per unit. Select the column and click on the highlighted icon. Enter the prefix and suffix as shown.

Click 'Apply'. The changes get reflected as highlighted.

Price column shows the added prefix/suffix

### c) Decimals You can increase or decrease decimal places at a cell/row/column level. Let's remove the decimals for the Sales and Price columns. Use Shift+Select to select the two columns and click on the 'Decrease decimal' icon twice. The decimals are removed. The 'Increase decimal' option can be used similarly to increase decimal places.

Select the columns and decrease decimals

## 3. Semantic formatting Inforiver provides a number of options to customize numbers. In the 'Home' tab, click on the 'Display' settings. In the 'Numbers' tab, you'll find options such as Semantic formatting, Value display, Sign, and more. In this section, let's talk about semantic formatting. You can see the positive and negative options on enabling the toggle, as shown below. By default, they are shown in green and red, but they can be customized using the color picker.

Apply colors to positive and negative numbers

You can also display positive and negative numbers in the formats shown below.

In the next section, we'll be covering [Cell & value formatting](/working-with-inforiver/2.-displaying-information/basic-formatting/cell-header-and-value-formatting). #### Resources [Intelligent number formatting & scaling in Power BI](https://inforiver.com/blog/general/intelligent-automated-number-formatting-for-tables/) # Cell, header & value formatting In Inforiver Matrix, you can change the font color, style, size, and text alignment in a cell, or apply formatting effects. These are available in the in the **Style** and **Alignment** sections of the home ribbon.

## 1. Style options Let's take a quick look at the style section in this video. {% embed url="" %} Style options in Inforiver {% endembed %} #### 1.1. Font and size The default font is [Inforiver Sans](https://inforiver.com/blog/general/best-fonts-financial-reporting/) which has been specifically designed for use in financial and tabular reports. But you can change to a different font from the dropdown menu and change the default size. #### 1.2. Increase/decrease font size Font size can also be changed by using the Increase/Decrease font size options. #### 1.3. Font style Bold, Italics and Underline styles can be applied. #### 1.4. Font/background color You can use the fill color option to apply background color to an entire column or column or even an individual cell. And use the font color option to change the foreground color or the font color of the data values, row or column headings, and subheadings.

#### 1.5. Format painter You can copy cell formatting using the 'Format painter' option just as in Excel. But Inforiver goes one step further. If you have applied formatting to a specific level like the Subcategory in the below example, you can apply it to all the other subcategories using the 'Apply format to level' option.

#### 1.6. Borders Inforiver provides several predefined border styles and they can be applied at a cell/row/column level. If the predefined cell borders do not meet your needs, you can create a custom border by clicking on the 'Custom' option.

To remove custom borders, click on 'Reset' or select the 'No borders' option (the 1st icon). To remove the predefined borders, click on the 'No borders' option (the 1st icon). ## 2. Alignment options Let's take a quick look at the alignment section in this video. {% embed url="" %} Alignment options - Overview {% endembed %} #### 2.1. Horizontal/vertical alignment Horizontal alignment can be formatted using Align left, right, and center options. For vertical alignment, the options are Align top, bottom, and middle. #### 2.2. Header orientation Column and measure header orientations can be changed using the highlighted options. This is very helpful when you have a lot of columns in your report.

#### 2.3. Increase/decrease indent Use the indentation icon from the toolbar to indent specific values. This feature makes creating financial statements a breeze. #### 2.4. Row size You can increase or decrease row size manually. This is especially useful when inserting inline charts. #### 2.5. Word wrap If your measure headers are very long, you can enable the word wrap option to ensure that the entire header is displayed. **2.6. Fit Content** You can choose the fit mode that is best suited for your data.

## 3. Inserting icons in headers Enhance the visual appeal of your reports with icons and symbols in measures headers, column headers, and inserted rows. You can copy the preferred icon and paste it in the title section.

## 4. Auto-format for column dimensions When column hierarchies are involved, Inforiver allows you to select a particular level of the hierarchy by right clicking that level and choosing **Select column** from the context menu.

This feature comes in handy when you need to apply formatting to a particular level of the hierarchy. We've highlighted Q4 for 2023 in yellow. For repeating dimensions, the formatting applied for a particular dimension can be automatically cascaded to other dimensions on the same level. For example, the formatting applied to a month or quarter will automatically be applied to the same month/quarter in future years, as and when the data becomes available. Select the **Apply format to Qtr 4**(the qtr or month will change according to your data) option from the format painter dropdown.

Notice how the formatting is automatically applied to 2024 Q4 when the data is available.

Formatting automatically applied to future periods

## 5. Adding subscripts and superscripts {% hint style="info" %} This feaute is available only in Reporting Matrix {% endhint %} Subscripts and superscripts are commonly used for categorization and references - for example, add the product line or model to a product category. They help users distinguish similar-looking values with different meanings. Highlight the text that you need to convert, then use the floating menu to apply subscript or superscript formatting. {% hint style="danger" %} To use this feature, the **Enable canvas rendering** option must be turned off in Display settings. {% endhint %}

Text that is converted to a subscript or superscript will be retained in Excel exports.

Subscripts and superscripts retained in Excel extracts

In the next section, we'll see how to handle [totals & subtotals](/working-with-inforiver/2.-displaying-information/basic-formatting/totals-and-subtotals). #### Resources [Best Fonts for Financial Reporting](https://inforiver.com/blog/general/best-fonts-financial-reporting/) # Totals & subtotals Be it a typical table or a hierarchical matrix style report in Power BI, Inforiver allows you to seamlessly manage subtotals and grand totals in a couple of clicks. {% embed url="" %} Totals & subtotals - Overview {% endembed %} In this example, we have hierarchies across both rows & columns.

Note that (a) the row subtotals (United States & International) are at the top, and (b) the row grand total is the top (c) there are no subtotals and grand totals for columns. ### 1. Customization options Let us take a look at the customization options available in Inforiver. Click on the 'Totals' option in the Home tab Analyze section. There are options to enable/disable subtotals and totals and to change the positions.

Customization options for totals and subtotals

{% hint style="info" %} Row or/and column subtotals will appear only if there is a hierarchy in the row or/and column fields. {% endhint %} Let us make some changes as shown below. The corresponding changes in the matrix are highlighted in red.

In the row subtotal section, you can see an option called 'Split'. Enable this and disable both the grand totals and the column subtotal. Let us now look at the United States. There is a header row with no values, followed by a set of records. At the end of this section, the records are totalled.

### 2. Freeze totals When **pagination is turned off**, you have the option to freeze totals. {% hint style="info" %} It is not possible to freeze totals when using the 'Drilldown' layout {% endhint %} To turn off pagination, in the 'Design' tab, click on 'Single page'.

In the 'Totals' menu, you can now see an option to freeze the total.

On selecting 'On', you can see that the grand total row is frozen on the top. You can also freeze it at the bottom by selecting 'Row grand total' as 'Bottom' and 'Freeze total' as 'On'.

In summary, Inforiver allows you to manage row & column subtotals & grand totals the way you want in an intuitive & flexible manner. In the next section, we'll be covering [inserting empty rows](/working-with-inforiver/2.-displaying-information/basic-formatting/insert-blank-rows). #### Resources [Manage totals & subtotals in Power BI](https://inforiver.com/blog/general/managing-totals-subtotals/) # Insert blank rows Financial statements and reports often require options to add white spaces for formatting. Inforiver provides the insert 'empty row' option to achieve this in a single click. Select a row below which you would like to insert an empty row. Navigate to the Insert tab > Insert Row > Layout and select Empty Row.

{% hint style="info" %} Blank rows can be inserted at all levels of the hierarchy. {% endhint %} A blank row gets inserted below Tea & coffee as shown in the image.

The Empty row option can also be accessed using the row gripper. Hover over the 'Tea & Coffee' row. Click on the row gripper icon highlighted. Choose the **Add empty Row** option from the Insert menu.

Inserting an empty row from the row gripper

The inserted empty row can be deleted by clicking on the row gripper of the empty row and selecting the **Remove Empty Row** option.

In the next section, we'll look at the [basic inline charts](/working-with-inforiver/2.-displaying-information/add-basic-inline-charts). # Basic inline charts With Inforiver, you can deliver a range of charts and visualizations in your matrix reports in a single click. The available chart options are shown in the below image.

## Overview 1. **Trend** - Incorporate **sparklines, spark columns**, and their variants such as the win-loss trend to capture performance over time 2. **Performance** - Utilize different types of **bullet charts**, including the normalized bullet visualization (proposed by International Business Communication Standards) 3. **Distribution** - Highlight distribution across categories using **stacked charts and waterfall** visualizations 4. **Magnitude** - Deliver **bar, lollipop & pin** **charts, and data bars** for highlighting the magnitude and significance 5. **Changes/deviation** - Track changes over time or with respect to benchmark by using **dot plot, arrow plot, dumbbell plot & range plot** charts 6. **Comparison** - Compare multiple measures and visualize absolute and relative variances using **colored bar & lollipop/pin** charts 7. **KPI cards** - Insert **KPI cards** in a single click using the available presets; cards can be customized further 8. **Blend columns/KPIs -** Blend **two measures in a single column** along with formatting, including conditional formatting {% hint style="info" %} In this section, only the basics of charts will be covered. For advanced customizations, visit [working with charts](/working-with-inforiver/6.-working-with-charts). {% endhint %} ## 1. Trend You can insert sparklines and their variants in a single click for visualizing data across time periods. There are 9 variants available in Inforiver. In the below example, we have 12 months of data across regions and categories. a) Click on the 'Sparkline' icon highlighted and choose the 'Column sparkline'.

b) The spark column appears incorporating data for all the months. You can see the minimum and maximum values for each row in red and green. In the toolbar, you can see the 'Customize' tab which gets enabled. We'll cover these toolbar options in the [sparkline charts](/working-with-inforiver/6.-working-with-charts/sparkline-charts) section.

## 2. Performance Inforiver provides 2 and 3-value bullet charts and a clustered bar for visualizing performance. ### i) 2-value bullet charts In this example, we have 2022 Actuals and Plan across regions and categories. a) Select the 2 measures and click on the 'Bullet' icon and select the 'Integrated variance bar' as highlighted.

b) The bullet chart gets inserted showing a comparison of the two measures. The variance between actuals and plan is shown in red/green.

In the toolbar, you can see the 'Customize' tab which gets enabled. We'll cover these toolbar options in the [2-value bullet charts](/working-with-inforiver/6.-working-with-charts/bullet-charts-and-clustered-bar-charts#i-2-value-bullet-charts) section. ### ii) 3-value bullet charts a) To enable the 3-value bullets, add one more measure as shown below. We'll choose the 'Bullet with marker' as highlighted.

b) This type of bullet chart also displays the comparison band. The legend is highlighted below. These options can be customized from the toolbar and are covered in the [3-value bullet charts](/working-with-inforiver/6.-working-with-charts/bullet-charts-and-clustered-bar-charts#ii-3-value-bullet-charts) section.

### iii) Clustered bars The clustered bar is applicable only when using one of these 4 bullet variants - Stephen Few's Qualitative bullet, Qualitative bullet with marker, Comparative bullet, and Bullet with marker. a) Click on 'Series display' in the 'Customize' tab. Change the '**Additional target**' to '**Bar**' instead of 'Line'. In the popup screen, enable 'Clustered bar'.

b) The clustered bar gets applied.

In the toolbar, you can see the 'Customize' tab which gets enabled. We'll cover these toolbar options in the [clustered bar](/working-with-inforiver/6.-working-with-charts/bullet-charts-and-clustered-bar-charts#iii-clustered-bars) section. ## 3. Distribution ### i) Stacked charts In this example, we have 2022 actuals across regions. Let's use a stacked chart to see the composition based on subcategories for the regions. a) Select all the subcategory columns and click on the 'Bullet' icon. There are 2 options - A stacked bar and a percentage stacked bar.

b) Select the percentage stacked bar. The chart gets added.

c) Let's hide the subcategory columns. In the toolbar, click on the 'Manage columns' toolbar. Uncheck the highlighted measure - 2022 Actuals.

d) Select the column with the chart and drag using the arrow next to the column header to resize. There are a number of customization options available, which are covered in the [stacked charts](/working-with-inforiver/6.-working-with-charts/stacked-charts) section.

### ii) Waterfall charts Let's visualize the contribution of the subcategories to the total margin. a) Select the 'Margin' column and click on the 'Waterfall' icon. There are 3 options - we'll choose the colored waterfall.

b) You can see that the highest positive and negative contributions are from Lamps and Refrigerators respectively.

Waterfall chart to visualize margin contribution

Learn more about [waterfall charts](/working-with-inforiver/6.-working-with-charts/waterfall-charts). ### iii) Progress bars a) To visualize the contribution of each category and subcategory to the total sales using the progress bar, click on the 'Quick formula' dropdown in the 'Insert' tab.

b) Select the '% Contribution to Grand Total' option. In the side panel, check 'Enable bar chart' and click 'Create'.

c) The progress bar gets added. You also have options to customize the display. You can choose to display only the percentage, value, or both. The bar color can also be changed.

## 4. Magnitude ### i) Bar charts Let's insert a solid bar chart for sales. a) Select the column and click on the highlighted icon.

b) The bar chart gets added. There are a number of customization options such as fill pattern, comparison bands, and axis config.

c) Let's apply comparison bands. Click on the 'Comparison bands' icon. A popup screen opens. You can customize the number of bands, and colors, and define bands based on percentage or value. We'll go with the default. Click 'Save'. The bands get applied.

### ii) Pin charts To visualize Margin%, let's use the pin chart. a) Click on the column and then the icon highlighted.

b) The 'Simple pin' chart gets inserted.

### iii) Data bars Let us add data bars for the total customers column. a) In the 'Conditional formatting' dropdown, select 'Data bars' and choose a color. If you would like to use a different color, you can still choose one of them. This selection can be customized in the next step.

b) On selecting a color, the data bars appear and you can also see a side panel. Here you can apply customizations such as applying data bars based on a different measure, applying to totals, and so on.

## 5. Changes/deviation In this example, let's visualize the pay gap between men and women in UK and US. a) Select the two measures - average salary of men and women. Click on the 'Bullet' icon and select the 'Dot plot' icon highlighted.

Chart options for visualizing changes/deviation

b) The dot plot gets inserted.

c) Let's hide the salary columns and resize the dot plot. You can insert an axis for easy comprehension. In the 'Customize' tab, click on the 'Show axis' option.

## 6. Comparison In this example, let's compare current sales and prior year sales. a) Assign 2022 Actuals to 'Values (AC)' and 2021 Actuals to 'Compare to prior period (PY)'.

b) In the 'Home' tab, click on the 'Manage columns' dropdown. You can see 2 new columns created automatically - (2022 Actuals - 2021 Actuals) and (2022 Actuals - 2021 Actuals)%. Click on the checkboxes to enable these columns.

Let us now add the bar and pin charts for the absolute and relative variances respectively. ### i) Bar charts a) Select the variance column and click on the 'Bar' chart icon. Select the 'Colored bar'.

b) The bar chart gets inserted. Note that the positive variances are highlighted in green and the negative variances in red. For the cases where the reverse is true, 'Invert colored bar' can be used.

### ii) Pin charts To visualize (2022 Actuals - 2021 Actuals)%, let's use the pin chart. a) Click on the column and then the icon highlighted.

b) The 'Bar colored pin' chart gets inserted.

Learn more about [hierarchical variance analysis](https://inforiver.com/blog/general/hierarchical-variance-analysis-in-power-bi/) using Inforiver. ## 7. KPI cards Inforiver provides a number of KPI card presets which can be customized as required. You can also create KPI cards from scratch. Let's insert a KPI card in this report. a) Hover over the header and click on the '6 dots' icon. Click on 'Edit'.

b) The 'Header & footer' tab opens up as shown below. Click on the 'Settings' icon as highlighted.

c) Click on 'Type' and select 'KPI'.

d) You can see a warning message that says the text will be cleared. Click 'Proceed'.

e) A simple KPI card gets inserted. Let us see how to insert a preset.

f) Click on 'KPI presets'. The KPI preset panel opens up. Go to the 'Combo' tab and select the preset highlighted below.

g) Click 'Proceed'.

h) The selected KPI preset gets applied. Let's now edit the KPI card to display the variances as desired. Close the side panel.

i) Since the KPI card occupies the entire header, let's split the container. Click on the '+' sign.

j) You can now resize the KPI card to the desired size by dragging the handle at the right border of the KPI card.

k) Ideally, 2022 Actuals should be displayed on the top followed by 2022 Plan and 2021 Actuals and their variances. Click on the KPI card and the 'Data selection' icon highlighted.

l) The matrix is no longer greyed out. Select the grand total cells in the order shown in the below image by using Shift+Click. The KPI card gets updated.

m) Click on 'Close editor' as highlighted.

n) The KPI card is shown below.

## 8. Blend columns/KPIs Let's blend the Sales and Margin% columns in a single column. a) In the 'Insert' tab, click on the 'Blend' option in the 'Column' section. A blank measure gets inserted and the 'Blend measure' side panel opens. Enter the title and select the measures as shown from the dropdown. Click 'Create'.

b) The columns are blended to create a single column. Note that Margin % is displayed below Sales. This is because we have used the default 'Vertical' as 'Blend direction'.

c) If you want to display in a horizontal orientation, change the 'Blend direction' to 'Horizontal'.

There are several customization options available for the charts and visualizations which will be covered in [working with charts](/working-with-inforiver/6.-working-with-charts). In the next section, we'll be covering the [basic interactions](/working-with-inforiver/3.-basic-interactions). # 3. Basic interactions We successfully used layouts/templates, applied formatting and added charts and visualizations in the [previous section](/working-with-inforiver/2.-displaying-information). In this section, we'll cover the following: **1. Explore & filter data** - Inforiver provides features such as search, filter, KPI explorer and Top N for data exploration and filtering. To learn more, refer to [explore and filter data](/working-with-inforiver/3.-basic-interactions/explore-and-filter-data). **2. Sort & reorder data** - Inforiver provides the standard sorting options - asc/desc and A->Z/Z->A and custom sorting using the drag-and-drop reorder feature. To learn more, refer to [sort & reorder data](/working-with-inforiver/3.-basic-interactions/sort-and-reorder-data). **3. Show/hide values** - Inforiver allows you to hide/unhide cells, rows, columns or measures from the toolbar in a single click. To learn more, refer to [show/hide values](/working-with-inforiver/3.-basic-interactions/show-or-hide-values-rows-and-columns). **4. Manage column widths** - Learn more about the ways to quickly adjust column width, especially when you have a lot of columns in the section [manage column widths](/working-with-inforiver/3.-basic-interactions/manage-column-widths). **5. Manage hierarchies** - Inforiver provides several options such as expanding or collapsing row/column hierarchies to specified levels, descendants and more. To learn more, refer to [manage hierarchies](/working-with-inforiver/3.-basic-interactions/manage-hierarchies). **6. Create visual hierarchies** - With Inforiver, visual hierarchies in rows & columns can be created by selecting multiple items and grouping them. To learn more, refer to [create visual hierarchies](/working-with-inforiver/3.-basic-interactions/create-visual-hierarchies). **7. Pin rows & columns** - You can pin rows/columns to the top or left of the report to easily keep track of important KPIs. To learn more, refer to [pin rows & columns](/working-with-inforiver/3.-basic-interactions/pin-rows-and-columns). **8. Blend measures** - Inforiver allows you to visually blend two measures in a single column along with formatting, including conditional formatting. To learn more, refer to [blend measures](/working-with-inforiver/3.-basic-interactions/blend-measures). **9. Actions** - In this section, we'll cover some [basic actions](/working-with-inforiver/3.-basic-interactions/actions) such as selections and formatting using rails, toolbar customizations, keyboard shortcuts, and reset. # Explore & filter data When you have a large amount of data, features like search, filter & ranking can help you focus on a smaller subset based on certain conditions. In this section, we cover the following: **1. Search & filter** - You can use the search option to look for specific words or values. Nested AND/OR filtering and column filtering can be applied to filter records based on conditions. To learn more, refer to [search & filter](/working-with-inforiver/3.-basic-interactions/explore-and-filter-data/search-and-filter). **2. Explorer** - KPI explorer can be used to filter rows, columns and measures, sort by name or value and highlight row/column hierarchies using rules or ranges. To learn more, refer to [explorer](/working-with-inforiver/3.-basic-interactions/explore-and-filter-data/explorer). **3. Top N** - Inforiver offers a dynamic and comprehensive Top N implementation using a no-code interface. To learn more, refer to [top N](/working-with-inforiver/3.-basic-interactions/explore-and-filter-data/top-n). # Search & Filter The search & filter features help you to focus on relevant data when there are a large number of records. {% embed url="" %} Search & filter - Overview {% endembed %} ## 1. Search The 'Search' option helps you find characters, words, and phrases in your Inforiver report. a) In the 'Home' tab of the toolbar, click on the 'Search' icon in the Analyze section.

b) Type the text/value in the search box. Inforiver starts narrowing down the matches as soon as you start typing. Navigate through the results using the up and down arrows.

c) You can also search numeric values as shown in the below image.

{% hint style="info" %} Inforiver searches across pages if you are using the multiple pages option in the 'Design' tab or you have added page breaks. {% endhint %} ## 2. Filter Inforiver provides nested AND/OR filtering options to filter a range of data based on the criteria you define. ### 2.1. Nested and grouped filters a) In the 'Home' tab of the toolbar, click on the 'Filter' icon in the Analyze section.

b) Click 'Add Filter'. You can filter by row or column hierarchies, or by measures. Inforiver provides conditions depending on the filter selected. Enter a condition as shown below.

c) The data has been filtered to show only the rows corresponding to the category 'Water' as shown in the image. {% hint style="info" %} You can apply filters on manual input rows like calculated rows/static rows/template rows etc. Learn more about [manual input rows](/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae/insert-manual-input-rows/insert-manual-input-rows) and [calculated rows](/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae/insert-calculated-rows/insert-calculated-rows). {% endhint %}

d) You can add multiple filters using the 'Add Filter' option and can apply nested AND/OR conditions. In the below example, we have added one more condition to filter only the International region for the category Water.

#### Add group e) Inforiver also provides an option to add filter groups. Click 'Advanced'.

f) Click 'Add group'. In the below image, we have added four conditions nested using AND/OR and using two filter groups. The filtered table is also shown.

g) You can delete the individual filters by clicking on the 'Delete' icon available next to the condition. h) If you want to temporarily turn off all the filters, select the 'Disable all' option. i) The 'Persist filters' option ensures the filters are retained when switching between pages in the report. j) Click on 'Reset all' to reset all the filters.

Delete, Reset, Disable All, Persist filters

#### Filtering manual input rows Inforiver filters can detect manually inserted row categories and calculated rows. You can apply filters for data input or calculated rows just like you do for row categories from the dataset. In the example below, the *HighTouch* and *Vsense* rows are manual input rows created within the Inforiver visual. Notice how even manual input row categories are detected by the filter.

### 2.2. Column-level filter Inforiver provides nested AND/OR column-based filtering options to filter a range of data based on the criteria you define. a) When you hover over any column, a hamburger menu appears as highlighted. Click on the hamburger menu (column gripper) and then click on the

icon.

b) Choose the filter condition from the drop-down and enter the filter value. Let us consider an example to apply the column filter 'Greater than 4 million' to the '2021 Actuals' measure. The data gets filtered to show only the values corresponding to the filter condition as shown in the image.

d) You can add nested AND/OR filters by clicking the 'Add rule' option. In the below example, we have added one more condition - '2021 Actuals' less than 10 million.

{% hint style="info" %} You can click 'Clear filter' to clear all the column filters applied. {% endhint %} This smart Filter detects the text data type within the Measure Column and displays the filter options accordingly.

Filter options within the New Measure containing the text data type.

In the next section, we'll look at the [KPI Explorer](/working-with-inforiver/3.-basic-interactions/explore-and-filter-data/explorer). # Explorer KPI explorer can be used to filter rows, columns and measures, sort by name or value and highlight row/column hierarchies using rules or ranges. {% embed url="" %} KPI explorer - Overview {% endembed %} ### 1. Overview Before taking a detailed look, let's quickly look at some important features in KPI explorer. [Interface](#2.-interface) - The KPI explorer toolbar contains filters for measures, row and column categories and a date slicer (if dates are added to the visual).

[Filtering](#3.-filtering) - As you make selections in the filter, both the table and the menu gets updated.

[Customizations](#4.-customizations) - You can sort row/column hierarchies by name or value and highlight them using rules or ranges.

Let's take a detailed look. ### 2. Interface In this report, we have Region and Category hierarchies in rows, Dates in columns and Actuals and Plan as measures. Outline layout is used in this example, but all table and measure layouts are supported when using KPI Explorer. a) Click on the 'Explorer' icon in the 'Analyze' section of the 'Home' tab.

b) KPI Explorer menu gets enabled as shown.

c) Let's go to the full view. Click on the arrow highlighted and select the 'Explorer full view' option.

d) The KPI Explorer full view is shown below. Let's minimize the toolbar to maximize real estate. Click on the highlighted arrow and select 'Unpin toolbar'.

e) The toolbar gets unpinned. Turn the 'Filter by date' toggle on.

f) The date filter slider gets enabled. The explorer toolbar consists of the following filters.

### 3. Filtering Let's take a look at filtering by the row and column hierarchies. a) Use the date filter slider to define a date range. Select a region and category. In the table, you can now see only International and Beverages for Q3 2020 to Q2 2021.

b) You can also see that the sub-region and sub-category get filtered accordingly in the explorer menu.

c) Clear the selections by clicking on the highlighted arrow and then the 'Clear all' option.

d) As you can see, there is a value against each hierarchy. Let's look at how the values are calculated. Since the measure selected in the dropdown is 'Actuals', you can see the actuals value for All and United States highlighted as (1) and (2).

{% hint style="info" %} Turn on the 'Column grand total' from the 'Totals' menu. {% endhint %} e) As shown in the below image, you can see the values highlighted in the case of the sub-regions.

f) To verify the values for categories and sub-categories, change the order of row and column hierarchies in the data mapping. That is assign Category and Sub category as 'Rows' and Region and Sub region as 'Columns' in the 'Visualizations' pane.

Actuals for categories and sub-categories

g) You can also explore other measures. Click on the dropdown highlighted and select 'Plan'.

h) The values get updated accordingly. As you can see, the values add up to 890.60 in all four hierarchies.

i) When you apply filters, let's explore how the values are displayed. Select 'International'. The values for APAC and EMEA are shown as highlighted. Similarly, the values for subcategories can be verified.

j) As you expand the sub-regions to reveal the categories, you can see that sum of plan values for beverages in APAC and EMEA is displayed.

k) The date filter slider toggle can be turned off to list the date hierarchy as filters.

### 4. Customizations a) To hide certain KPIs, click on the arrow highlighted and the 'Show KPI' option.

b) KPIs can be hidden as shown.

c) Sorting can be done based on values or names. To sort the categories by values, click on the gripper icon and 'Sort by values'. Select 'Ascending'.

d) The categories are sorted in descending order (Z->A). You can see an icon as shown in the image that shows the applied sorting.

e) You can apply highlighting rules to the KPIs. Click on the 'Flag' icon as shown. There are two options - Rules and Ranges. Let's apply based on a range. You can define ranges based on percentage values or numeric values. Let's go with the default. Click 'Apply'.

f) The values get highlighted as shown. The flag icon is also modified to indicate that highlights have been applied.

g) You can add ranges, reverse the icons and colors and delete ranges using the highlighted icons.

h) To 'reset' the ranges to default, click on the highlighted icon.

i) Ranges based on numeric values are shown below.

j) To apply highlights based on rules, select the 'Rules' option. Apply a rule as shown and click 'Apply'. The values are highlighted as shown.

### 5. KPI header presets Inforiver provides plug-and-play [header presets](/working-with-inforiver/8.-paginated-reporting/header-and-footer#i-header-preset) to design your headers easily. If you have chosen the KPI preset, any selections made in the KPI explorer will be reflected in the header.

KPI explorer filters reflected in KPI header preset

In the next section, we'll cover [Top N](/working-with-inforiver/3.-basic-interactions/explore-and-filter-data/top-n) analysis. #### Resources [Explore data using Inforiver](https://inforiver.com/explore-data-powerbi/) # Top N + others Top N answers questions such as *Customers* contributing to the most revenue, *Spend Categories* that consume most of the budget, etc. {% embed url="" %} Top N + Others - Overview {% endembed %} In this section, let us see how the Top N feature works in Inforiver. Consider the example of displaying the Top 2 categories that generated maximum Revenue. a) Select the Revenue column. b) In the 'Home' tab of the toolbar, select 'Top n' from the 'Analyze' section. The Top N dialog box appears. Fill in the details to filter the Top 2 categories. Click 'Apply'. {% hint style="info" %} To show the top 2% of items, just change the selection ‘Value’ to ‘Percentage’. {% endhint %}

c) You can see the top 2 categories with the remaining categories grouped under 'Others'*.* It also indicates how many items are a part of the 'Others' row.

d) Hover over the 'Others' row to see a preview of the items grouped under Others. Click on the expand icon to view all the categories that have been classified as Others. This will display all the categories under 'Others' in a separate window.

### 1. Nested rules a) To do a nested Top N, like the bottom 3 sub-categories in each of the top 2 categories, you can create multiple rules by clicking ‘Add rule’ and filling in the fields as shown. Click 'Apply'.

b) The above setup displays the following output. Note that the 'Others' row is available for categories and subcategories.

### 2. Multi-level nested rules a) You can increase the number of hierarchy levels even beyond two (2). Add rules as below to configure the third category.

This configuration gives the following output.

### 3. Suffix ‘Others’ When using the multi-level and nested Top N implementation, it may not be clear as to what a specific 'Others' row refers to.

To address this, Inforiver provides an option that appends the category name to 'Others' for each instance of others, except the one at the outer-most level.

To delete a Top N condition, click on the 'Delete' icon. To clear all the Top N conditions, click on 'Reset all'.

A warning message is displayed when you try to apply Top N on more than one column/measure. You need to remove the existing filter and apply a new one to the selected column by clicking on 'Remove and proceed'.

Applying top N filter on multiple columns throws a warning

### 4. Modifying the Others bucket Inforiver offers multiple options to add or remove items from the 'Others' bucket. 1. To add or remove rows from the Others bucket, click on the row gripper and select the 'Add row to others' or 'Remove from others' option. a) For data that is not hierarchical, select the 'current category' option. b) For data that is hierarchical and contains the same element at different levels, you have 2 options: * To add or remove a particular element from its immediate parent, select '**Current Category'.** * To add or remove a particular element from all levels which contain that element, select '**All Category**'.

2. You can also highlight rows that are manually added or removed from the Others bucket. You can enable the 'Highlight add/remove rows -TopN' from the Misc tab in display settings. {% hint style="info" %} If you are adding rows to the Others bucket, Inforiver generates a notification that will direct you to the Highlight rows setting. {% endhint %}

You can also apply additional customizations such as setting a custom background and border color for rows that are removed or added to the Others bucket.

In the next section, we'll be covering [sorting & reordering data](/working-with-inforiver/3.-basic-interactions/sort-and-reorder-data). #### Resources [The Business Case for dynamic & nested Top N + Others reports](https://inforiver.com/blog/general/the-business-case-for-dynamic-nested-top-n-others-reports/) [Dynamic and nested Top N + Others in Power BI](https://inforiver.com/blog/general/dynamic-and-nested-top-n-others-in-power-bi/) # Sort & reorder data Inforiver provides the standard sorting options - ascending/descending and A->Z/Z->A for numeric and non-numeric columns such as date, dropdown, text, and more. Custom sorting orders can also be created using the drag-and-drop reorder feature. ## 1. Sorting **1.1.** To sort a column by ascending or descending, hover over the column header and click on the gripper. Select Sort -> Sort Desc.

**1.2.** You can see that the column gets sorted and there is an icon to denote the descending sort.

**1.3.** To undo the sorting, click **Remove Sort** from the column gripper. Alternatively, you can click the sort icon in the header to remove the sort.

**1.4.** Similarly, sorting can also be applied to non-numeric columns. In a later section, we'll be covering how to insert data input columns such as text, dropdown, date, etc.

**1.5.** You can see that the dropdown column is sorted in ascending order both at the Category and Sub Category levels.

**1.6.** Sorting based on text and date columns is shown below.

### Advanced sort Click the **Sort** button on the toolbar for advanced sorting options. You can sort your data based on multiple dimensions or measures. Please bear in mind that you can either sort based on row dimensions or based on measures, not both together.

## 2. Reordering With Inforiver, you can custom-sort rows/columns by simply dragging and dropping to order the categories the way you want. ### i) Rows a) As you hover over a row header, you can see a gripper icon highlighted below. Click, hold and move up or down to reorder.

{% hint style="info" %} Reordering is possible only within the same hierarchy level. {% endhint %} b) The rows are reordered.

### ii) Columns Similarly, you can reorder columns and measures. Let's reorder the % variance. a) Click on the column gripper by hovering over the column header.

b) Drag and drop where required. You can see that the measure is reordered as shown below.

c) Another way to reorder columns/measures is through the 'Manage columns' dropdown. Hover over the column/measure you want to reorder and simply drag and drop.

d) Instead, you can also click on the settings icon highlighted.

e) In the manage columns settings panel, hover over the six dots and use it to drag and reorder.

Reordering in manage columns settings panel

{% hint style="info" %} Unlike visual measures, visual columns cannot be re-ordered. {% endhint %} In the next section, we'll cover how to [show/hide values, rows, and columns](/working-with-inforiver/3.-basic-interactions/show-or-hide-values-rows-and-columns). #### References [Custom sort / reorder rows & columns in Power BI](https://inforiver.com/blog/feature-highlights/custom-sort-order-rows-and-columns-in-power-bi/) # Show/hide values Inforiver allows you to hide/unhide cells, rows, columns or measures from the toolbar in a single click. ## 1. Cells a) To hide a cell, click on the cell and then the hide icon highlighted.

b) The cell gets hidden. You can also see that the hide icon is highlighted to indicate that the cell has been hidden. Formatting options are also greyed out in the 'Style' and 'Alignment' sections.

c) You can hide multiple cells or cell ranges in a single click. Use Ctrl/Shift and click to select non-adjacent or adjacent cells.

d) To unhide, select the cell(s) and click on the unhide option.

## 2. Rows a) To hide a row or multiple rows, make a selection and click on the hide icon.

b) To unhide, click on the 'Show/hide' dropdown -> 'Rows' -> 'Unhide'.

c) Multiple rows can be hidden at a time.

d) When multiple rows are hidden, you can choose to unhide selected rows as required.

## 3. Columns In this example, we have sub-categories in the column field. Let's say you want to hide Juices -> 2021 Actuals alone. This can be achieved using 'Show/hide columns'. a) Select the column and click on the 'Hide' icon.

b) The column gets hidden.

c) You can also hide individual columns from the column gripper as shown below.

d) Multiple columns can be hidden by using Shift/Ctrl + click.

## 4. Measures In this example, we have sub-categories in the column field. Let's say you want to hide 2021 Actuals for all the sub-categories. This can be achieved using 'Manage columns'. a) Click on the 'Manage columns' dropdown. A list of the row hierarchies and the measures is displayed. To hide 2021 Actuals, uncheck the highlighted checkbox.

b) 2021 Actuals are hidden.

c) To show a measure, check the corresponding checkbox.

## 5. Measure headers and category headers You can select the measure header and click on the hide icon if you do not want to display headers in your reports. Repeat the procedure to display a hidden measure/category header again.

## 6. Displaying hidden/skipped rows To enable hidden or skipped rows, navigate to the Show/hide dropdown > Rows section and click on the respective icon to display the row again in your report.

## 7. Displaying measures for specific time periods You can use the **Show/hide Measures** interface to display the data for a particular period. You can create and save specific time ranges for measures and instantly access them like bookmarks. You will need to enter a name to identify the measure time range, choose the measures to display, and select the time interval. {% hint style="info" %} Disable the **Show** toggle to hide measures for a specific time frame. {% endhint %}

Creating time ranges to display measures

You can leverage the **date picker** to select the time range.

You can also display measures for **relative time periods** like last n days/weeks/months/years.

Another option is to use Inforiver's built-in date and time intelligence functions to display measures over a specific range of time. Select the **Date Functions** option in the Show/Hide measures interface. In the example below, we are displaying the Forecast measure based on the earliest and latest dates in the report.

Using date functions to show/hide measures

After you create and save a measure time range, you can instantly switch between them and analyze your data.

# Manage column widths There are a number of ways by which you can quickly adjust column width, especially when you have a lot of columns in the report. The simplest way is to hover over the column header that needs to be resized and drag the handle as desired.

There are four other options to adjust the column widths directly from the toolbar. 1. ‘Fit to header’ resize the columns to fit the column header   2. ‘Fit to content’ resizes the columns to fit the contents 3. ‘Best fit’ auto-adjusts both rows and columns that optimizes real estate 4. 'Manual column width' allows you to enter the width for specific columns in pixels {% embed url="" %} Manage column width - Overview {% endembed %} Let's explore each of them with an example. In the 'Home' tab, click on the 'Auto fit' icon as highlighted. You can see the options in the dropdown.

{% hint style="info" %} Columns with charts are not affected when using the Autofit options. {% endhint %} ### 1. Fit to header Click on the 'Fit to header' option. Choosing ‘Fit to header’ resizes each column to fit its column header.

### 2. Fit to content Click on the 'Fit to content' option. Choosing ‘Fit to content’ resizes each column to fit its content.

### 3. Best fit Click on the ‘Best fit’ option. Choosing 'Best fit' auto-adjusts both rows and columns and optimizes the real estate. Note that the row size has been updated to 14 automatically.

### 4. Manual column width Click on 'Manual column width'. Manual column width allows you to enter the width for specific columns in pixels.

### 5. Lock column width Once you have adjusted the column widths as desired, you can lock the column sizes to prevent any unintentional changes. Turn on the 'Lock size' toggle as shown below.

Once the columns are locked, the four auto-fit options are greyed out. To make further changes, the toggle needs to be turned off.

\*\*\* Inforiver provides an option to **automatically wrap text** in columns. Turn on the 'Auto wrap column' toggle. You can observe that the row headers for the selected columns have been auto-wrapped.

{% hint style="info" %} Auto-wrap is applicable for row/column/measure headers and rows/columns/cells. {% endhint %} In the next section, we'll cover how to [manage hierarchies ](/working-with-inforiver/3.-basic-interactions/manage-hierarchies)using expand-collapse. # Manage hierarchies Inforiver provides a number of options to manage hierarchies such as expanding or collapsing row/column hierarchies to specified levels, descendants and more. Currently, in a native Power BI matrix, you cannot expand or collapse columns freely as you can do with rows. With Inforiver, you can expand/collapse specific columns to reveal their children, just as we can do with the row hierarchies in the native Power BI visual. ## 1. Row hierarchies In this example, the hierarchy in rows is Region -> Sub Region -> Category -> Sub Category. You can expand/collapse **individual rows** using the expand/collapse icons![](/files/oXoXZDKzMiytvmBdfT0p). In the image below, you can see that International is fully expanded to the last level, while EMEA and United States remain collapsed.

Inforiver also provides a number of options for expanding/collapsing all branches, expanding/collapsing to a specific level etc. To access these options, mouse over any row, and click on the hamburger menu.

### a) Expand You can perform the following **Expand** actions. #### i. **Expand all** Expand all items in the rows to reveal the lowest level across all branches. For example, click on any row and 'Expand all', all the rows till the subcategories will be revealed. #### ii. **Expand level** The immediate descendants for the selected level are shown for all the branches. For example, if you select the row United States and 'Expand Level', the categories will be revealed for *all the regions.* #### iii. **Expand descendants** All the descendants for the selected row are shown. For example, if you select the row United States and 'Expand descendants', the categories and subcategories are expanded *only for the United States row.* #### iv. **Expand specific level** The descendants are expanded to a specific level for all the branches. For example, if you select the row United States and 'Expand Sub category', the categories and subcategories are expanded for all the regions. ### b) Collapse You can also perform the following **Collapse** actions. #### i. **Collapse all** Collapse all items in the rows to reveal only the highest level across all branches. For example, click on any row and 'Collapse all', only the regions will be shown. #### ii. **Collapse descendants** All the descendants for the selected row are hidden. For example, if you select the row East and 'Collapse descendants', the categories and subcategories are hidden *only for the East row.* #### iii. **Collapse specific level** The descendants are collapsed to a specific level for all the branches. For example, if you select the row Beverages and 'Collapse Region', the categories and subcategories are hidden for all the regions. ### c) Hide hierarchy You can add a layer of abstraction to the report by choosing whether to display the child nodes under a hierarchy. #### i. Hiding child rows To hide all the child rows contributing to a parent row, click on the row gripper for the parent row and select the 'Hide icon & children for current row' option from the 'Show/Hide Expand icon' section.

The child rows under the 'TV and Video' level have been hidden.

To reinstate the hidden child rows, select the 'Show icon & children for current row' option from the row gripper context menu.

#### ii. Disabling expand/collapse for levels in the hierarchy You can also prevent users from expanding and collapsing the hierarchy by hiding the expand icon. This can be achieved by clicking on the row gripper for the parent node and selecting the 'Hide icon for level' option from the 'Show/Hide Expand icon' section.

Notice how the expand icon has been removed for the hierarchy.

To reinstate the icon, select the 'Show icon for level' option from the row gripper context menu.

## 2. Column hierarchies In this example, the hierarchy in columns is Region -> Sub Region -> Quarter. You can expand/collapse **individual columns** using the expand/collapse icons

. In the image below, you can see that International -> APAC is fully expanded to show the Quarters, while EMEA and United States remain collapsed.

To access the other expand/collapse options, mouse over the category names on the top-left of the table (Region, Sub Region, and Quarter), as highlighted.

On clicking the hamburger menu, you can see a list of options.

From this menu, you can perform the following actions: #### **1. Expand all** Expand all the categories in the columns to the lowest level (Quarter) across all branches #### **2. Collapse all** Collapse all the categories in the columns to show only the Regions #### **3. Go to level** This option is useful when there are more than 2 hierarchy levels. Here you can expand all branches to Sub Region, for example In the next section, we'll be [creating visual hierarchies](/working-with-inforiver/3.-basic-interactions/create-visual-hierarchies) using the Group feature. #### Resources [Expand/collapse column hierarchy in Power BI](https://inforiver.com/blog/feature-highlights/expand-collapse-column-hierarchy-in-power-bi/) # Create visual hierarchies With Inforiver, visual hierarchies in rows & columns can be created by selecting multiple items and grouping them. In the case of row grouping, the subtotal values are calculated automatically. You can also create row groups automatically based on Conditional formatting - Classification. ## 1. Group columns In the below example, the columns are to be grouped and named Revenue, Profitability, and Customers respectively. {% hint style="info" %} The group icon is greyed out until a row or column is selected. {% endhint %} **STEP 1:** Select the columns to be grouped as Revenue. In the 'Insert' tab, click on **Group** and enter a label. Click 'Apply'.

**STEP 2:** The column group gets created and it can be formatted using the 'Style' and 'Alignment' options as shown below.

**STEP 3:** The other groups can be created and formatted as shown.

**STEP 4:** Enable the **Column Group Expand/Collapse Icon** option from Display settings. You can expand and collapse column groups by clicking the

icon.

The values in the grouped measures will not be displayed when a group is collapsed.

**STEP 5:** When you have column dimensions assigned and you want the group to be created across all dimensions, check the **Group Across Columns** option.

Notice how the Revenue group is created across all the column dimension categories.

Creating groups across column dimensions

## 2. Group rows ### 2.1. Manual grouping a) On selecting a column or multiple columns, the 'Group' icon gets enabled. Select the rows to be grouped and click on '**Group**' in the 'Insert' tab. A popup opens.

b) Enter the row group label and set the total position. Click 'Apply'.

c) The rows are indented to indicate that they are a part of a child hierarchy. The measures are automatically aggregated. A bar chart is displayed for the Margin column.

d) The row groups can be expanded/collapsed using the expand/collapse button.

### 2.2. Auto grouping Conditional formatting has been covered in detail in [section 5](/working-with-inforiver/5.-conditional-formatting). For the purposes of exploring auto grouping of rows based on classification, we'll just look at the settings in brief. In this example, classification rules are applied to Margin %. High/Medium/Low is displayed next to the Margin % values based on the applied ranges.

a) In the 'Insert' tab, click on 'Group' and select the 'Margin %' option.

b) Rows are automatically grouped as shown below.

## 3. Ungroup ### 3.1. Columns To remove a column group, click on the column group label, the '**Remove group**' icon, and the 'Remove group' option.

### 3.2. Rows a) In case of manually grouped rows, select the group and click on the '**Remove group**' icon in the 'Insert' tab.

b) In case of auto-grouped rows, in the 'Insert' tab, '**Group**' dropdown, select '**None**'.

Removing auto row group based on classification

In the next section, we'll cover how to [pin rows and columns](/working-with-inforiver/3.-basic-interactions/pin-rows-and-columns). #### Resources [Group rows or columns in table/matrix reports](https://inforiver.com/blog/general/group-rows-columns-matrix-powerbi/) # Pin rows & columns Pinning rows and columns is very helpful when you have too many rows or columns in your report. You can use the pinning option to freeze them respectively at the top or left so that they are visible even when you scroll to another area of the report.

### 1. Pin rows In this example, we have Computer accessories on the second page of the report. But this is an important category that is being tracked so we want it to be easily visible on the report. a) Hover over the row and click on the 'Pin' icon.

b) Computer accessories is pinned to the top.

c) If you navigate to another page in the visual, you can see that the row is still pinned.

### 2. Pin columns In this example, we have monthly data for sales, margin, and customers. We would like to focus on last month's sales. a) To do this, we can pin December sales. Hover over the column and click on the gripper.

b) Click on the 'Pin column' option.

c) December sales gets pinned to the left.

### 3. Unpin a) To unpin an individual row, click on the pinned icon in either the pinned section or the original row as shown below.

b) To unpin an individual column, you can click on the pinned icon in the pinned section. Or, click on the column gripper and the un-pin column option.

c) When there are multiple pinned rows and columns, you can quickly un-pin the rows and columns by using the corresponding ‘un-pin all’ option from the row/column gripper.

In the next section, you can find a list of the available [keyboard shortcuts](/working-with-inforiver/3.-basic-interactions/actions/keyboard-shortcuts). # Blend measures Inforiver allows you to blend two measures in a single column along with formatting, including conditional formatting. Let's blend the Sales and Margin% columns in a single column. a) In the 'Insert' tab, click on the 'Blend' option in the 'Column' section. A blank measure gets inserted and the 'Blend measure' side panel opens.

b) Enter the title and select the measures as shown from the dropdown. Click 'Create'.

c) The columns are blended to create a single column. Note that Margin % is displayed below Sales. This is because we have used the default 'Vertical' as 'Blend direction'.

d) If you want to display in a horizontal orientation, change the 'Blend direction' to 'Horizontal' and click 'update'.

e) The horizontal blending is shown.

f) The other way to blend the columns is by selecting the columns to be combined and clicking the 'Blend' option from the Insert tab. For example, let's blend the Margin and Margin% columns in a single column. Select the columns and click 'Blend'.

g) The 'Blend measure' side panel opens, enter the title and click 'Create'.

h) The columns are blended into a single column.

i) If you want to view only the blended columns, click on 'Manage Columns' from the toolbar. You can see a list showing the row and column headers and measures.

j) Unselect the original source columns which you want to hide in the visual. You can now see only the blended columns.

{% hint style="info" %} When two columns are blended, the formatting of the source columns including conditional formatting is retained in the new merged column. {% endhint %} **Example 1:** Consider an example where the font style and size are changed in the source columns. a) Let's change the font style to bold for the 'Sales' column. You can see that the same style has been copied to the Sales values of the merged column (Sales| Margin %).

b) Let's keep the 'Sales' as it is and reduce the font size of the 'Margin %' column.

c) You can see that the values in the merged columns reflect the change.

**Example 2:** Consider the below example where conditional formatting is applied to the 'Sales' column. a) To view the conditional formatting rule, in the 'Home' tab, click on the 'Conditional formatting' drop-down and select 'Manage rules'.

b) A side panel opens showing a list of all the rules. Click on the 'Edit' icon next to the rule Icons - Margin %.

c) Let's try changing the icon position and see what happens to the source and merged columns.

d) When you change the icon position from 'Right of data' to 'Left of data' and select 'Apply', you can see that the icons in both columns shift over.

**Example 3:** Let's see how to blend the two measures in a single column with data bars. Follow the steps shown below: a) Select the columns and click 'Blend'.

b) The 'Blend measure' side panel opens, enter the title and click 'Create'.

c) You can see the two values along with the data bars in a single column.

In the next section, we'll look at inserting dynamic measure headers. # Dynamic measure headers To change the name of a measure, double-click on the measure header and rename it to a relevant name. Inforiver also offers capabilities to dynamically generate headers, which we will explore in this section. ### i) Use predefined functions Inforriver's predefined functions can be leveraged to create dynamic headers. To view the list of available functions, double-click the header and press ctrl + space.

On selecting the 'Returns the current Month' option, the month name is appended to the measure header.

#### Using Operators with predefined functions We can also use operations such as + or - in conjunction with predefined functions. In the example below, we are using the - operator to access the previous month.

Using the - operator, the previous quarter and previous month have been dynamically appended to the measure headers.

#### Setting the fiscal period The accounting period can be defined using the ‘Fiscal year start month’ option in the Misc tab under Display settings. The built-in FISCAL\_QUARTER() function will return the quarter based on the defined start month.

Notice how the fiscal quarter is set to Q2 in the measure header on choosing April as the fiscal year start month.

Fiscal quarter based on fiscal year start settings

### ii) Reference grid value We can also directly reference values from the grid in measure headers. To achieve this, add the field to be referenced as the 'Others' parameter of the visual. Double-click on the header to edit it and select the value to be referenced from the grid. To remove the field from the report, hide the field from 'Manage Columns'.

In the next section, we'll cover some [basic actions](/working-with-inforiver/3.-basic-interactions/actions) such as selections and formatting using rails, toolbar customizations, keyboard shortcuts, and reset. # Context menus Inforiver offers a host of single-click customizations that can be directly accessed from the row and column grippers. Let's take a look at these options. ### 1. Column gripper context menu The column gripper context menu is enabled by hovering over a field in your report. [Learn more about the options in the column gripper.](/working-with-inforiver/3.-basic-interactions/context-menus/column-gripper)

### 2. Row gripper context menu To access the row gripper, hover over any row, the gripper icon appears to the left of the row. Click on the gripper icon to access the menu. [Learn more about the options in the row gripper.](/working-with-inforiver/3.-basic-interactions/context-menus/row-gripper)

#### #### #### #### \-- #### # Column gripper You can use the column gripper context menu to quickly sort or show/hide fields or insert a new field. Let's look at the various options in detail. #### 1. Sort You can use the *Sort* option to sort your data in ascending/descending order or apply an absolute sort. For hierarchical datasets, sorting is applied to the child rows for each level of the hierarchy.

In the example, the Jan > Profit measure has been sorted in ascending order.

#### 2. Insert The *Insert* option can be used for the following operations: * **Copy as data input** - Create a new data input field. The values will be copied from the selected measure. * **New data input** - Create a new empty data input field * **Insert formula** - Create a new field using a built-in formula Learn more about [data input](/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae/insert-manual-input-rows/insert-manual-input-rows) and [formula measures](/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae/insert-calculated-columns).

#### 3. Change to visual column When you assign measures or dimensions to the AC/PY/PL/FC/Others parameters, the native measures and dimensions are displayed for each column dimension category. You can display them as visual columns by selecting the **Change to visual column** option.

Notice how the Profit measure has been converted into a visual column.

Native measure converted into a visual column

#### 4. Pin column The pin column option allows you to tag important columns right at the beginning of your report - saving you the effort required to scroll back and forth.

In the example, the Dec>Profits and Apr>Sales have been pinned to the beginning of the report.

You can also choose to unpin a particular field or unpin all fields.

#### 5. Freeze column Navigating large reports with numerous rows and columns can make data comparison cumbersome with a significant amount of scrolling. With Inforiver Matrix, you can freeze selected rows and columns to keep key metrics in view - making analysis faster and more efficient. For example, to use the key metrics for 2024-Q1 as a benchmark, you can freeze those specific columns as shown in the image.

You can freeze both rows and columns. To analyze the Gross Profit and Net Revenue based on US Central metrics, we can freeze the selected rows and columns from the row/column grippers. [Learn more about freezing rows](https://docs.inforiver.com/working-with-inforiver/3.-basic-interactions/context-menus/pages/2OukKHu6EL51cpZuZEGC#id-5.4.-freeze-row).

Frozen rows are columns are retained in Excel and PDF exports.

Frozen rows and columns in Excel export

#### 6. Ignore measure in null suppression If your report has non-numeric data along with measures, and all the measure values are null for certain rows, you may want to suppress such rows as they do not add value to the report. Notice the row highlighted in the report below; all Sales values are null. You can suppress these rows with the **Ignore Measure in Null Suppression** option. {% hint style="info" %} The Hide Blanks option under Hierarchy settings should be set to **Visible Values**. {% endhint %} Notice how the highlighted row with null measure values is suppressed after selecting the option.

#### 7. Stick Measure to Last In some cases, using field measures can cause an automatic re-ordering of columns in the report. You may want a particular field, for instance, a field with an embedded chart, to always retain its position at the end of the report. You can use the *Stick Measures to Last* option to assign one designated measure to the last position. The last position will be retained even if new fields are added to the visual.

#### 8. Hide Column You can use the *Hide Column* option to mask a particular column in your report. In the animation below, notice how the Profit measure has been hidden in the report. {% hint style="info" %} You can use the *Show All Columns* option to display hidden columns again. {% endhint %}

#### 8. Aggregation Using this option, you can directly set the aggregation method used to calculate the totals and subtotals for a particular column. Learn more about [managing aggregation](/working-with-inforiver/manage-aggregations).

Measure aggregation for totals and subtotals

#### 9. Select Measure You may need to perform operations such as applying uniform formatting for a measure. Rather than selecting each measure and applying formatting, you can use this option to select a particular measure across the entire report and apply formatting in a single shot. In the animation below, notice how the Discount measure has been selected for all months.

#### 10. Select header Use the Select Header option to apply custom formatting to the measure header.

#### 11. Number formatting You can use this option to directly set a custom scaling factor for a particular measure.

#### 12. Semantic formatting Display negative values in parentheses or choose to place the negative sign after the number with **Semantic formatting** options.

#### 13. Multi select rows This option enables checkboxes to quickly select multiple rows. Click on the column gripper for the row dimension header to access the **Multi Select Rows** option.

Multi select checkboxes enabled:

Multi-row selection can now filter the records in another Inforiver Matrix visual. You'll see that the product names in the first visual are automatically filtered when we make category selections in the second visual.

Inter visual filtering with multi row selection

# Row gripper In this section, let's explore the various options in Inforiver to customize rows in your reports. ### 1. Freeze grand total If you have set a multi-page layout with scrolling, use this option to ensure the grand total row is fixed to the top of the page.

### 2. Select category dimension Select all the categories at a particular hierarchy level using this option. You can apply styling or number formatting to all the selected rows.

#### - Select descendants Selects the children under a particular row dimension category.

#### - Select parent and descendants Selects all the children as well as the parent row dimension category.

### 3. Expand/Collapse Inforiver makes it effortless for you to handle large hierarchical datasets. Instead of manually expanding or collapsing each level of the hierarchy, you have various options in the row gripper. [Learn more about managing hierarchies.](/working-with-inforiver/3.-basic-interactions/manage-hierarchies)

### 4. Insert You can easily insert rows from the row gripper menu. Let's explore the different types of rows that can be inserted using this option.

#### 4.1. Formula You can create a new row using Inforiver's built-in formulas or write a custom calculation. [Learn more about calculated rows](/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae/insert-calculated-rows/insert-calculated-rows). #### 4.2. Data input You can insert a row and manually enter data using the static row option. [Learn more about static rows.](/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae/insert-manual-input-rows/insert-manual-input-rows) #### 4.3. Add Break Row Insert break rows to demarcate row categories. You can also apply formatting, such as setting the color for break rows. #### 4.4. Empty row Financial statements and reports often require options to add white spaces for formatting. Inforiver provides the insert empty row option to achieve this in a single click. [Learn more about empty rows](/working-with-inforiver/2.-displaying-information/basic-formatting/insert-blank-rows). #### 4.5. Row hierarchy Use this option to insert a user-defined level into hierarchical data. [Learn more about row hierarchies.](https://docs.inforiver.com/working-with-inforiver/3.-basic-interactions/context-menus/pages/uPRcNMHmlz1ZIWhFbxNm#id-3.-row-hierarchy) #### 4.6. Insert row(s) You create visual level hierarchies or bulk insert multiple row categories using this option. [Learn more about bulk inserting rows](https://docs.inforiver.com/working-with-inforiver/3.-basic-interactions/context-menus/pages/uPRcNMHmlz1ZIWhFbxNm#id-2.-bulk-insert-static-rows). ### 5. Actions The actions section has various formatting and customization options for rows. Let's take a detailed look.

#### 5.1. Add row break You can use this option to set pagination based on the category i.e. your report will have one page per category. This option is available in the row gripper for parent nodes only.

We have used the *Add Row Break* option to create one page corresponding to each category - Technology, Furnishings, and Office Supplies.

#### 5.2. Hide Icon for level You can use this option to disable the expand/collapse icon for a particular level of the hierarchy. The hierarchy will always be in an expanded state for that level.

Notice how the expand/collapse icon has been removed for the category level i.e. Furniture, Office Supplies, and Technology.

#### 5.3. Hide icon and children This option removes the expand collapse icon and hides all the child rows, retaining only the parent row.

Notice how all the children under the Furniture category have been hidden and the expand/collapse icon has been removed.

#### 5.4. Freeze row With Inforiver Matrix, you can freeze selected rows to keep key metrics in view - making analysis faster and more efficient.

We've frozen the 'Digital SLR Cameras' row. The row remains static even when we navigate to different pages, as shown in the second image.

Frozen rows retained on the screen after page switch

With Inforiver Matrix, you can freeze both rows and columns. Frozen rows and columns will be captured in Excel and PDF exports. [Learn more from freezing columns](https://docs.inforiver.com/working-with-inforiver/3.-basic-interactions/context-menus/pages/qTHebq7tlE7Hhn5TZloS#id-5.-freeze-column). #### 5.5. Hide row This option can be used to mask rows in the report. Note that hidden rows will still be included in total and sub-total calculations.

The 'Bookcases' row has been masked using this option. Use the *Show All Rows* option from the row gripper to display the hidden rows.

#### 5.6. Skip row The skip rows option can be used when you need to effectively perform a soft delete on a row - the row will be excluded from totals and exports. {% hint style="info" %} Use the Alt + G shortcut to select multiple rows and skip all of them. {% endhint %}

The 'Furniture' row and all its children have been removed using the *Skip row* option and the totals and sub-totals have been adjusted accordingly. This option can be used to skip individual child rows as well.

#### 5.7. Skip and show row This option will exclude the selected row category from totals and subtotals, but the row will still be displayed. The

icon indicates that the row has been skipped.

#### 5.8. Disable Subtotal Use this option to remove all the sub-total aggregations for parent nodes in the hierarchy. This option is available in the row gripper for parent nodes only. In the animation below, notice how all the subtotal calculations have been removed using this option.

#### 5.9. Set Subtotal below This option will position the parent sub-total rows below the child rows. In the animation below, notice how the subtotal rows have been moved to the bottom, below all the child rows.

#### 5.10. Hide ruler In the Table and Stepped layout, [rails ](/working-with-inforiver/3.-basic-interactions/actions/rails)are displayed in the report by default. If you do not require rails for formatting, a Hide ruler option has been added to the row gripper under the Actions section. This is primarily intended for report authors who are unaware of the rails option on the toolbar.

### 6. Ungroup You can use the row gripper to flatten custom row hierarchies. Notice how the parent *Operations* group is removed and the child categories are converted into parent categories after ungrouping.

{% hint style="info" %} The Remove Group option will delete the parent category i.e. remove the selected level of the hierarchy including all child records. {% endhint %} # Actions In this section, we'll look at the following: **1. Rails** - You can enable the horizontal and vertical ruler and adjust the column width and row height of the visual. To learn more, refer to [rails](/working-with-inforiver/3.-basic-interactions/actions/rails). **2. Toolbar options** - Inforiver toolbar can be minimized in the edit/read modes and customized for the reading view. To learn more, refer to [toolbar options](/working-with-inforiver/3.-basic-interactions/actions/toolbar-options). **3. Keyboard shortcuts** - For a list of keyboard shortcuts that you can use to work efficiently with Inforiver, refer to [keyboard shortcuts](/working-with-inforiver/3.-basic-interactions/actions/keyboard-shortcuts). **4. Reset** - Inforiver provides various reset options such as Reset formats, Reset value, Reset notes and Reset all. To learn more, refer to [reset](/working-with-inforiver/3.-basic-interactions/actions/reset). **5. Context menus -** Inforiver offers a host of single-click options that can be accessed from the row and column grippers. To learn more refer to [context menus](/working-with-inforiver/3.-basic-interactions/context-menus). # Rails Rails allow you to enable the horizontal and vertical ruler and adjust the column width and row height of the visual. a) In the 'Home' tab of the toolbar, click on the 'Rails' icon in the Actions section.

{% hint style="info" %} By default, rails are enabled for all the layouts except for Hierarchy, Drilldown and Measures (Pivot). {% endhint %} b) Let's see how to adjust the column width using rails. Simply drag and place the ruler to the desired size as shown below.

c) Below is an example of adjusting row height.

d) You can select any row/column by clicking the corresponding rail. e) Hovering over the rails, you can view the gripper for both rows and columns.

f) You can give numbering over rails. In the 'Home' tab of the toolbar, select 'Display' from the 'Actions' section. In the 'General' tab of the side panel, enable the 'Show Ruler Numbering'.

g) You can now see the numbering over the rails.

In the next section, we'll cover [toolbar options](/working-with-inforiver/3.-basic-interactions/actions/toolbar-options). # Toolbar options Inforiver supports minimal toolbar options for a better user experience in the small screen mode. You can also allow/restrict toolbar options to report viewers and a preview of the reading mode toolbar can be seen right from the edit mode. The available options are shown in the below image.

## 1. Full The 'Full' option shows the full view of the toolbar covering all the features under the 'Home', 'Insert', 'Design' and 'Export' tabs. By default, all reports display the full view of the toolbar as shown below.

## 2. Minimal The 'Minimal' option shows the minimal view of the toolbar with options such as Layout, Top N, Auto fit, Row height, Notes, Export and many more as shown in the below image.

## 3. Minimal with tabs The 'Minimal with tabs' option shows the tabs and the minimal toolbar as shown in the below image.

## 4. Reading view preview If you have [restricted access](#6.-set-reading-view-access) to certain toolbar options for your report consumers, you can preview the reading view toolbar right from Power BI Desktop. Click on the 'Reading view preview' option as shown.

This will give you a preview of how the report will look in the reading view.

To switch back to the editing mode, click on the 'Show edit mode' option from the toolbar options.

## 5. Unpin toolbar You can detach the toolbar and view the report in full screen using the 'Unpin toolbar' option.

The unpinned toolbar is shown below.

You can pin it back by clicking the icon highlighted in the below image.

## 6. Allowed user controls You can customize the toolbar options that are available for the report consumers in reading mode of Power BI service. Click on the 'Allowed user controls' option from the drop-down.

You can see the 'Allowed user controls' modal.

In this modal you can enable/disable the following options: #### 6.1. Toolbar Using this option you can specify how you want the toolbar to be displayed in reading view mode. * **Auto -** This option displays your current toolbar in the reading view mode * **Full -** This option displays the [full toolbar](#1.-full) * **Minimal -** This option displays the [minimal toolbar](#2.-minimal) * **Minimal with tabs -** This option displays the [minimal toolbar with tabs](#3.-minimal-with-tabs) * **Off -** This option [unpins the toolbar](#5.-unpin-toolbar) #### 6.2. Home tab Enabling this option will display the 'Home' tab in the toolbar if the report is in reading view mode. Click on the caret icon to the right of the 'Home' tab to expand it. This will display additional sub-options. You can enable/disable the following options to show/hide in the toolbar under the 'Home' tab.

#### 6.3. Insert tab Toolbar items in the *Insert* tab, such as Data input, Simulations, Aggregations, Forecasts, Scenarios, etc, can be leveraged in reading mode. You can control the features that will be available in the reading view from the *Allowed User Controls* window in both Writeback and Reporting Matrix. In the Reporting matrix reading view, you can insert Rows, Columns, and invert them as well. While these changes can be exported, they cannot be saved. When the page is refreshed or the page is switched, these changes will not be saved in the backend.

#### 6.4. Export tab Enabling this option will display the 'Export' tab in the toolbar if the report is in reading view mode. Click on the caret icon to the right of the 'Export' tab to expand it. This will display additional sub-options. You can enable/disable the following options to show/hide in the toolbar under the 'Export' tab.

Report author(s) have additional control over whether a user can modify export settings for Excel extracts. We've added a new **Show Excel Export Settings** option in Allowed User Controls - uncheck this option to disable the Export Settings option in reading view and restrict users from modifying export settings. {% hint style="info" %} This option is currently available only in Reporting Matrix {% endhint %}

#### 6.5. Scenario tab Enabling this option will display the 'Scenario' tab in the toolbar if the report is in reading view mode. Click on the caret icon to the right of the 'Scenario' tab to expand it. This will display additional sub-options. To learn more about scenarios click [here](/working-with-inforiver/7.-planning-budgeting-and-forecasting/scenarios-writeback-matrix-only). You can enable/disable the following options to show/hide in the toolbar under the 'Scenario' tab.

#### 6.6. Writeback tab Enabling this option will display the 'Writeback' tab in the toolbar if the report is in reading view mode. Click on the caret icon to the right of the 'Writeback' tab to expand it. This will display additional sub-options. To learn more about writeback, click [here.](/working-with-inforiver/12.-data-writeback) You can enable/disable the following options to show/hide in the toolbar under the 'Writeback' tab.

#### 6.7. Show gripper Enabling this option will show a gripper and context menu (the menu that displays on the right-click of the mouse) for rows and columns. In this image, the context menu appears on right-click when the report is in the reading view mode.

#### 6.8. **Show expand collapse only** Users in reading view can use the row gripper to navigate hierarchies and insert rows/skip rows, and hide rows. Enable the **Show Expand Collapse Only** option to limit users to expanding and collapsing hierarchies. The row manipulation options will not be available in the gripper when this option is enabled. {% hint style="info" %} This option is currently available only in Reporting Matrix {% endhint %}

#### 6.9. Show floating toolbar Inforiver now offers an Excel-like floating toolbar in the reading view mode on the selected report elements (row, column, or cell) for improved discoverability of features and improved user experience.

If you enable this option, then on unpinning the toolbar you will get a floating toolbar when the report is in the reading view mode.

When this option is enabled, then on selecting any report element you will find the possible actions and configurations you can perform on that element in the floating toolbar.

#### 6.10. Reorder row/column If you enable this option, you can easily drag and drop the rows and columns for easy reordering in reading view mode.

#### 6.11. Show toast message Enabling this option will display the toast message in the reading view mode. In the image below, a 'Copied to clipboard' toast message is displayed in the reading mode when the 'Copy to clipboard' option is clicked.

#### 6.12. Sort on click If this option is enabled, then clicking on the column header will sort the data in the column in ascending/descending order in the reading view mode. In the image below, the up arrow on the column header is highlighted, indicating that the column is sorted in descending order.

#### 6.13. Show search Enabling this option will display the search icon and search bar at the top of the report in the reading view mode. {% hint style="info" %} The 'Show search' option is available only if the 'Toolbar' option is set to 'Off' in the 'Reading view access' modal {% endhint %}

#### 6.14. Visual Zoom Enabling this option displays the zoom icon in the Reading view, allowing users to zoom in and out of the report for visibility.

#### 6.15. View All Notes Report users can view all the notes added to a report in a single, consolidated window. The *View All Notes* option in the Allowed user controls setting displays the notes side pane by default in the reading view.

You can change the order of the tabs (Home, Insert, Design, Export, Forecast, etc.) in the Reading view. This applies only to the "Full" and "Minimal with Tabs" views because, in other view types, the tabs are not visible. To rearrange the tabs, click the six-dot icon beside the tab you wish to move.

With the above configuration, the Reading view looks as shown below:

#### 6.16. Show Read View Bookmark Report viewers may apply formatting/Inforiver filters for data analysis and save their changes using the Power BI bookmarking feature. When the **Show read View Bookmark** option is enabled in Allowed user controls, in reading view, you will notice a **Read view bookmarking** toggle.

With this toggle, users can choose whether to retain bookmarks in Reading view. When the toggle is disabled, users can create bookmarks, but changes will not be persisted. [Learn more about using Power BI bookmarks to save your report analysis](/working-with-inforiver/19.-leveraging-power-bi-bookmarks). #### 6.17. Show pagination Decide whether to allow users to enable or disable pagination in the reading view. {% hint style="info" %} This option is currently available only in Reporting Matrix. {% endhint %}

#### 6.18. **Configure toolbar settings** {% hint style="info" %} This option is currently available only in Reporting Matrix. {% endhint %} You can restrict report users from modifying toolbar configurations(Full/Minimal/Minimal With Tabs/Unpin) while in reading view. The dropdown(![](https://docs.inforiver.com/~gitbook/image?url=https%3A%2F%2F3062809325-files.gitbook.io%2F%7E%2Ffiles%2Fv0%2Fb%2Fgitbook-x-prod.appspot.com%2Fo%2Fspaces%252FEbkCXCUXmtUq5tcnUtZE%252Fuploads%252FJyb3UT0OoX0B24thsTGq%252Fimage.png%3Falt%3Dmedia%26token%3D8ffa9b0f-a053-4b9e-be70-dcdf27ad4668\&width=30\&dpr=4\&quality=100\&sign=cd4c1ffe\&sv=2)) will be disabled in reading view when the **Configure Toolbar Settings** toggle is turned off in Allowed User Controls.

#### 6.19. **Reset header order** {% hint style="info" %} This option is currently available only in Reporting Matrix. {% endhint %} Analyzing reports can involve reordering measures to group related measures together or for easy side-by-side comparisons without scrolling. Enable the **Reset Header Order** toggle in Allowed user controls for users in reading view to restore columns to the original order.

#### 6.20 Allow Conditional Format {% hint style="info" %} This option is currently available only in Reporting Matrix. {% endhint %} Report authors can apply conditional formatting when the Allow Conditional Format toggle is enabled for users in reading view.

## 7. Quick access Using the 'Quick access' option, you can quickly search for specific features and find the shortcut or navigate to it directly. Select the 'Quick access' option.

{% hint style="info" %} The keyboard shortcut for the Quick access option is **'Ctrl+F'** {% endhint %} A pop-up opens as shown below. The options are hyperlinked and help you navigate directly to the toolbar tab, side panel, or dialog box. Let's click on 'Manage (Columns)'.

The 'Manage columns' side panel opens up as shown in the image below.

In the next section, we'll be covering [Keyboard shortcuts](/working-with-inforiver/3.-basic-interactions/actions/keyboard-shortcuts). # Keyboard shortcuts Below are the keyboards shortcuts that you can use to work efficiently with Inforiver. ## 1. Toolbar | Description | Shortcut | | -------------------------------- | ----------- | | a) To switch to the 'Home' tab | `Alt` + `H` | | b) To switch to the 'Insert' tab | `Alt` + `I` | | c) To switch to the 'Export' tab | `Alt` + `E` | ## 2. Footer

Description	Shortcut
a) To zoom in on the report	`Ctrl` + scroll the mouse wheel `↑` or `Ctrl` + `+`
b) To zoom out on the report	`Ctrl` + scroll the mouse wheel `↓` or `Ctrl` + `-`
c) To turn on pagination (Based on the number of rows that fit on a page)	`Alt` + `L` + `1`
d) To turn off pagination	`Alt` + `L` + `0`

## 3. Selection ### i) Navigate cells | Description | Shortcut | | ------------------------------------------------------------ | ----------------- | | a) To navigate cells | `← ↑ → ↓` | | b) To move to the first/last cell horizontally or vertically | `Ctrl`+ `← ↑ → ↓` | {% hint style="info" %} In the case of cell navigation, `← →` won't work when a row is selected and `↑ ↓` won't work when a column is selected. {% endhint %} ### ii) Cells & cell ranges

Description	Shortcut
a) To multi-select adjacent cells and cell ranges	`Shift`+ `← ↑ → ↓`
b) To select cells between two cells	First cell+ `Shift`+ Last cell
c) To multi-select non-adjacent cells and cell ranges	`Ctrl`+ select cells

### iii) Rows & columns

Description	Shortcut
a) To select the nth row	`Alt` + `R` + `n`
b) To select the nth column	`Alt` + `C` + `n`
c) To multi-select adjacent rows/columns	Select row/column + `← ↑ → ↓`
d) To select all the intermediate rows/columns from source to target like Excel	First row/column + `Shift`+ Last row/column
e) To multi-select non-adjacent rows or columns	`Ctrl` + select rows/columns
f) To multi-select rows using checkboxes	`Alt` + `M`
g) To select all the rows and columns	`Ctrl` + `A`
h) Skip rows	Alt +G

## 4. Formatting ### i) Style formatting

Description	Shortcut
a) To bold the selection	`Ctrl` + `B`
b) To italicize the selection	`Ctrl` + `I`
c) To underline the selection	`Ctrl` + `U`

### ii) Number formatting

Description	Shortcut
a) To open the 'Quick format' dropdown	`Alt` + `N` + `0`
b) To apply 'Uniform' scaling	`Alt` + `N` + `1`
c) To apply 'Measure level' scaling	`Alt` + `N` + `2`
d) To apply 'Auto' scaling	`Alt` + `N` + `3`
e) To apply 'Native' scaling	`Alt` + `N` + `4`
f) To convert selection to percentage	`Ctrl` + `Shift` + `%`
g) To add prefix/suffix	`Alt` + `J`

## 5. Layout

Description	Shortcut
a) To open the 'Layout' dropdown	`Alt` + `B`
b) To expand selected row level	`Alt` + `←`
c) To collapse selected row level	`Alt` + `→`

## 6. Templates

Description	Shortcut
a) To open the templates side panel	`Alt` + `T`
b) To apply the 'Performance - T01' template	`Alt` + `T` + `1`
c) To apply the 'Performance - T02' template	`Alt` + `T` + `2`
d) To apply the 'Performance - T03' template	`Alt` + `T` + `3`
e) To apply the 'Performance - T04' template	`Alt` + `T` + `4`
f) To apply the 'Performance - T05' template	`Alt` + `T` + `5`
g) To apply the 'Grid - Default' template	`Alt` + `T` + `6`
h) To apply the 'Grid - Spreadsheet' template	`Alt` + `T` + `7`
i) To apply the 'Financial - Simple' template	`Alt` + `T` + `8`
j) To apply the 'Financial - Standard' template	`Alt` + `T` + `9`

## 7. Analyze | Description | Shortcut | | ---------------------------- | ----------------- | | a) To create a new rule | `Alt` + `Y` | | b) To apply 'Color scale' | `Alt` + `Y` + `1` | | c) To apply 'Classification' | `Alt` + `Y` + `2` | | d) To apply 'Data bars' | `Alt` + `Y` + `3` | | e) To customize totals | `Alt` + `D` | | f) To apply Top N + Others | `Alt` + `N` + `R` | | g) To apply filter | `Alt` + `F` + `I` | {% hint style="info" %} Select a column before using the Top N + Others shortcut; else gets applied to the first column in the report. {% endhint %} ## 8. Calculate

Description	Shortcut
a) To open the 'Insert rows' dropdown	`Alt` + `I`
b) To open the 'Quick formulas' dropdown	`Alt` + `Z`

## 9. Actions

Description	Shortcut
a) To undo an action	`Ctrl` + `Z`
b) To redo an action	`Ctrl` + `Shift` + `Z`
c) To reset all changes	`Ctrl` + `Shift` + `H`
d) To copy a selection	`Ctrl` + `C`
e) To copy a selection to a clipboard	`Alt` + `Z`
f) To paste a selection	`Ctrl` + `V`
g) To open the audit log	`Alt` + `U`

In the next section, we'll be covering [reset](/working-with-inforiver/3.-basic-interactions/actions/reset) options. # Reset Reset option allows you to remove or revert any changes that have been made to a particular cell or range of cells, and restore them to their original state. Inforiver provides various reset options such as Reset formats, Reset value, Reset notes and Reset all. * Reset formats: This option removes any formatting that has been applied to the cells, such as font color, font size, and cell borders. * Reset value: This option resets any changes to the cell values. * Reset notes: This option deletes all the notes added to the report. * Reset header order: This option restores the ordering of header categories. * Reset row order: This option reverts to the original ordering of row categories. * Reset row height: Restores the default row height. * Reset all: This option removes all the changes to the report, including formatting, data edits, charts, filtering, etc., and restores it to the original state. In the 'Home' tab of the toolbar, select the 'Reset' icon from the 'Actions' section. You can see that the Reset Formats and Reset Value options are disabled. To enable them, you need to select one or more cells with formats applied or edited values.

### **1. Reset formats** In the example below, you can see some cells formatted with background and font color. Select one or more cells with formatting applied. Click 'Reset formats' to remove the format.

The formatting has been reset.

Note that 'Reset formats' does not remove the conditional formatting applied in the visual. For example, consider the measure (AC vs PL %).

Select a cell with conditional formatting, and you can see that the 'Reset formats' option is not enabled.

{% hint style="info" %} Reset format is not applicable for conditional formatting, semantic formatting and the other formatting options available in 'Display settings'. {% endhint %} To reset formatting for the entire table, select the entire table (Ctrl + A) and reset all formatting.

Reset Formats by selecting the entire table

### **2. Reset value** In the below example, you can see that two values are edited in '2021 Actuals'. Select the cells with edited values. Click 'Reset value' to restore the value.

The cells have been restored to their original values.

### 3. Reset notes In the example below, you can see that there are several notes added to the report. Click on 'Reset notes' to remove all the notes. {% hint style="info" %} In case you want to delete only selected notes and not all the notes, use the delete icon corresponding to the notes when you hover over them. The 'Reset notes' option resets all the notes in the report. {% endhint %}

All the notes have been removed.

### 4. Reset Header order Your dataset may contain date values that are not in Power BI standard format, in this case, Inforiver will order the fields alphabetically. If you have re-ordered the fields for analysis, you can easily revert to the original alphabetical sequence using the ‘Reset Header order’ option.

Headers restored to original alphabetical order

### 5. Reset Row order If you have re-ordered the rows in your reports, you can use this option to quickly restore the original order as configured in your Power BI data model. Note that Power BI sort cannot be used if the row order has been modified - you can apply this option if you need to revert to Power BI sorting. Notice how the product names are rearranged when the Reset Row order option is clicked.

### 6. **Reset Row Height** {% hint style="info" %} This option is currently available only in Reporting Matrix {% endhint %} To revert any manual row height adjustments, select the **Reset Row Height** option to restore the original height for all rows.

### 7. Reset All To remove all the changes in the visual and reset to the original settings, select 'Reset All'.

This opens a pop-up. Click 'Proceed'.

All the changes are removed, and the visual is set to the original format as shown.

In the next section, we'll start with [adding business logic and formula](/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae). # 4. Adding business logic and formulae We successfully used filters, KPI explorer, manage columns, expand/collapse hierarchies, group & pin rows and columns, and many other features in the [previous section](/working-with-inforiver/3.-basic-interactions). In this section, we'll cover the following: **1. Insert calculated rows** - Inforiver provides an option to insert calculated rows using an Excel-like formula engine. To learn more, refer to [insert calculated rows](/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae/insert-calculated-rows/insert-calculated-rows). **2. Insert calculated columns** - With Inforiver, it is possible to insert a new calculated column or measure at the visual level. To learn more, refer to [insert calculated columns](/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae/insert-calculated-columns). **3. Insert manual input rows** - Inforiver allows you to insert static rows in matrix-style reports where you can input or enter the data. To learn more, refer to [insert manual input rows](/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae/insert-manual-input-rows/insert-manual-input-rows). **4. Insert manual input columns** - Inforiver provides six (6) different options to manually enter data in your Power BI report such as date, text, single/multi-select etc. To learn more, refer to [insert manual input columns](/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae/insert-manual-input-columns). **5. Invert sign** - Using the invert sign feature you can change the signs for cells or rows right within the report. To learn more, refer to [Invert sign.](/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae/invert-sign) **6. Editing cells** - Edit native measures and apply calculations at visual level. [Learn more about editing cells.](/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae/editing-cells) **7. Quick formula** - Inforiver provides several one-click calculations for inserting columns and rows. To learn more, refer to [quick formulas](/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae/quick-formula). **8. Manage inserted rows & columns** - Rows or columns inserted in the visual such as calculations, static rows, or data input columns can be managed using the 'Manage' options. To learn more, refer to [Manage inserted rows & columns.](/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae/manage-inserted-rows-and-columns) **9. Insert image URLs** - Rows or columns inserted in the visual such as calculations, static rows, or data input columns can be #### Resources [Visual calculations using Inforiver](https://inforiver.com/webinars/visual-level-formula-calculations-powerbi/) [Excel-like MoM, QoQ, YoY % calculations in rows ](https://inforiver.com/blog/general/excel-like-mom-qoq-yoy-calculations-power-bi/) [Calculate remaining budget without using DAX](https://inforiver.com/blog/general/calculating-remaining-budget-powerbi/) [Implement SUM measure totals without using DAX](https://inforiver.com/blog/general/sum-measure-totals-powerbi-no-dax/) # Insert calculated rows Inforiver provides an option to insert calculated rows using an intuitive formula editor. The Excel-like formula engine supports 50+ functions (logical, boolean, math functions, and more). The formula editor provides syntax, examples, and features such as autocomplete, multi-line support, and more to help users create, and troubleshoot formulas. {% embed url="" %} {% hint style="info" %} Refer to the [formula syntax](/formula-syntax) section for a detailed list of functions, operators, and identifiers that can be used for calculations. {% endhint %} [Learn more about inserting calculated rows for Writeback Matrix](/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae/insert-calculated-rows/insert-calculated-rows) [Learn more about inserting calculated rows for Reporting Matrix](/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae/insert-calculated-rows/calculated-rows-reporting-matrix) # Calculated rows (WB Matrix) Let us take an example where we have sales data by category and subcategory. Let's insert a row for Specialty Beverages, which is calculated as the minimum of the other subcategories in Beverages across quarters. Select the Tea & Coffee row above which we need to insert the row. In the Insert tab, click on the **Insert Row** dropdown. Select the **Formula** option.

Select the Formula option in Writeback Matrix

A blank row gets inserted, and a side panel opens up as shown.

You can also create parent rows as calculated rows.

### 1. Formula editor 1.1. Rename the title and click on the formula editor. You can see a list of available functions in the Functions tab.

1.2. As you start typing, Inforiver's IntelliSense narrows down the list of functions to match the entered text. Click on MIN.

1.3. Inforiver displays the syntax for the function. Click on the arrow highlighted.

1.4. Inforiver displays a description of the function and a detailed explanation of the arguments with examples.

1.5. To insert a reference to a particular row, click on the row when the cursor is placed in the formula editor.

1.6. The other way is to use the References tab. To access Soda, you need to type Beverages.Soda. As you start typing, the references get narrowed down. Select 'Beverages'.

Select 'Soda' from the dropdown.

Referencing child records from the dropdown

1.7. The calculated row gets created as shown.

{% hint style="info" %} To see the underlying logic for calculated data, click on the cell to preview the formulae applied in the formula bar. {% endhint %} While you can use the [SUM](/formula-syntax/math-functions/sum) and [AVERAGE](/formula-syntax/math-functions/average) functions to calculate the sum and average of rows respectively, you can also use the **Aggregation** option from the 'Insert Row' menu. Select a parent-level row and choose the **Aggregation** option from the Insert Row menu.

Select the aggregation type from the dropdown menu.

Any errors in the formula can be easily located with clear and concise error messages. In the maximized formula editor view, you will also notice line numbers, allowing you to quickly locate and fix errors.

### 2. Include in total a) Check the 'Include in total' checkbox as we need the Specialty Beverages value to be included in the Beverages total and the grand total. Click 'Create'.

b) You can see that the row is renamed and the values are populated. There is also a formula bar on the top which shows the formula defined. Note that the grand total is now updated to 255m.

c) Let's uncheck the 'Include in total' checkbox and click 'Update'.

Excluding Specialty Beverages from total

d) You can see that the grand total has now reverted back to the original value of 239m.

### 3. Include in charts a) Check the 'Include in charts' checkbox and click 'Update'. {% hint style="info" %} The 'Include in charts' checkbox is enabled only when the 'Include in total' option is unchecked. {% endhint %}

b) Let's now add a bar chart to 2022 Actuals. Click on the column and select the highlighted bar chart from the 'Home' tab.

c) Notice that the Specialty Beverages row is also visualized using the bar chart.

d) On unchecking the 'Include in charts' checkbox and clicking 'Update', you can see that the calculated row is no longer shown as charts.

### 4. Evaluate column before rows When inserting calculated rows, in some cases you might want the total to be the sum of the child columns whereas in other cases, it needs to follow the defined formula. This behavior can be configured using the 'Evaluate column before rows' option. Let's consider an example where we are inserting the relative variance between two rows. In the below image, with 'Evaluate columns before rows' enabled, you can see that the variance for the grand total is calculated based on the grand total values of Pacific and Central.

When 'Evaluate columns before rows' is disabled, the grand total variance is calculated as the sum of Beverages and Water which is not the expected behavior in this case.

Total value calculated as sum of category values

### 5. Custom scaling In certain cases, the values in calculated rows may not conform to the number scaling set at the report level. You can apply a custom scaling factor based on the nature of the calculation applied.

### 6. Bind for Cross filter/RLS You can enable the Bind for Cross filter/RLS option to ensure that cross-filter selections and RLS settings apply to calculated/manual input rows that reference other rows. For example, a manager handling 'Canada' accounts should only be able to access 'Canada' data. If this option is not enabled, he can view a manually inserted row that references data from other regions(child rows) or an inserted region that is manually created at the visual level(parent rows). You can bind inserted rows by selecting a reference row or a dimension category. #### **Binding by selecting a row** Let's consider these RLS rules defined based on regions:

To select a particular reference row, choose *Row* from the **SelectionType** dropdown. The Alaska>Velo hierarchy references the Canada row in the example below. Click the Canada row to reference it in the Selected Row field. Only users with access to 'Canada' data will be able to view the Alaska level.

The Alaska hierarchy is displayed only for users with RLS access to Canada data.

Users with Canada access can see the inserted row

Similarly, a user with access to 'France' data will be able to see the Austria level but not the Alaska level.

The user can view Austria and France:

User can view the rows bound to the France row

#### **Dimension category** RLS rule defined for product access:

RLS rule for accessing the Paseo product

To bind the inserted row to a particular dimension category, choose *Dimension member* from the **SelectionType** dropdown. In the example below, the Paseo adjustment row references the Paseo product.

Notice how the adjustment row is displayed for users with access to Paseo products.

PaseoAdj row is visible to users with access to the Paseo product

Select Calculated Row option in Reporting Matrix

A blank row gets inserted, and a side panel opens up as shown.

You can also create parent rows as calculated rows.

Let's look at the configurations applicable to calculated rows. ### 1. Formula editor 1.1. Rename the title and click on the formula editor. You can see a list of available functions in the Functions tab.

1.2. As you start typing, Inforiver's IntelliSense narrows down the list of functions to match the entered text. Click on MIN.

1.3. Inforiver displays the syntax for the function. Click on the arrow highlighted.

1.4. Inforiver displays a description of the function and a detailed explanation of the arguments with examples.

1.5. To insert a reference to a particular row, click on the row when the cursor is placed in the formula editor.

1.6. The other way is to use the References tab. To access a child row, e.g., *Mineral Water*, you need to type 'Water.Mineral Water'. As you start typing, the references get narrowed down. Select 'Water'.

Select 'Mineral Water' from the dropdown.

1.7. The calculated row gets created as shown.

{% hint style="info" %} To see the underlying logic for calculated data, click on the cell to preview the formulae applied in the formula bar. {% endhint %} #### Inserting aggregated rows While you can use the [SUM](/formula-syntax/math-functions/sum) and [AVERAGE](/formula-syntax/math-functions/average) functions to calculate the sum and average of rows, respectively, you can also use the **Aggregation** option from the 'Insert Row' menu. Select the rows to aggregate. You'll notice that the **Insert Sum of rows** and **Insert Avg of rows** options are now enabled in the dropdown.

Enter a name for the row and click Create.

#### Debugging formulas Any errors in the formula can be easily located with clear and concise error messages. In the maximized formula editor view, you will also notice line numbers, allowing you to quickly locate and fix errors.

### 2. Include in total 2.1. Check the **Include in total** checkbox if we need the *Specialty Beverages* value to be included in the *Beverages* total and the grand total. Click Create.

2.2. The row is renamed, and the values are populated. There is also a formula bar at the top, which shows the underlying formula. Note that the grand total has been updated to 327m from 264m.

2.3. Let's uncheck the **Include in total** checkbox and click Update.

2.4. You can see that the grand total has now reverted back to the original value of 264m.

Speciality beverages is not included in the total

### 3. Include in charts 3.1. Check the **Include in charts** option and click Update. {% hint style="info" %} The 'Include in charts' checkbox is enabled only when the 'Include in total' option is unchecked. {% endhint %}

3.2. Let's now add a bar chart to the 2023Actuals measure. Click on the column and select the highlighted bar chart from the Home tab.

3.3. Notice that the Specialty Beverages row is also visualized using the bar chart.

3.4. When you uncheck the **Include in charts** option and click Update, you can see that the calculated row is no longer shown in the charts.

The calculated row is not rendered in the chart

### 4. Evaluate column before rows When inserting calculated rows, in some cases, you might want the total to be the sum of the child columns, whereas in other cases, it needs to follow the defined formula. This behavior can be configured using the **Evaluate column before rows** option. Let's consider an example where we are inserting the relative variance between two rows. In the image below, with **Evaluate columns before rows** enabled, you can see that the variance for the grand total is calculated based on the grand total values of Pacific and Central.

When **Evaluate columns before rows is disabled**, the grand total variance is calculated as the sum of the Beverages and Water columns, which is not the expected behavior.

### 6. Bind for Cross filter/RLS You can enable the Bind for Cross filter/RLS option to ensure that cross-filter selections and RLS settings apply to calculated/manual input rows that reference other rows. For example, a manager handling 'Canada' accounts should only be able to access 'Canada' data. If this option is not enabled, he can view a manually inserted row that references data from other regions(child rows) or an inserted region that is manually created at the visual level(parent rows). You can bind inserted rows by selecting a reference row or a dimension category. {% hint style="danger" %} The images in this section are from Writeback Matrix to show different user views. The functionality is the same. {% endhint %} #### **Binding by selecting a row** Let's consider these RLS rules defined based on regions:

The Alaska hierarchy is displayed only for users with RLS access to Canada data.

Similarly, a user with access to 'France' data will be able to see the Austria level but not the Alaska level.

The user can view Austria and France:

#### **Dimension category** RLS rule defined for product access:

Notice how the adjustment row is displayed for users with access to Paseo products.

#### Resources [Insert Formulas, Columns and Aggregation](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjPAbuYJUSc) [Visual calculations using Inforiver](https://inforiver.com/webinars/visual-level-formula-calculations-powerbi/) [Implement SUM measure totals in Power BI (without using DAX)](https://inforiver.com/blog/general/sum-measure-totals-powerbi-no-dax/) [Excel-like MoM, QoQ, YoY % Calculations in Rows in Power BI](https://inforiver.com/blog/general/excel-like-mom-qoq-yoy-calculations-power-bi/) # Template rows Inforiver Matrix delivers efficient hierarchy handling with the template rows option - insert custom rows automatically at each level of the hierarchy at one shot, without having to insert them individually. {% embed url="" %} [Learn more about inserting Template rows in Writeback Matrix](/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae/template-rows/template-rows) [Learn more about inserting Template rows in Reporting Matrix](/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae/template-rows/template-rows-1) # Template rows (WB Matrix) Let us take this example: Sales data by region and category. Let's insert a calculated row in each hierarchy which is 1.5 times the value of Beverages across quarters. **STEP 1:** Click on the row above which to insert a template row. Create a calculated row by choosing the **Formula** option from the Insert Row menu.

**STEP 2:** Select the Templated option. Enter the title and the desired formula in the editor. When you click Create, the row gets created across all levels of the hierarchy.

**STEP 3:** Set the row position to ‘First’, ‘Auto’, or ‘Last’ from the drop-down. * First - the template row will be placed first at the category level, irrespective of where it is added * Auto - the template row is placed above the selected row where it is added * Last - the template row is placed last at the category level, irrespective of where it is added

**STEP 4:** To include the row value in subtotals and totals, check the 'Include in total' check box.

**STEP 5:** If charts are added to the table, the 'Include in charts' option allows you to visualize the calculated rows as well using charts. {% hint style="info" %} The 'Include in charts' checkbox is enabled only when the 'Include in total' option is unchecked. {% endhint %} **STEP 6:** You can add a description for the formula if needed. The below image shows another example, where the rows 'Medium-Large' are defined as the previous month's value for the size 'Medium'. To learn more about the formula used, refer to [RELATIVE\_COLUMN](/formula-syntax/identifiers/relative_column).

Edit/delete the inserted template row by clicking on the row gripper of the selected template row and choosing the respective option from the drop-down.

## Dynamic Referencing of Sibling's child in Templated Rows. You can reference a sibling's child in Templated Rows. A Dynamic reference feature has been included, which enables you to reference the siblings' child row values while inserting calculated template rows. Through this dynamic referencing, the value gets auto-populated depending on the Parent class. In the image below, we refer to the value of 'Juices' under the 'Beverages category', for the inserted Template rows. This value is reflected in the inserted template rows across all the sibling categories within the same sub-region. In this case, Beverages and Water, in the sub-region 'APAC'. When we check the values of the inserted Templated rows within the sub-region 'EMEA' we see the values are dynamically referring to the 'Juices' under 'Beverages' within 'EMEA'.

Referring to a sibling's child in templated rows.

When we check within the United States region, under the central sub-region, the siblings Beverages and Water contain a new templated row whose value dynamically refers to the value of Juice under Beverages within the same sub-region.

Dynamic referencing of values inside templated rows, depending upon the parent class.

## Conditional template rows You now have additional control over which levels to create template rows in. Click the configure link in the Template conditions section. You can directly select the row categories by selecting the **Simple** radio button.

Selecting the row categories to create template rows

The 'Amarilla Enhc' row has been created only for the 'Channel Partners' and 'Government' product segments.

Conditional template rows created for specified row categories

You can specify more complex filter conditions by selecting the **Advanced** option. In this example, we have added two group filters: one for Central + Home Office and the second for East + Consumer.

Creating template rows based on filter conditions

The 'Furniture enhc' row is created only for Central > Home Office and East > Consumer levels based on the filter conditions specified.

Template rows created based on specified conditions

# Template rows (Reporting Matrix) Let us take this example: Sales data by region and category. Let's insert a calculated row in each hierarchy that is 1.5 times the value of Beverages across quarters. **STEP 1:** Create a template row by choosing the option from the Insert Row menu.

**STEP 2:** Enter the title and the desired formula in the editor. When you click Create, the row gets created across all levels of the hierarchy.

**STEP 4:** Select the **Apply the same style to all rows** checkbox if you want to replicate the same formatting to all the template rows. For example, let's apply a background color to the row.

**STEP 5:** To include the row value in subtotals and totals, check the 'Include in total' check box.

**STEP 6:** If charts are added to the table, the **Include in charts** option allows you to visualize the calculated rows as well using charts. {% hint style="info" %} The 'Include in charts' checkbox is enabled only when the 'Include in total' option is unchecked. {% endhint %}

**STEP 7:** If the 'Evaluate columns before rows' checkbox is enabled, the defined formula is used for calculating the column totals. If this check box is disabled, then sum aggregation is followed for the column totals. To learn more, refer [Evaluate columns before rows](https://inforiver.gitbook.io/inforiver/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae/insert-calculated-rows#4.-evaluate-column-before-rows) **STEP 8:** Edit/delete the inserted template row by clicking on the row gripper of the selected template row and choosing the respective option from the drop-down.

# Insert manual input rows In live reporting environments, we may need to insert a row in our matrix reports and enter custom data. For example, a financial statement report connecting to a database query may be able to fetch revenue and expense metrics, but it might not retrieve the number of shares outstanding. Similarly, a sales report may not have the latest sales data for a newly launched product category. To address such scenarios, Inforiver allows you to insert static rows in matrix-style reports where you can input or enter the data. {% embed url="" %} # Manual input rows (Reporting Matrix) You can insert custom rows from the **Row** section of the Insert ribbon**.** Select a row from the report to enable the Insert Row button.

## 1. Insert static row Click the **Static Row** option from the dropdown menu to insert a custom row.

Another way to insert static rows is by using the row gripper. The gripper icon is highlighted when you hover over a row. Click on it, then select the **Add static row** option in the Insert section.

Inserting static rows from the row gripper

The Static Row side panel opens when creating a static row. Enter a relevant category name for the row in the **Title** textbox and click Create. An empty record is created above the row that was selected before the insert row operation.

To delete a static row, hover over the row and click on the row gripper. Select the **Delete Row** option.

Let's look at the customization options for static rows. #### 1.1. **Scaling factor** You can set the scaling factor for the static row to thousands, billions, trillions, etc, depending on the data that is expected to be entered. It is set to Auto by default. #### **1.2. Bind for cross filter/RLS** You can enable the Bind for Cross filter/RLS option – this ensures that cross-filter selections and RLS settings apply to calculated/manual input rows that reference other rows. For example, if this option is not enabled, a manager handling Canada accounts can view a manually inserted row that references US data or an inserted region that is manually created at the visual level. [Learn more about binding rows.](https://docs.inforiver.com/~/changes/721/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae/insert-calculated-rows#id-6.-bind-for-cross-filter-rls) #### **1.3. Include in total** When the **Include in total** option is enabled, any values that we enter for the new row also update the parent row, in this case, 'Office Supplies. #### **1.4. Distribute parent value to children** This option ensures that if a value is entered at a total level, it gets distributed to the levels below it. ## 2. Bulk insert static rows You can bulk-insert leaf-level rows or hierarchies using the Insert rows option. #### 2.1. Inserting child rows To insert a leaf-level row, click on any child row or the parent row under which you want to create rows. From the row gripper, select the Insert Rows option. Notice that the parent category is already populated. You can key in the value for the child rows. There are 3 ways to add new rows: * To insert a new row, click the ![](https://docs.inforiver.com/~gitbook/image?url=https%3A%2F%2F3062809325-files.gitbook.io%2F%7E%2Ffiles%2Fv0%2Fb%2Fgitbook-x-prod.appspot.com%2Fo%2Fspaces%252FEbkCXCUXmtUq5tcnUtZE%252Fuploads%252FDhS8YxH9jyuGpJbQISWi%252Fimage.png%3Falt%3Dmedia%26token%3Dae15cfab-36b1-4d91-adec-7b38aa15d5ec\&width=26\&dpr=4\&quality=100\&sign=c8f44c05\&sv=2)icon that appears when hovering near the parent category. * Click the **Add New** button * Click the

icon near the Add New button and choose whether to insert a single row or bulk insert 5/10 rows.

The 'Paintbrushes', 'Pencils', and 'Notebooks' rows are created when you click Save. You can enter values in these rows. The ![](https://docs.inforiver.com/~gitbook/image?url=https%3A%2F%2F3062809325-files.gitbook.io%2F%7E%2Ffiles%2Fv0%2Fb%2Fgitbook-x-prod.appspot.com%2Fo%2Fspaces%252FEbkCXCUXmtUq5tcnUtZE%252Fuploads%252FjOkexFKUZc1hH7eHMkKC%252Fimage.png%3Falt%3Dmedia%26token%3D2fd3a82e-e3e3-4ec5-b807-ec7f82f77f80\&width=29\&dpr=4\&quality=100\&sign=d85f7f87\&sv=2)icon denotes manually inserted rows.

#### 2.2. Inserting a hierarchy To insert a new level in an existing hierarchy, you can overwrite the default parent category that is auto-populated in the Insert Rows window. Double-click and overwrite the value with the desired parent category.

The new 'Upholstery' parent category has been created.

#### 2.3. Disabling row insertion You can restrict users from creating new categories for a particular hierarchy level. Navigate to the Insert ribbon > Manage Rows > Insert Row Settings> Insert Row Configuration. We’ve disabled the creation of new product categories. However, new subcategories can still be inserted.

Notice how the Category textbox is disabled in the Insert rows window, but we are able to enter values in the Sub-Category textbox.

Disable creating custom rows for a particular hierarchy level

#### 2.4. Setting user permissions You can explicitly set permissions for users to insert rows in read mode. Navigate to the Insert ribbon > Manage Rows > Insert Row Settings > **Insert Row Access** to set permissions. Enable the **Allow in Read Mode** toggle to allow users to insert rows in reading mode.

Allow users in reading view to insert custom rows

#### 2.5. Allow blank values in categories While inserting row hierarchies manually, you can enable the **Allow Blank Values** toggle if you expect blank row categories in the leaf nodes. This option is available in Manage Rows > Insert Row Settings > Insert Row Configuration > Manage.

By default, this toggle is disabled. The blank categories are highlighted in a red error box, and Inforiver prevents you from inserting rows.

Prevent users from entering blank categories

## 3. Row hierarchy This option can be used to insert a single user-defined level for hierarchical data. Only one row is created while using this option, unlike the Insert Rows(s) option, where you can define the hierarchy structure with multiple nested levels and rows.

After creating a custom hierarchy level, you can insert static rows, calculated rows, aggregated rows, etc., as demonstrated in the example below.

# Manual input rows (Writeback Matrix) Inforiver Writeback Matrix provides a wide array of options to insert, configure, manage row categories, and manually enter data at the visual level. You can insert a single row, a row hierarchy level, or even bulk insert row categories with nested hierarchy levels. [Learn how to insert a single data input row](/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae/insert-manual-input-rows/insert-manual-input-rows/insert-manual-input-rows) [Learn how to bulk insert rows and hierarchies](/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae/insert-manual-input-rows/insert-manual-input-rows/insert-manual-input-rows-1) [Learn how to insert a single hierarchy level](/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae/insert-manual-input-rows/insert-manual-input-rows/insert-manual-input-rows-2) [Learn how to merge rows](/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae/insert-manual-input-rows/insert-manual-input-rows/insert-manual-input-rows-3) # Insert data input row Insert row categories directly at visual level without modifying the underlying dataset. You can insert data input rows from the Insert tab > Insert Row menu. Select the **Number** option from the **Data Input** sub-menu. {% hint style="info" %} The **Insert Row** button will be disabled until you select a row in your report. {% endhint %}

Another way to insert static rows is by using the row gripper. The gripper icon is highlighted when you hover over a row. Click on it, then select the Insert > Data Input option.

Inserting data input rows from the row gripper

### 1. Data input row properties A side panel opens when creating a data input row. Type in the name of the category in the **Title** textbox and click Create. You will see an empty record created above the row that was selected.

#### **1.1. Row type** Create a calculated row, data input row, or aggregated row by selecting the appropriate option from the dropdown. You have the flexibility to switch between data input, calculated, and aggregated rows at any time with the **Row Type** dropdown. For instance, you may have used a formula and referred to the values of an existing row dimension while creating the row. You can easily change it to data input and enter values without having to create a new data input row.

#### **1.2. Insert as** Select the **Single Row** option to insert one data input row. Select the **Templated** option to replicate the row category across all levels of the hierarchy. For instance, you may create a product line specific to a particular region. You can use the **Templated** option to replicate the same product line across all regions. The image below shows how template rows are rendered.

#### **1.3. Scaling factor** You can set the scaling factor to millions/thousands/billions, etc, for the static row depending on the data that is expected to be entered. It is set to Auto by default. #### **1.4. Include in total** When the **Include in total** option is enabled, any values we type in for the new row also contribute to the parent row, in this case, 'Canada'. #### **1.5. Distribute parent value to children** The **Distribute parent value to children** option ensures that if a value is entered at a total level, it gets distributed to the levels below it. #### **1.6. Bind for cross filter/RLS** You can enable the **Bind for Cross filter/RLS** option – this ensures that cross-filter selections and RLS settings apply to calculated/manual input rows that reference other rows. For example, if this option is not enabled, a manager handling Canada accounts can view a manually inserted row that references US data or an inserted region that is manually created at the visual level. [Learn more about binding rows.](https://docs.inforiver.com/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae/insert-manual-input-rows/insert-manual-input-rows/pages/MAqy8t3DMY2DmUDihM7M#id-6.-bind-for-cross-filter-rls) #### **1.7. Default value** You can either enter a static value or select another row to source default values.

Default values copied from the 'Amarilla' row

### **2. Delete a data input row** To delete a static row, hover over the row and click on the row gripper. Select the **Delete Row** option. You can also delete rows from the **Manage Rows** interface that will be covered in subsequent sections.

# Bulk insert rows Create custom row hierarchies with parent and sub levels and input values at visual level within your Power BI reports. You can bulk-insert leaf-level rows or hierarchies using the **Create Row(s)** option.

### 1. Inserting child rows To insert a leaf-level row, click on any child row or the parent row under which you want to create rows. From the row gripper, select the Create Row(s) option. Notice that the parent category is already populated. You can key in the value for the child rows. There are 2 ways to add new rows: * To insert a new row, click the

icon that appears on hovering near the parent category. * Click **Add New**, then choose whether to insert a single row or bulk insert 5/10 rows.

The 'TJOrg', 'HDTabmble', and 'DC' rows are created when you click Save. You can enter values in these rows. The

icon denotes manually inserted rows.

### 2. Inserting a hierarchy To insert a new level in an existing hierarchy, you can overwrite the default parent category that is auto-populated in the Insert Rows window. For instance, if you click on 'United States' or any child row), the Insert Rows will automatically have 'United States' as the Region. Double-click and overwrite the value with the desired parent category.

### 3. Disabling row insertion You can restrict users from creating new categories for a particular level. Navigate to Insert >Manage Rows > Row Settings> Create Row Configuration. We’ve disabled the creation of new regions. However, new subregions can still be inserted.

Notice how the Region textbox is disabled in the Insert rows window, but we are able to enter values in the SubRegion textbox.

Row insertion disabled at a specific level

If you have hierarchical row dimensions, when you disable row insertion for a specific dimension, this will automatically disable row insertion for all levels above it.

Automatic row insertion disabled for higher levels

### 3.6. Setting user permissions You can explicitly set permissions for users to insert rows in read mode. You have options to restrict all users, allow all users, or authorize specific users to insert rows. Navigate to Insert > Manage Rows > Row Settings > **Create Row Access.** Click the **Manage** link to set permissions. * Enable the **Allow in Read Mode** toggle to allow users to insert rows in reading mode. * To allow all members in your organization to insert rows, select the **All users** radio button. * To restrict users from inserting rows, select the **Specific users** radio button**.** You will then be able to select the users to whom you want to provide access.

### 3.7. Allow blank values in categories While inserting row hierarchies manually, you can enable the **Allow Blank Values** toggle if you expect blank row categories in the leaf nodes. This option is available in the Insert tab > Manage Rows > Row Settings > Create Row Configuration > Manage.

By default, this toggle is disabled. The blank categories are highlighted in a red error box, and Inforiver prevents you from inserting rows.

When the toggle is disabled blank categories are not allowed

By enabling this option, you can insert row hierarchies that contain blank leaf categories. In the image below, notice that the 'Corporate' segment has only one product and does not have any discount bands under it. Similarly, the 'Consumer' segment does not have any products or discount bands tagged to it, as the row categories were left blank while inserting rows.

Please note that you cannot create blank parent nodes for child nodes that are not blank. # Insert rows from a Lookup visual How to use Inforiver Lookup visuals to fetch row categories and hierachies from semantic models. Insert custom rows based on the fetched categories. ### What is a Lookup visual? {% hint style="success" %} The Inforiver Lookup visual is the best way to source data from other tables in your semantic models. You can seamlessly integrate row categories and hierarchies from different semantic models into your reports. The Lookup visual can connect to dimensions in the semantic model and retrieve categories. The procedure is similar to [sourcing dropdown values from a lookup visual](/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae/insert-manual-input-columns/dropdown/lookup-visuals-for-dropdowns). {% endhint %} ### Step-by-step guide to importing data from semantic models with Lookup visuals You can fetch the row categories from a semantic model via the Lookup visual. In the Insert Rows window, you will be able to see the data from the table in your Semantic model as dropdown options. Let's see how. **STEP 1:** Import the **Inforiver Lookup visual** into your report. Assign the dimension categories that you will use to source row categories. In this example, we'll insert rows from the Category and SubCategory dimensions.

Assigning dimensions to fetch categories from a lookup visual

The row dimensions in our report are Product Line and Product SubLine.

**STEP 2:** We'll use the Lookup visual to source row categories for the Product Line dimension in the report. To pick and upload row categories from the Lookup visual, navigate to Insert > Manage Rows > Insert Row Settings > Create Row Configuration > Manage. Select **Options list from Lookup Visual** from the **Product Line** dropdown.

Select the Options list from Lookup Visual option

**STEP 3:** The **Add options from Lookup Visual** window opens. Select the required visual ID from the dropdown. In this case, the Category dimension from the Lookup will be used to populate rows under the Product Line row dimension in the report. Since Category maps to Product Line, we select the Visual Name for the Category dimension.

Select the visual name for the Category dimension to map it to the Product Line

**STEP 4:** Next, select the **Column Label** field – the row categories will be sourced from this field. If you have a primary key or ID field associated with the label field, you can assign the ID field to the **Column ID**. If the column labels are updated in the source, the ID field mapping ensures that the updated value will be reflected in your reports. Note: If your lookup table doesn't have an ID field, use the same label field (in this example, Category) as Column ID.

Select the column to source row categories from

**STEP 5:** Let's ignore the Filter options for now and click Add. Notice how the Lookup visual details have been populated in the Product Line dropdown.

Lookup visual details populated in the dropdown

**STEP 6:** Repeat the same steps to map the Product SubLine to the Sub-Category dimension from the Lookup visual.

Map the Sub-Category dimension from the Lookup visual to the Product SubLine row dimension

The final configuration looks like this:

Lookup visual configuration for inserting rows

**STEP 7:** After we configure the insert row settings, navigate to Insert Row > Data Input > Create Row(s). When we click on the Product Line textbox, the dimension categories from the Lookup visual are populated. Let's select 'Furniture'.

Similarly, we can select a SubLine category from the respective Lookup visual. Let's select 'Bookcases'.

Selecting a row category for the SubLine dimension

**STEP 8:** The Furniture > Bookcases hierarchy has been created. We can enter values for the Margin and Revenue measures.

### Enforcing data integrity with filters In the product category–product subcategory hierarchy used in the previous section, only subcategories mapped to the selected category should appear when inserting rows. In this image, notice how unrelated subcategories like 'Accessories', 'Appliances', 'Art', etc, show up under the 'Furniture' category. Ideally, only furniture-related products like 'Chairs', 'Tables' should be displayed.

Parent-child relationships not maintained when options are displayed

We can apply filters to preserve relationships within the data. In this example, we want to make sure that only the sublines under a particular product line are shown when we insert rows. The Product Line mapping remains the same as demonstrated in the previous section:

For the product subline, we've added a filter that maps the visual row dimension - Category - with the lookup field - Product Line.

Adding a filter for the parent category while configuring child categories

After configuring filters, notice how only the sub-categories related to a particular product category are displayed when we try to insert rows now:

Related categories are displayed after setting up filters

{% hint style="success" %} To set up filters on related dimension categories, like the example above, both dimensions should be available in the lookup visual. {% endhint %}

Assign related dimensions to the same lookup visual

# Uploading from an Excel sheet Use an Excel sheet to source row categories and hierarchies into your Power BI reports with Inforiver. You can upload the row categories from an Excel sheet. In the Insert Rows window, you will be able to see the data from your Excel as dropdown options. Let's see how. ### Step-by-step guide to uploading data from Excel **STEP 1:** Navigate to Insert >Manage Rows > Insert Row Settings> Create Row Configuration. Select **Options list from CSV** from the dropdown.

**STEP 2:** On selecting the option, the **Add Options from CSV** window opens. Click the Upload button. You can browse and upload the source file from the CSV Upload tab. Inforiver displays a preview of the contents of the CSV file.

**STEP 3:** You need to map the source field from the Excel, which will be used as row categories. Choose the field from the Excel from the Label Column dropdown. In this case, the mapping is as shown below: | Excel Column | Visual Row Category | | ------------ | ------------------- | | Sector | Region | | Country | Sub Region |

**STEP 4:** You will need to set up filters if you want to map subcategories under the respective parent category. In this case, when you select 'Frontier markets' as the Region, you would only want to see 'Vietnam', 'Romania', and 'Kenya' in the Sub Region dropdown. Similarly, when you select 'CIVETS' as the Region, you would only want to see 'Colombia', 'Indonesia', 'Vietnam', 'Egypt', etc, and none of the countries that fall under the 'Frontier markets sector.

Creating a filter to map subregions to parents regions

Once the steps shown above are completed, you will be able to see the data from your Excel in the Region and Sub Region dropdowns.

Data from Excel populated in the Insert Rows window

Follow the steps discussed in sections 3.1/3.2 to insert the configured row categories into your visual.

# Insert rows from semantic models {% hint style="danger" %} This option is deprecated. The Inforiver Lookup visual is the preferred option to fetch data from semantic models. {% endhint %} You can also insert rows and their leaf categories from semantic models. The procedure is similar to [adding single and multi-select options from the semantic model](https://docs.inforiver.com/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae/insert-manual-input-rows/insert-manual-input-rows/insert-manual-input-rows-1/pages/Z1VqW9RopnaOKKEZcFqT#id-2.-creating-a-lov-from-a-semantic-model). ### Step-by-step guide to importing data from semantic models **STEP 1:** To pick and upload row categories from a semantic model, navigate to Insert > Manage Rows > Insert Row Settings > Create Row Configuration > Manage. Select **Options list from Semantic Model** from the 'Category' dropdown. **STEP 2:** The **Add options from Semantic model** window opens. In the **Table Connection** tab, select the workspace, semantic model, and the table you need to connect to. Click **Next.**

**STEP 3:** Go to the **Options configuration** tab and choose the column from the connected table that will be used as the option label. In the example below, we have chosen the column 'Category' from the table 'Contoso-Product'. This column's members will be used to populate the 'Categories' row level.\ \ **STEP 4:** You can optionally specify a filter if hierarchical data is involved, and you want to maintain the same structure in your reports. In the **Columns** dropdown**,** select the field based on which you need to filter the options. In this case, it is the Contoso - Product.SubCategory which can be used to identify the Category. Select the matching field from the visual (SubCategory) in the **Visual Column** dropdown. Then click **Add**. Because of this filter, when you insert a row and add a sub-category first, you will be prompted with the category to which it belongs.

{% hint style="info" %} Configuring filter options is optional. By adding it, we ensure that the dropdown list for each category displays only the relevant sub-categories and vice-versa. For example, if you choose "Cellphones" as the category, only the sub-categories under "Cellphones" will be displayed, not other categories. Similarly, when you choose a sub-category, you can add it only under the relevant category. {% endhint %} **STEP** **5:** Follow the same steps from 1 to 4 for SubCategory dimension.

Once the configuration is completed as shown in the image above, you can follow the steps in sections 2.1/2.2 to insert the configured row categories into your visual. You will see the data from the semantic model in the Category and Sub Category dropdowns.

The rows are inserted as shown below:

{% hint style="info" %} The base data in our visual may be from one table, but the options in the dropdown may be from a different table; in such cases, you can specify a join. For more information on using joins and filters, please refer to [this section](https://docs.inforiver.com/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae/insert-manual-input-rows/insert-manual-input-rows/insert-manual-input-rows-1/pages/Z1VqW9RopnaOKKEZcFqT#id-4.-using-joins-and-filters). {% endhint %} # Insert single row hierarchy level Create a custom row hierarchy level and input data values in your Power BI reports with Inforiver visuals. This option can be used to insert a single user-defined level for hierarchical data. Only one row is created while using this option, unlike the Create Rows(s) option, where you can define the hierarchy structure with multiple nested levels and rows.

After creating a custom hierarchy level, you can insert static rows, calculated rows, aggregated rows, etc., as demonstrated in the example below.

Inserting other custom rows under the hierarchy row

# Merge rows from dataset Create rows within the Inforiver visual and merge the rows when the same dimension category becomes available in the source dataset. In real-world scenarios, you may be expanding to new regions or adding new product lines - with the [Static Row](https://docs.inforiver.com/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae/insert-manual-input-rows#id-1.-insert-static-row), [Insert Rows(s)](https://docs.inforiver.com/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae/insert-manual-input-rows#id-2.-bulk-insert-static-rows), and [Row Hierarchy](https://docs.inforiver.com/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae/insert-manual-input-rows#id-3.-row-hierarchy) options, you can add dimension categories on the fly. When the same category exists at the visual level and in your semantic model, you will be able to merge the rows from your dataset. The

icon indicates a manual input row. It will be replaced by

when a row dimension category is available in the source system. Click the

icon to merge the row, and then click **Proceed** in the Merge rows dialog box**.** {% hint style="info" %} Data input fields will be locked for editing until the row is merged. {% endhint %} In this example, the LATAM and MENA hierarchies were created within Writeback Matrix. After the hierarchies were created at the visual level, the same hierarchies were added to the source - hence the merge rows icon is enabled.

Notice how the merge icon disappears and the data input field becomes editable after merging the EURIBOR row. When you merge rows, static rows are replaced with native rows; however, data input values are retained.

# Insert calculated columns With Inforiver, you can insert a new calculated row, column, or measure at the visual level in your Power BI table or matrix-style reports without writing DAX. The rows, measures, and columns so created can also be formatted, rearranged, and utilized for downstream calculations. The Excel-like formula engine supports 50+ functions (logical, boolean, math functions, and more). The formula editor provides syntax, examples, and features such as autocomplete, multi-line support, and more to help users create and troubleshoot formulas. {% hint style="info" %} Refer to [formula syntax](/formula-syntax) for a detailed list of functions, operators, and identifiers that can be used for calculations. {% endhint %} ### 1. Visual measure Let us take this example, where we have sales data for two years, 2024 and 2023, by quarter. We will now try to insert a measure that calculates the percentage variance using the formula (2024 Actuals - 2023 Actuals) / 2023 Actuals.

**STEP 1:** To insert a measure, select **Insert Formula** from the **Insert** ribbon. A side panel opens on the right.

**STEP 2:** You will see two options in the **Insert as** field: **Visual Measure** (the default) and **Visual Column**. Let us go ahead with the default option - **Visual Measure.** The visual measure behaves like a measure, except that it is inserted directly in your visual (bypassing the data model). In the image below, note that this new measure is inserted under each quarter.

**STEP 3:** Once you place the cursor inside the formula editor, you will see a context assistant pop-up. You can access dimension/measure references or functions through this context assistant.

**STEP 4:** Let us go ahead and start typing in values. As you key in a formula, the **References** list automatically refreshes to show a narrower set of options. {% hint style="info" %} You can directly select a column from the table to insert in the formula editor. Note that measures can not be referred to this way. To insert a visual measure or a visual column in your formula, you need to use the **References** tab in the context assistant. {% endhint %}

Using intellisense to narrow down the reference list

**STEP 5:** We will go ahead and complete the formula as shown below. The rectangular parentheses in the formula indicate that these are not normal text but references to other measures.

**STEP 6:** Give the calculated measure a relevant name, say 'Variance %', and click **Create**.

**STEP 7:** You would have now inserted a calculated measure in your report. However, you will notice that the values are in absolute numbers and not in percentage terms.

**STEP 8:** To convert the values to a percentage format, click on the **%** icon from the **Home** tab. As you do this, you will also notice that the formula bar at the top of the matrix shows how the measure is calculated.

We have successfully inserted a calculated measure at the visual level in our Power BI matrix report. ### 2. Visual column A calculated column works differently from a calculated measure. Let's consider two examples. #### Example 1: **STEP 1:** Let us calculate the quarter-on-quarter change from Q3 to Q4. Select the **Visual Column** option. Note that a visual column always appears at the end, outside any category or category hierarchies seen in columns.

**STEP 2:** You will also notice that the **References** section is a bit different. While creating a [new measure](#1.-visual-measure), the **References** section only listed the available measures (2024 Actuals and 2023 Actuals). This time, it displays every instance of the individual measures (e.g., Q2 - 2024 Actuals, Q3 - 2023 Actuals, etc.). Using this, you can traverse right up to the leaf node of any column hierarchy.

References when creating a visual column

**STEP 3:** Enter a title and the formula and click **Create**.

**STEP 4:** You will see the values updated in the report.

#### Example 2: Let's consider an example where we use built-in functions. In the example below, we want to insert a column that displays the multiplier - 2022 Actuals/2022 Plan. **STEP 1:** Click **Insert Formula**. Notice that there is no option to insert as a visual measure or column. This is because the report doesn't have a column hierarchy.

Visual columns are automatically created when the report doesn't have a column hierarchy

**STEP 2:** Enter the title and the formula. Click **Create**.

**STEP 3:** Notice that there are Div/0! errors for two of the rows. There are two ways to deal with calculation errors.

**i) Display settings -> Suppress calculation errors** In the **Home** tab, click on **Display** settings. In the side panel, go to the **Numbers** tab. Turn on the **Suppress Calculation Errors** toggle. A new field called **Custom Error Text** is enabled.

You can define a custom text, such as 'N/A', 'ERROR', or leave it blank. In the image below, we have entered 0. You can see the changes in the rows.

Replacing error messages with custom text

**ii) Using IFNA function** Another way to handle calculation errors is by using the IFNA function. When an expression results in an error, you can replace it with a value as shown below.

**iii) Using the IF function** Another indirect approach would be to use IF/nested IF statements to define the value when the expression results in an error.

### **3. Row and column aggregation for formula measures** Inforiver automatically sets the row aggregation to formula and the column aggregation to sum for formula measures. You can override the default aggregation a required. Note: When you select weighted average as the row aggregation type, the column aggregation will be set to weighted average and cannot be overridden. You can view and edit the aggregation for formula measures from the Manage aggregation interface. [Learn more about aggregation features in Inforiver.](/working-with-inforiver/manage-aggregations)

Row and column aggregation for formula fields

Input type	Description
Number	Double-click and start typing values in directly into a cell
Text	Enter text with multi-line support and word wrap
Dropdown	Use the available presets or create your own list of values; supports both single-select and multi-select
Date	Add a date from the calendar/date picker
Checkbox	Used in case of binary selections
Person	Input users from your organization (only available in Inforiver Writeback Matrix)

{% hint style="warning" %} Inforiver Reporting Matrix offers only the first five types. Input types and features specific to Inforiver Writeback Matrix are covered in a later [section](/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae/insert-manual-input-columns/writeback-matrix-features). {% endhint %} In this video, we discuss the data input functionality in the reading and editing modes. {% embed url="" %} ### 1. Sign in If you are using Inforiver Writeback Matrix, you need to sign in as shown below. {% hint style="info" %} Sign-in is optional. Unless specified, all these features are available in the Inforiver Reporting Matrix as well. {% endhint %}

Once you sign in successfully, your profile picture will be displayed as seen in the image.

Profile picture is updated after signing in

You can now start inserting a column to capture your data inputs by clicking the Data Input dropdown in the Insert tab.

Before we look at inserting data input columns, let's look at some common properties available for all the input types. ### 2. Common properties #### 2.1. Insert as Data input columns can be inserted as a measure or a column. **Visual measure:** If a column dimension or hierarchy is added to the visual, the input column is inserted for each category. In the case of no column dimensions, a single column is inserted. In the image, a text column has been inserted as a measure by selecting **Insert as** > **Visual Measure**.

**Visual column:** Irrespective of whether there is a column hierarchy or not, a single column gets inserted. In the image, a text column has been inserted as a column by selecting **Insert as > Visual column**.

#### 2.2. Input type Seamlessly switch between different data input types such as number, text, checkbox, single select, multi-select, etc.

#### 2.3. Default value Default values help ensure reports are complete by reducing empty fields, and they also help users understand the type of data that is expected in data input fields. [Learn more about configuring default values.](/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae/insert-manual-input-columns/default-values) In this example, notice how a default value of 2.5m is applied to the child rows of the data input measure.

#### 2.4. Allow entry on totals/subtotals Check this option if data entry can be permitted on parent-level rows in a hierarchy. In this sales report, we are able to make entries for the Grand total, 'Furniture', 'Office Supplies', and 'Technology' rows as the **Allow entry on Totals/Subtotals** option has been enabled.

Allow data entry for total and subtotal rows

#### 2.5. Prevent null In standard reporting practices, null values should not be permitted on fields such as currency codes, process status, or dates. By default, the **Prevent Null** option is disabled, and empty data input cells are allowed. When the Prevent Null option is enabled, you will have to specify a default value. Notice how the **x** option to remove a value is disabled when Prevent Null is turned on.

Blank values are not permitted when Prevent Null is enabled

#### 2.6. On change formula {% hint style="info" %} This feature is available only in Inforiver Writeback Matrix {% endhint %} Automatically run scripts when data changes in the data input field. This feature listens for updates, inserts, or deletions and executes your custom logic in real time, enabling automation, validation, and integrations without manual intervention. The image demonstrates how we can use scripting functions to send emails or set the value of another data input field in response to data changes. [Learn more about approval workflows.](/working-with-inforiver/16.-approval-workflows) [Learn more about scripting functions.](/formula-syntax/scripting-functions)

#### 2.7. Allow input By default, inputs are enabled in both read and edit modes in Power BI. But, based on your requirement, you can allow inputs only in edit mode or based on a formula.

* In PowerBI edit mode The text editor is disabled in reading mode.

* **In both Power BI read and edit mode** When this option is selected, you can enter data in the reading view as shown below.

* **Based on formula** You can allow data input only if a certain condition is met. The formula entered should return a Boolean value. In the image, data input is allowed only if (AC -PL) < 0. You can see that the text fields for 'International', 'APAC', and 'EMEA' are greyed out, and editing is disabled.

## 3. Access control Inforiver Writeback Matrix allows setting explicit read/write access on data input columns for specific users. To set user access control, open the Manage Columns menu and click on the user icon. {% hint style="info" %} This feature is available only in Inforiver Writeback Matrix. {% endhint %}

In the Data Input Access dialog box, you can assign access to users for each column or measure.

Setting user access for data input columns or measures

## 4. Model View Icon In Reporting Matrix, you can now group columns of your choice and manage them together by clicking on the Model view icon under manage columns.

Grouping under Manage Columns using the Model view icon.

In the Model view pop-up, click on the Add Group options.

_{Add group option in Model View}

In the Add View pop-up, enter the Group name and select the measures to be grouped, and click Save.

_{Naming and Grouping of Measures in Add View.}

You can now see the Columns being grouped under the group name under Manage columns. Expand the group name to view the measures within. In the image below, the Price list is the group that contains the measures Standard Sell, Cost, and List Price.

_{Grouped Columns}

## 5. FAQs #### 1) Can multiple users enter data in a single published report? Yes. When you use Inforiver Writeback Matrix, **multiple users** can **enter data** in the same form in the **reading** view. Using the audit module, you can also keep track of changes made to your table made by different users. #### 2. Will a user be able to see data entered by other users? By default, yes. But if you enable row-level security, users will be able to see only the records they are authorized to see. #### 3. This is too good to be true. Is there something specific I should set up or configure so that my users can enter data? Nothing. Just add the Inforiver Writeback Matrix visual to your report, and use the '[Data Input](https://inforiver.com/blog/writeback/5-types-manual-data-entry-powerbi-table-matrix/)' feature to add fields of various types. #### 4. All of this is great. Can I write back this data to a database? Yes. You can [write back data to a destination database or shared drive](https://inforiver.com/blog/writeback/writeback-power-bi-10-key-considerations/) storage. Inforiver supports destinations such as SQL Server, Snowflake, Azure SQL, BigQuery, MySQL, SharePoint, OneDrive, and more. You may also simply export the data to a PDF or Excel file. In the next section, we'll be looking at inserting [number ](/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae/insert-manual-input-columns/insert-manual-input-columns)columns. #### Resources [5 types of manual data entry options in your Power BI table/matrix](https://inforiver.com/blog/writeback/5-types-manual-data-entry-powerbi-table-matrix/) [Allow multiple users to enter data in a blank table/form in Power BI](https://inforiver.com/blog/writeback/input-data-multiple-users-blank-table-form-powerbi/) [Input & Edit Sales Forecasts in a Power BI Report](https://inforiver.com/blog/general/input-edit-sales-forecasts-in-a-power-bi-report/) # Number Numeric data can be entered and formatted in a variety of ways. You can insert a new empty series, copy from another series, perform an advanced copy, or import from a file. {% hint style="info" %} If you are using Inforiver Writeback Matrix, you need to [sign in](https://docs.inforiver.com/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae/insert-manual-input-columns/pages/ikgtokcJ0oes0aCiLKJA#1.-sign-in) to start inserting a number column. {% endhint %} ### 1. Create a column Select the **Number** option in the **Data Input** dropdown. You will see four different options to create a column: Insert a new empty series, Copy from another series, Advanced copy, Import from file, and Import from Infobridge(Writeback Matrix only). Let's go through each of these methods. {% hint style="info" %} Inforiver Writeback Matrix has been used below to demonstrate the four ways of creating a data input column. {% endhint %}

#### 1.1. Insert a new empty series If you select this option, a visual measure gets inserted as shown below. Use the options in the Data Input side pane, such as aggregation type, min/max value, etc to customize the data input field.

Inserting a blank data input number field

Change the title and let's stick with the default settings for the other properties. Click **Create**.

Blank numeric data input measure inserted

To learn to enter a value in an empty numeric column in the [Enter a value](#id-2.-enter-a-value) section. #### 1.2. Copy from another series Selecting this option opens a sub-menu listing all measures and forecasts in the report. Choose a series to create a numeric column populated with values copied from the selected series. These values are used only as initial defaults. Any subsequent changes to the source measure are not reflected in the data input field.

A visual measure gets inserted as shown below. For now, let's change the title and go with the default settings for the other properties. Click **Create**.

The newly created numeric measure will be pre-populated with the data of the chosen series. In the image, a numeric measure is created by copying data from Sales, and the new measure is populated with the copied data.

Inserting a data input numeric field by copying the values from another field in your report

#### 1.3. Advanced Copy When you select this option, a pop-up window opens where you can create measures for multiple time frames and populate them with various series and configurations. You can also choose this option to fill in the blank forecast measures if you have already [inserted them](https://docs.inforiver.com/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae/insert-manual-input-columns/pages/Fz5vtiSWeX0KqIXyZbRK#id-1.-generating-a-forecast) in your report.

The image below demonstrates the possible configurations (copy methods) you can set for each time frame of the measure. Let us look at the options available in detail.

**Column:** Define the end period for the column here. You will be provided with the **+Add new** option beside the Column Selection if the end period chosen is not the last one in the report. You can create multiple columns by selecting different end periods for each column. **Source Series:** This dropdown lists the available native /data input /forecast series from which you can choose the required one to be copied. Choose 'Blank' to leave the measures empty. **Copy Method:** Here, you can select the copy method based on which the column is populated. * Period Range: Copies the data from a range of periods to the column, period-wise. * Single Period: A single period's data is copied to all the periods of the column. * Average of Period Range: The average of the data range is calculated and spread to the column periods. **Column Selection:** This option lets you select a single period or a range of periods from the source series, based on the copy method chosen. After setting up all the details, click **Create.** The image below is a screengrab of the result of the above configuration.

#### 1.4. Import from file You can also upload the data for the input columns by importing it through a .csv file. Choose **Import from file.**

Download the template, save it, and enter your data in the file.

After entering and saving the data, click **Browse** and select the saved file.

Click **Preview.**

The measures are inserted as shown below. You can make any changes if necessary and then click **Create.**

#### 1.5. Import from Infobridge With Infobridge, you can import measures from another Inforiver report. Let's say we have a Sales report and we need to import the Margin measure from a margin report. In scenarios where we need to consolidate data across Inforiver reports, we can publish the report to Infobridge and import measures into another report. [Learn more about Infobridge](/infobridge-wb-matrix-only). Coming back to the sales report example, click on the **Import from Infobridge** option. Create a mapping in the Infobridge Measure side pane to import the Margin field.

Create a mapping to pull a measure from Infobridge

After you click Create, notice how the Margin field has been inserted. [Learn more about inserting Infobridge measures.](/infobridge-wb-matrix-only/6.-insert-measure-from-bridge)

### 2. Enter a value To enter a value, double-click a cell and type in the formula bar that opens at the top. You can double-click to enter values in any cell. The entered value is captured and automatically rolled up to the parent and, where applicable, distributed to the child nodes.

Entering data in numeric data input fields

### 3. Properties You can modify the properties of a previously created data input column in the side panel. To open it, click on **Manage Measures** and the edit icon as highlighted.

We have already discussed an overview of the properties in the [introduction](https://docs.inforiver.com/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae/insert-manual-input-columns/pages/ikgtokcJ0oes0aCiLKJA#id-2.-common-properties). In this section, we'll look at properties that are specific to numeric data inputs. #### 3.1. Row aggregation type Row aggregation type defines the aggregation method to be applied for the total and sub-total rows. By default, the subtotal and total rows are calculated as the sum of the child rows, as can be seen in the image.

To change the aggregation method, click the **Row aggregation type** dropdown in the side panel. Choose one from the types available and click **Update**.

{% hint style="info" %} To understand the different aggregations, you can refer to [this section.](/working-with-inforiver/manage-aggregations) {% endhint %} In the image, **Maximum** has been chosen. The highlighted cells, which are the row subtotals, get updated.

#### 3.2. Column aggregation type When you enable totals and subtotals, the child column values are summed up to populate the parent values. In this example, the budget for each month is summed up to populate the quarterly subtotal and overall budget. The column aggregation is set to sum by default for numeric data inputs.

Column aggregation is set to sum for numeric data inputs

You'll see the column totals and subtotals change based on the selected column aggregation type. A few examples are shown here.

[Learn more about managing aggregation.](/working-with-inforiver/manage-aggregations) #### 3.3. Distribute parent value to children When a value is entered in a subtotal or total row, the value can be distributed to the child rows. In the image below, 220m entered in the subtotal has been distributed equally to the subregions.

Value in subtotal distributed to child rows

There are several other ways to distribute values which are covered in [Budgeting & allocations](/working-with-inforiver/7.-planning-budgeting-and-forecasting/budgeting-and-allocations). {% hint style="info" %} **Sum** and **Weighted Average** are the only row aggregation methods that allow allocations/distributions from total cells to child rows. {% endhint %} This distribution can be disabled if not required for certain scenarios. Uncheck the **Distribute parent value to children** checkbox.

#### 3.3. Min and max range When you need to define a range for the data input values, you can use the fields highlighted in the below image.

Defining minimum and maximum value range

In the dropdown, you can see the two ways of defining ranges. Select **Static**.The input field gets enabled. Enter a value as shown.

Let's define a maximum value using a measure. Select **Measure** and **2022 Actuals** from the dropdown list. Click **Update**.

Using a measure as the maximum value range

Let's see this in action by entering a value that is not within the defined range. Double-click on a cell and type in the formula bar. Click **Enter**.

Entering a value out of the defined range

You will see an error message that shows the allowed range for this particular cell. The maximum is 82m, as that is the value of 2022 Actuals.

Values within the defined range are captured as shown in the below image.

#### 3.4. Default Value When you create an empty series or column, the user has to enter the values manually. Instead of having those cells blank, you can display a default value. The default value can be selected from any native or formula measure as shown in the image below. If the underlying native or formula measure is updated, the default value will reflect the latest value.

### 4. Auto-populate visual measures for new categories When you add new categories to your dataset, Inforiver automatically fills the data in the measure **based on the default value** configured while creating the measure. Let us look at an example where the default value is configured as a dimension from the dataset. The report below has data for three regions – Central, East and West.

Now when you add data for ‘South’ region, the report automatically fills up the Sales measure based on the default values you have configured (*Sum of Sales* dimension). You can seamlessly add new categories to your report and Inforiver will take care of populating the data. Note that this is only applicable for visual measures and not the visual columns.

Default values added for newly added categories

# Dropdown Inforiver provides options to create single-select or multi-select lists on your own, use one of the preset options or create from your Power BI datasets. {% embed url="" %} Dropdowns - overview {% endembed %} The single-select and multi-select columns have two main differences: * The obvious one is that a single-select column accepts only one option as input; the multi-select column doesn't have that restriction. * There are presets available for creating a list of values in the case of the single-select column, whereas the same is not available for multi-select columns. In this section, we'll cover single-select columns. The same steps can be followed for multi-select, except for the two points mentioned above. {% hint style="info" %} If you are using Inforiver Writeback Matrix, you need to [sign in](https://docs.inforiver.com/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae/insert-manual-input-columns/pages/ikgtokcJ0oes0aCiLKJA#1.-sign-in) to start inserting a dropdown column. Some of the properties, such as [Insert as Visual measure/column](https://docs.inforiver.com/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae/insert-manual-input-columns/pages/ikgtokcJ0oes0aCiLKJA#1.-insert-as) and [Allow input](https://docs.inforiver.com/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae/insert-manual-input-columns/pages/ikgtokcJ0oes0aCiLKJA#2.-allow-input) are covered in earlier sections. {% endhint %} To create a single-select dropdown column, navigate to **Single Select** from the **Data Input** dropdown. ### 1. Creating a list of values There are two ways to create a list of values (LOVs) in Inforiver Reporting Matrix. The third option - Semantic model - which is greyed out, is available only in Inforiver Writeback Matrix and is covered in the [next section](/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae/insert-manual-input-columns/dropdown/dropdown-options-from-semantic-models).

The screenshots in this section are from Inforiver Reporting Matrix. The features covered, however, are the same for Inforiver Writeback Matrix. Additionally, the interface for single-select in Inforiver Writeback Matrix includes a **Lookup Visual** option, as shown in the image below.

Single Select in Inforiver Writeback Matrix

#### 1.1. List On clicking **List**, three default options along with colors are displayed. You can rename the options as required and click **Create** to create a new list with three options.

#### 1.2. Presets On clicking **Presets**, a pop-up screen opens. Hover over the preset name to see the values that are part of the preset. Select the required preset and click **Apply.**

The list of values that gets created is shown below.

#### 1.3. Text columns(For Inforiver Writeback Matrix only) Inforiver allows you to source dropdown values from [text data input columns](https://docs.inforiver.com/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae/insert-manual-input-columns/pages/G2CIsbRdsc26IWC3K3Nz#1.-text) belonging to a different visual. The **visual ID** is required to reference a different visual. You can obtain the visual ID from the profile as shown in the image below.

Text data input column in a different visual

Follow the steps below to reference the values from one visual in another visual: **STEP 1:** Copy the visual ID from visual 1 (Regional Sales). **STEP 2:** Create a single-select or multi-select dropdown field in visual 2 (Product Sales). **STEP 3:** In the **Advanced** section of the single select in visual 2 ('Product Sales'), enter the visual ID from step 1. Once the visual ID is entered, you will be able to select the text column ('Region Entity') from the **Column** dropdown under the **Advanced** section.

Notice how the values in the single select are being populated from the 'Regional Sales' visual.

Region values are sourced from the Regional Sales visual

#### 1.4. Localization settings For organizations with a global presence, Inforiver allows you to provide translation support for users in their native language. [Learn more about localization settings.](https://docs.inforiver.com/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae/insert-manual-input-columns/pages/mge44lLwaLlrRRvgcXez#id-9.-localization-settings) You can configure and display the dropdown options based on the current language settings in Power BI. Navigate to **Display Settings** > **General** > **Localization Settings** to create necessary translation entries.

You can use the 'GETLOCALELABEL' function to retrieve the dropdown options and the column title in the language that the report consumer has selected. In the example, the locale is set to French, and the options are automatically translated into French.

Using GETLOCALELABEL function for single select

### 2. Editing the LOVs Changes to data input columns can be achieved using the **Manage Measures** option in the toolbar.

The data input side panel opens up. You can make the changes as desired.

#### 2.1. Editing the options The names, order, and color of the options can be modified, and they can be added or deleted as well. To edit the names, type over the existing names in the text boxes.

#### 2.2. Adding new options To create a new option, click on **Add option**. Type the name in the text box and click Enter. The option gets created as shown below.

#### 2.3. Changing the color associated with each option To change the color, click on the **color dropdown**. A color picker opens. Choose a color as desired.

To reorder or delete options, use the highlighted icons.

#### 2.4. Icon position This option allows you to hide or display the icon in the options to the **left** or **right of data**.

### 3. Options Style This option lets you choose your desired display style for single and multi-select dropdowns: **Chip**, **Arrow**, or **Plain text**.

In the image below, we used the **plain text** style for the **multi-select** dropdown, whereas, for the **single-select**, we’ve used the **chip** and **arrow** styles.

Example for chip, arrow and plain text styles

### 4. Allow users to add a new option Enabling this option allows users to [create new options dynamically](#id-5.-dynamically-adding-missing-options) while using the dropdown, without the need to open the side panel for adding options.

### 5. Entry in total/subtotal rows By default, data can be entered in **total**/**subtotal rows**. To disable it, uncheck the checkbox highlighted in the image below.

On trying to select an option in the total/subtotal row, a message as shown in the image is displayed.

### 6. Default Value When you create a **Single Select** data input field, you can specify a default choice to avoid blanks in your reports. #### **6.1. Static** When you use the **static** option, you can select the relevant default value from the Value dropdown. In this report, we’ve chosen the ‘Approval Status’ **preset**. Notice how the Value dropdown for default values contains options relevant to approval status. Even if you specify custom options with the Lists, Inforiver will populate the manually entered options in the default value dropdown.

#### **6.2. Dimension** You can choose to set a **dimension** category as the default value. Please be mindful that if you choose to source default values from a dimension, you will need to enable the **Allow user to add new option** checkbox.

#### **6.3. Measure** You can choose to set a **measure** as the default value. Please be mindful that if you choose to source default values from a measure, you will need to enable the **Allow user to add new option** checkbox.

### 7. Using the dropdown Once the necessary changes are made to the list of values and other properties are configured, click **Create** in the data input side panel. Click on a cell in the data input column to enable the dropdown and choose an option.

### 8. Dynamically adding missing options Users can create a new option on the fly if a particular option is not available in the LOV. In the example below, the available values are ‘Submitted’, ‘In Review’, and ‘Approved’.

To add a new value of ‘Rejected’, type the new value in the **search bar** and click on the **Create** button. {% hint style="info" %} To allow users to input custom options, the **Allow user to add new option** should be enabled in the Single-Select/Multi-Select configuration. {% endhint %}

The new value gets added to the list.

In the next section, we'll cover other data input types such as [text, checkbox, and date](/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae/insert-manual-input-columns/text-checkbox-and-date). # Dropdown options from semantic models For the **Single Select** and **Multi Select** columns, a list of values (LOV) can be created from your Power BI semantic models or other dimensions like Master Data reference fields. The options are dynamically updated as the source data changes. ### 1. Prerequisites In order to source dropdown options from published semantic models, users need to be able to query the semantic models using Power BI REST APIs. In the Power BI admin portal, enable the **Semantic Model Execute Queries REST API** toggle. Choose the **Apply to - The entire organization** radio button.

### 2. Creating a LOV from a semantic model Let's create a LOV from the dataset for a multi-select column. We'll create a multi-select field to assign a subregion. **STEP 1:** In the multi-select column side panel, click on **Semantic model** to open the **Add options from semantic model** dialog box.

**STEP 2:** Select the Power BI workspace from the **Workspace** dropdown. You can also search for a specific workspace.

**STEP 3:** Select the semantic model and the table from the respective dropdowns. Click **Next**.

**STEP 4:** From the **Label Column** dropdown, you can choose the column from the table (selected in Step 3) which will be used to populate the multi-select options. You can associate the options with an ID by selecting the **ID Column**. For example, if the multi-select shows a list of product names, you can tag them to a product ID field (if available in the data model). The multi-select options will not be impacted even if the product name changes, as the Product ID field remains constant. {% hint style="info" %} If an ID field is not available in your dataset, use the **Label Column** as the **ID column**. {% endhint %}

Selecting the column to source the multi-select options

You can assign regions from the multi-select dropdown after completing the steps discussed above.

Multi-select dropdown sourced from the dataset

**STEP 5:** After configuring and creating the dropdown, to preview all the options sourced from the semantic model, click the

icon. If you need to change the configuration, click the

icon to open the semantic model configuration window.

### 3. Using joins and filters #### Joins The base data in our visual may be from one table, but the options in the dropdown can be from a different table. The join option comes in handy in these scenarios. If you need to join your base table with another table to source dropdown options, you need to be mindful that a common column connects the two tables. In this case, the 'Retail-Orders' and 'Retail-People' tables are connected by 'Region'.

#### Filters There are many scenarios wherein the options in the dropdown need to change based on the row dimension category. For example, consider that we have regional data in our rows. We need to use a dropdown to assign a manager for each region. The person we assign must also be tagged to that specific region i.e. the dropdown options for the Central region should only show the people under that region. We can use filters in such scenarios. Let's look at a scenario where we need to use joins and filters. Please note that the filter and join features can be used independently as well. **STEP 1:** Select the **workspace**, **semantic model**, and **table** as discussed in the earlier section. **STEP 2:** You can fetch the data from another table by checking the **Join Table** checkbox. After ticking the checkbox, you will be able to specify the table to join with. The base table used to populate rows and columns in the report is 'Retail - Orders'. We need to fetch the person data from the 'Retail - People' table. The 'Retail -Orders' and 'Retail-People' are connected by the 'Region' field (foreign key).

Joining Retail-Orders with Retail-People

**STEP 3:** Let's assign the field to source the multi-select options - in this case, 'Retail - People.Person'. Since the Retail - People table does not have a unique ID column for each person, let's use the 'Person' field as the option and the ID.

Sourcing options from the Person in the dataset

**STEP 4:** We need to filter the people based on the region they are assigned to. In the **Columns** dropdown**,** select the field based on which you need to filter the options. In this case, it is the 'Retail - People.Region' which can be used to identify the people tagged to a region. Select the matching field from the visual from the **Visual Column** dropdown.

The dropdown options for people data have now been fetched from the 'Retail - People' table. Notice how all the people are displayed in the options for the grand total row. For each region, only the person assigned to that region is shown in the dropdown.

#### Data validation check for copy-paste in dropdowns When dropdown filters are enabled, Inforiver also checks if the data is valid when you copy-paste data manually within a dropdown data input column. Note that the Copy options available in the report (Copy to all rows, Copy until last row etc.) are disabled when dropdown filters are applied. If you accidentally try to paste an invalid option, you will be notified that the copied cell values do not belong to the chosen category. In the following example, we tried to copy the dropdown cell values (Bookcases, Binders) from the categories 'Furniture' and 'Office Supplies', and paste them into rows belonging to different categories (Bookcases -> Office Supplies and Binders -> Technology). Inforiver prevents this type of copy-pasting, as the data is not valid for the respective categories. You will see a toast message indicating that the operation is not allowed.

Data validation check in dropdowns with filters

### 4. Refreshing data The underlying data in the semantic model is likely to change - there may be new data added or updates to the existing data. Any updates to the underlying data should be reflected in the dropdown options too. * You can **schedule** an automatic refresh at a specific time on a daily/monthly basis. * You can also run ad-hoc data refreshes to sync the dropdown options with the semantic model.

#### Triggering ad-hoc refreshes You need to enable the **Require Semantic model Refresh** option to trigger manual refreshes. Click the

icon in the Options section to trigger a refresh from within the Inforiver visual.

Inforiver also provides an **API endpoint** to manually sync the semantic model from outside the visual. The API endpoint is provided in the Refresh Link section. [Learn more about working with API endpoints and authorization tokens.](/admin-console/settings/api-token)

Click on the

icon to view the semantic model refresh history. Any errors that occur during the refresh can be viewed from this screen.

# Lookup visuals for dropdowns The Inforiver **Lookup visual** has been designed to help you seamlessly integrate data from different semantic models into your reports and ensure that the data is up-to-date and accurate. {% hint style="info" %} This feature is available only for Writeback Matrix. {% endhint %} ### 1. Top 3 benefits of using the Inforiver Lookup visual * You can fetch data from your source tables in real-time, provided you have an up-to-date semantic model or the lookup table is in direct query/lake mode. * Row-level security is implicitly handled as the helper visual displays the list of values based on the data Power BI transmits for a particular user. * The lookup visual is lightweight and requires virtually no maintenance, like data refreshes. ### 2. Importing and configuring the Lookup visual The Inforiver Lookup visual works in tandem with the Matrix visuals. It can be downloaded from our [customer portal](https://inforiver.com/login/) for free and then [imported](https://docs.inforiver.com/introduction-to-inforiver/get-started/installing-inforiver-for-yourself) into Power BI.

To configure the visual, simply drag the dimension with dropdown options from your **semantic model** into the **Dimension** field. You can add multiple lookup visuals for a single Inforiver Matrix visual.

Adding lookup visuals and assigning dimensions

### 3. Sourcing single-select and multi-select options from the Lookup visual The lookup visual is a more efficient solution that overcomes the drawbacks of connecting directly to the semantic model from Inforiver – the data is refreshed automatically when the Power BI semantic model is refreshed, and RLS settings are honored. ### 4. Creating a dropdown with Lookup visuals **STEP 1:** Select the **Lookup Visual** option and specify the lookup visual name When you choose the Lookup Visual option, you must specify the visual name in the configuration. In this case, we are populating dropdown options for the manager’s name – so we’ve selected the corresponding visual name.

**STEP 2:** Assign the dimension field to source dropdown options Next, select the **Column Label** field – the options in the dropdown will be sourced from this field. If you have a primary key or ID field associated with the label field, you can assign the ID field to the **Column ID**. If the column labels are updated, the ID field mapping ensures that the updated value will be reflected in your reports. Note: If your lookup table has no ID field, use the same label field (in this example, Manager Name) as Column ID.

**STEP 3:** Click **Add** to apply the configuration and **create** the dropdown. ### 5. Ensuring data integrity for dropdown options Let’s take a closer look at assigning a manager from the dropdown. Suppose a manager has jurisdiction over the 'South' and 'East' regions only – but he is incorrectly assigned as an approver for a product category in the 'Central' region. A manual error such as this one in selecting options could result in ambiguity, delays, and possible financial losses. When you deal with huge data volumes, such operational errors are inevitable. With Inforiver, you can enforce data integrity by specifying filters while configuring dropdowns. Please be aware that to use **filters**, the dimension (in this case, Region) needs to be added to the Inforiver and Lookup visuals.

Let’s look at the dropdown in action. With filters applied, notice how the options change dynamically based on the region.

### **6. Automatic cross-filtering** The lookup visual has the added capability to cross-filter data. The sample report shown below sources product data from a lookup visual. Notice how the product names change dynamically based on the product sub-category. {% hint style="info" %} * Power BI **Edit interactions** toggle needs to be enabled for cross-filtering to work correctly. {% endhint %}

Disable the **cross-filter** option to pull all the data from the lookup visual, irrespective of the row dimension category in the matrix visual.

# Text, checkbox & date In addition to [number](/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae/insert-manual-input-columns/insert-manual-input-columns) and [dropdown](/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae/insert-manual-input-columns/dropdown) input columns, you can also use columns of types text, checkbox and date to capture manual data. Let's cover them one by one. {% hint style="info" %} If you are using Inforiver Writeback Matrix, you need to [sign in](https://docs.inforiver.com/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae/insert-manual-input-columns/pages/ikgtokcJ0oes0aCiLKJA#1.-sign-in) to start inserting a data input column. {% endhint %} ### 1. Inserting text data input fields Text columns or measures can be inserted to capture text. **STEP 1:** Select **Text** from the **Data Input** dropdown. **STEP 2:** The text column side panel is shown in the image below. You can choose to [insert as a visual measure or column](https://docs.inforiver.com/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae/insert-manual-input-columns/pages/ikgtokcJ0oes0aCiLKJA#1.-insert-as). Text entry can be enabled or disabled in the total/subtotal rows using the [Allow entry on total/subtotal](https://docs.inforiver.com/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae/insert-manual-input-columns/pages/ikgtokcJ0oes0aCiLKJA#id-2.4.-allow-entry-on-totals-subtotals) rows checkbox. Input access can be configured using the [Allow input](https://docs.inforiver.com/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae/insert-manual-input-columns/pages/ikgtokcJ0oes0aCiLKJA#2.-allow-input) option. Click Create.

**STEP 3:** The text column gets inserted. Double-click on any of the cells and start typing the text in the editor. Press Enter to commit the text entry.

### 2. Using HTML content within text data input columns You can include your HTML content within the Text data input column as well as in DAX measures, which can be written back. Double-click within the Text data input column and click on the rich text editor icon, which opens the text editor window. Select the script option in the window, enter your HTML code, and click Apply.

Entering HTML code within the Text Data input column

The image below shows the Text rendered by the HTML code.

The inserted HTML code is rendered and displayed

While doing a writeback, you can choose to writeback as plain text or as text with Html tags. This is done by enabling or disabling the **Text input measure as HTML** toggle under Export > Settings > Data tab in the Writeback Settings side pane.

*Text input measure as HTML* toggle in WriteBack Settings

The images below show the written-back text when the toggle is disabled and enabled.

You can also add HTML code within a DAX measure, which will be rendered. The image below shows the DAX measure created with an HTML code.

The image below shows the DAX measure Comment-HTML and Comments Text column exported as HTML in PDF

DAX measure with HTML is exported in PDF when the "Writeback as HTML" toggle is enabled.

### 3. Configuration options for text data inputs #### 3.1. Word wrap Inforiver provides an option to wrap the text for long entries that get truncated.

Click on the word wrap icon in the Home ribbon to wrap text as per the width of the field.

Word wrap feature for long text data inputs

#### 3.2. Text validations Inforiver allows adding data validations for text inputs. You can add validations to check the length and data type (numeric/text/alphanumeric). When the text entered does not conform to the specified length, Inforiver throws an error and does not retain the incorrect entry.

Error thrown when entered text does not match the length specification

You can also enforce that a text entry should be an email or URL, or even provide a regular expression using the Custom option. For example, if you choose **Email** as **Field Validation** and the data entered is not a valid email ID, Inforiver will generate a pop-up error notification.

Data validation error when the entered text is not an email

## 2. Checkbox Checkbox columns or measures can be inserted to capture binary inputs. Click on 'Checkbox' in the 'Data input' dropdown. To access the checkbox column, Navigate to the **Insert** toolbar and click on the **Data Input** dropdown and select **Checkbox** and click **Create**. You can choose to [insert as a visual measure or column](https://docs.inforiver.com/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae/insert-manual-input-columns/pages/ikgtokcJ0oes0aCiLKJA#1.-insert-as). Entry can be enabled or disabled in the total/subtotal rows using the '[Allow entry on total/subtotal rows](/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae/insert-manual-input-columns/dropdown#iii-entry-in-total-subtotal-rows)' checkbox. Input access can be configured using the '[Allow input](https://docs.inforiver.com/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae/insert-manual-input-columns/pages/ikgtokcJ0oes0aCiLKJA#2.-allow-input)' option.

Additional options like **Default Value**, **Value** are available in Writeback matrix

Click on any of the cells to check the checkbox.

Checkboxes are widely used in reports for data selection, such as shortlisting specific transactions or marking approval and review status. You can filter data based on checkbox values using the 'Checked' and 'Unchecked' options. An application within Inforiver Matrix would be to use the checkbox filter to Writeback only the selected records.

## 3. Date Date columns or measures can be inserted by clicking on 'Date' in the 'Data input' dropdown. You can insert an empty column or copy the dates from the rows in the report. ### 3.1. Create an empty series When you select this option, an empty date column is created and the side panel opens as shown in the image.

You can choose to [insert it as a visual measure or column](https://docs.inforiver.com/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae/insert-manual-input-columns/pages/ikgtokcJ0oes0aCiLKJA#1.-insert-as). Entry can be enabled or disabled in the total/subtotal rows using the '[Allow entry on total/subtotal rows](/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae/insert-manual-input-columns/dropdown#iii-entry-in-total-subtotal-rows)' checkbox. Input access can be configured using the '[Allow input](https://docs.inforiver.com/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae/insert-manual-input-columns/pages/ikgtokcJ0oes0aCiLKJA#2.-allow-input)' option. You can also configure other optional fields as below: #### Format The date format can be changed by clicking the 'Format' dropdown. Choose the desired format.

#### Minimum and Maximum Date You can set the minimum and maximum date ranges for the date input. Users will not be able to enter any dates that fall outside this range. You can enter both dates to specify a range, or just the minimum or the maximum date. To select a date, click the calendar icon.

#### Default value In a report that has thousands of rows, manually entering or copying dates in a data input-date field can be a tedious task. In such cases, you can set a default date. All rows will be filled with the configured default date as soon as you click **Create**. There are multiple options to set a default date: * **Static value**: Use the date picker to set a common date for all the rows. In the image below, the created date column is pre-filled with the default date - 02/10/2026.

* **Measure**: Select the measure (native measure/formula measure/date input column) from which the default date should be sourced. In the example below, the default value is sourced from a formula measure that is available within the same report. * **Dimension**: When you have a date dimension in your row, you can select the row dimension from which the default date must be picked. The default date in the example below is picked from the row dimension, 'Order Date'.

{% hint style="info" %} The default date option is available for both visual measures and visual columns. Invalid date format errors are implicitly handled as blanks for a clean export and writeback. {% endhint %} After configuring the required settings, click **Create.** #### Entering a date To enter data, double-click on a cell. Select a date from the calendar/date picker.

The date gets captured in the chosen format.

### 3.2. Copy from rows If your report has a list of calendar dates in the row dimension, and you want to replicate the same dates in an input column, you can use the **‘copy from rows’** option, instead of manually entering it for each record.

Inforiver automatically detects the date format which can be verified from the pop-up.

In rare cases when the format mapping is not as expected, you can map them manually using the help suggestions and click **Submit.**

The date column is inserted as shown, which follows the dates in the rows. By default, the first of January is the fiscal year's start.

**Note:** Inforiver accepts both hierarchical and non-hierarchical date formats. For example, the visual below has date formats such as half-years, quarters, and months assigned as individual fields instead of using a date hierarchy. Inforiver automatically maps them using the custom formats.

The inserted date column is shown below after setting the required fiscal year.

Unconventional date formats are also accepted and automatically mapped.

#### Setting the start of the fiscal year You also have the option to select the start of the fiscal year while copying the dates. Click 'Change fiscal year start' to choose.

In the below example, the fiscal year start is set to April 5th. Click **Submit** to insert.

The date column is inserted with the specified fiscal month and date.

In the next section, we'll cover the data input features available only in Inforiver Writeback Matrix. # Writeback Matrix features As mentioned in the [manual input columns](/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae/insert-manual-input-columns) section, Inforiver Writeback Matrix provides additional features compared to Inforiver Reporting Matrix. 1. Data type - Person 2. Track changes at row level using the last updated at/by columns {% hint style="info" %} You need to [sign in](https://docs.inforiver.com/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae/insert-manual-input-columns/pages/ikgtokcJ0oes0aCiLKJA#1.-sign-in) to access the Writeback Matrix features. {% endhint %} Let's take a detailed look. ## 1. Person In the Data Input dropdown, you can see an additional type called Person. Once a data input column is added in Inforiver Writeback Matrix, two columns – Last updated at and last updated by get enabled. These are covered in [track changes at the row level](#2.-track-changes-at-row-level).

a) Click on 'Person'. The person column side panel is shown in the below image. You can choose to [insert as a visual measure or column](https://docs.inforiver.com/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae/insert-manual-input-columns/pages/ikgtokcJ0oes0aCiLKJA#1.-insert-as). Entry can be enabled or disabled in the total/subtotal rows using the '[Allow entry on total/subtotal rows](/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae/insert-manual-input-columns/dropdown#iii-entry-in-total-subtotal-rows)' checkbox. Input access can be configured using the '[Allow input](https://docs.inforiver.com/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae/insert-manual-input-columns/pages/ikgtokcJ0oes0aCiLKJA#2.-allow-input)' option. Click 'Create'.

b) The person column gets inserted. Double-click on any of the cells. You can see a list of the users within the organization. Select any of the users.

c) Start typing a name or scroll to find the desired user. Click on the username.

d) You can also select multiple users if required.

e) Click 'Enter' to save the data. You can see the user's name displayed as shown below.

## 2. Last updated at/by You can track changes at the row level using the two columns – 'Last updated at' and 'Last updated by' which capture metadata for changes in the data input columns. These are enabled once you add a data input column and can be found in the data input dropdown. Select/deselect to show/hide columns. They can also be enabled/disabled from the ‘Manage columns’ dropdown.

In the next section, we'll be covering [quick formulas](/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae/quick-formula). # Importing data {% hint style="info" %} This feature is available only in Inforiver Writeback Matrix. {% endhint %} Inforiver Writeback Matrix provides the flexibility to input values in Excel and seamlessly import them into the visual. Using the import utility is as simple as selecting the Data Input measure to input values for -> downloading the Excel template -> entering values directly in Excel -> importing the template back into the Inforiver Matrix visual.

Let's look at the steps involved and the options Inforiver Matrix provides to import data from Excel. **STEP 1:** In the Data import utility pop-up window, use the **Choose Measure** dropdown to select the data input measure for which we are importing data. We can import data for one measure at a time.

**STEP 2:** If you've already entered values in the data input field, you can choose the 'Template with existing values' option to capture the existing values in the template file. Choose 'Blank template' if you do not need the existing values in the template file. Click Download.

**STEP 3:** Enter values in the downloaded file. In this case, the values already entered in the report have been captured in the template file. Let's add values for the Central and East regions. Data Import Utility feature updates new values while retaining the original values where no updates are needed.

**STEP 4:** Click the **Next** button after entering data in the downloaded template file.

**STEP 5:** Click the **Browse** button. Select the template file that contains the new data input values to be imported into the visual.

Select the template file to import values from

**STEP 6:** Select the **Ignore null or blank values in the CSV** checkbox if you do not want to import null values from the template file. Click Apply.

You'll see that the values we entered for the Central and East regions have been imported into the visual.

# Default values With Inforiver, you can configure default values for various data input column types in your Power BI reports. Default values can be static, or measure/dimension-based. ### Why are default values important? {% hint style="success" %} Default values in data input fields improve data consistency and reduce user errors across reports. By pre-filling common or expected entries, they serve as a guide for users to enter expected values. {% endhint %} ### 1. Static default values Static default values are predefined, fixed values that are automatically assigned to a data input field when no user input is provided. Static values remain the same for all rows. Select the **Static** option from the **Default Value** dropdown and enter the value in the **Value** dropdown. In this example, a static default value of 2.5m is used for all the child rows.

Static default value for numeric data input

### 2. Default values from measures You can use existing measures from your report as default values for data input fields. For instance, the Plan can be used as the default value for the Budget field, as shown in the example. Select **Measure** from the **Default Value** dropdown and **Plan** from the Value dropdown.

### 3. Default values from dimensions For data input types such as text or single select, you can use dimension values as default values. Select **Dimension** from the **Default Value** dropdown and select the dimension from the **Value** dropdown. In this example, we've used 'Level 0 Description' as the default value for the Account SubType text field.

### 4. Default values from text data input columns In business reporting, you may need to source default values from existing data input columns. Select the **Column** option from the **Default Value** dropdown and the text column from the **Value** dropdown. In this example, the text data input field *Transaction Type* is used to set default values for the single select columns.

Default values for the single select are sourced from the text column

# Invert sign In the case of financial reports such as the P\&L statement, data for expense or deduction items are often shown as positive numbers. This is especially true when the income and expense values come from different tables. However, the report might need to be updated with the negative sign operator for two main purposes. (a) for performing aggregations, say for naturally aggregating revenue & expense accounts to calculate profit, or (b) to display +/- signs in the table to indicate which accounts are added vs. deducted. This can be easily achieved using the 'Invert' option in Inforiver. ### 1. Cell level You can invert cells or rows and display the negative signs at a cell level. You can also define whether the negative signs should influence the total or not. Let’s invert the 'Beverages' row in the 'East' subregion. a) Select the required row. In the ‘Insert’ tab of the toolbar, click the ‘Invert’ option.

b) The row 'East -> Beverages' is inverted and you can see the change in the value of totals.

c) If you do not want the sign inversion to impact the totals, turn off the 'Include in Total' toggle in the Display -> Numbers settings.

d) Click ‘Invert’ again with the respective row selected to reset to the default value.

e) A pop-up opens with a message as shown, select ‘Apply’ to reset.

f) You can now see the original values in the Beverages row and the totals.

g) Instead of inverting the sign of the child nodes individually, you can do it in bulk at the parent level. Let's invert the 'United States' parent row, select the row and apply 'Invert'.

h) You can see that parent and the corresponding child rows are inverted as shown.

i) Note that the signage of calculated rows cannot be changed. In the below image, you can see the 'Invert' option is disabled for the calculated row 'Sum'.

### 2. Row header level Sign inversion can be shown at the row header level with the ‘Sign in headers’ option. a) In the ‘Home’ tab of the toolbar, click ‘Display’ -> 'Numbers'.

b) Turn on ‘Sign in headers’ to display the signage in the row headers as shown.

c) You can also show positive signs and equals on other data source rows and total rows by enabling the 'Show positive sign' and 'Show equals on totals' options respectively.

### 3. Measure level a) Create a new signed measure This feature is a single-click solution to creating signed measures. To invert a particular measure, select it and click on the 'Invert' button in the Insert ribbon.

Click on Create to insert the new calculated measure in the report.

b) Invert sign for individual measures You can change the sign for a single measure at both child and parent levels. For a given row, select any cell and click on the ‘Invert’ button. Notice how the sign for the Discount measure has been flipped in the example below.

When hierarchical data is involved, you can also change the sign for a particular measure at the parent level, this will be cascaded to all the child rows.

### 4. Sign from a source table Instead of defining positive and negative signs at the report level, you can use the sign conventions from your data source tables. To do this, create a column that assigns values -1, +1, and 0 for negative, positive, and totals respectively. A sample table is shown below.

a) Add this sign column in the 'Sign' field. You can see the change in the values in the below image and also the calculation of subtotals and totals.

b) On enabling the 'Sign in header' option, you can see the positive, negative, and total rows with the signs in the header.

c) The 'Invert' option is disabled when the sign column is added.

{% hint style="info" %} When a sign field is added, you cannot add column fields. {% endhint %} In the next section, we'll be covering the [Audit log](/advanced-topics/audit-log) feature. #### Resources [Invert signs for reporting in Microsoft Power BI with Scenarios](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZaQgXQYDhY) # Editing cells Inforiver allows you to edit the contents of a cell and apply calculations. These are visual level updates and will not impact the source dataset. ### 1. Overwriting values To overwrite an existing value, simply double-click on the cell and enter the new value. You can enter scaled values(250m, 5.6b, etc) or reference other cell values. {% hint style="info" %} Another way to enable the formula bar is by selecting a cell and clicking the **Edit Cell** button in the Insert ribbon. {% endhint %} Double-click on a cell as shown in the image. A formula bar is enabled below the toolbar. Type in a value and click 'Enter'. Note that Inforiver allows entry of scaled values (e.g. 45.3m instead of 45,300,000).

The value gets updated and the manual update can be identified by the pencil icon in the cell. The totals and subtotals are also updated to include the value entered.

You can even reference other cells and apply formulas to them - using the cell editor, you can define simple mathematical operations such as A +/- B, etc.

Using cell references and applying formulas

{% hint style="info" %} * You can also edit cells using the 'Edit cell' icon in the toolbar. You can access it in the Insert tab > Cell section. * Inforiver allows you to edit values AC, PY, PL, FC, and OM measures. You can edit dates and text measures as well. {% endhint %} ### 2. Apply formulas You can use the wide range of formulas and functions available in Inforiver while editing a cell. In the below example, we are using the 'Average' function. As you start typing, you can see the functions that match the entered text as a list. Click on 'Average'.

a) Click on the arrow icon, to see more information such as the arguments and examples.

b) You can click on any cell and it gets automatically populated as shown below. You can also see the result of the operation as highlighted.

c) Let's calculate the average of the two selected cells.

d) You can see the result of the operation and it also gets distributed to the child levels.

### 3. Updating multiple cells You can also override the data in multiple cells with the same value, for instance, set a fixed budget. Select the cells and update the value in any cell, the updated value will get cascaded to all the selected cells.

### 4. Renaming Row Categories You can also rename row categories by double-clicking on them. The same row category may be repeated at each hierarchy level for hierarchical datasets. When you try to rename such categories at one level, Inforiver displays a prompt to confirm whether the category should be renamed across all levels or only at that level.

### 5. Bulk edit In financial reporting, costs or revenues may need to be allocated across multiple fields, or during the budgeting/forecasting process, the same values may need to be distributed across different fields. In some cases, you may need to set the same date, such as the expiry date for a list of products, or assign the same manager to a group of locations. Let's look at the **Bulk Edit** feature that comes in handy in such situations. We will use an example where we need to bulk edit a data input-number column. Navigate to the Insert ribbon and click the Bulk Edit option from the Cell section.

**STEP 1:** From the **Measure** dropdown**,** select the data input measure for which you want to perform a bulk update.

**STEP 2:** Use the dimension category dropdowns to select the categories for which you need to update values. You can select multiple categories for each dimension. As you make selections, you'll notice the report getting filtered dynamically.

**STEP 3:** Select the row hierarchy level at which the value should be updated.

**STEP 4:** Similarly**,** select the column hierarchy level at which the value should be updated. In this case, since we do not have a column-level hierarchy, we can either update at Grand Total level or Country level.

**STEP 5:** Choose the type of update to perform and enter the value. If you choose **Append**, the value will be added to the existing value. If you choose **Set Value,** the existing value will be replaced by the new value. To remove the existing value, choose **Clear Set Value.**

**STEP 6:** You can choose to distribute the updated value to child rows based on the weights of another measure or distribute equally.

The cells are updated to 50k at the Segment level and distributed to the children based on the weights of the Sales measure.

Edited cells highlighted in yellow. Distribution measure highlighted in violet.

Similarly, we can bulk edit all other data input types, including text, date, person, single-select, and multi-select dropdowns. In the image below, the bulk edit feature has been used to set values for items in the selected categories, sub-categories, and dimensions.

Specifically for date fields, you can either set a date from the date picker or add a duration in years, quarters, months, weeks, or days to the existing date.

Adding specific duration to list of items

{% hint style="info" %} When editing data in bulk: 1. If you are working with numerical data inputs, you can append and distribute values. 2. For date input type, you can specify the duration or choose a date. 3. When column headers have a hierarchy, like a region or date hierarchy, you can collectively apply changes to specific column levels. {% endhint %} {% hint style="info" %} Bulk editing is available for simulation measures and scenarios so that simulations can be applied to specific categories and dimensions in one go. Refer these sections to learn more: [Bulk editing a simulation measure](https://docs.inforiver.com/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae/pages/ZdVWEXwNzhahe55r7dkN#id-3.-bulk-editing-a-simulation-measure) and [Bulk editing a scenario](/working-with-inforiver/7.-planning-budgeting-and-forecasting/scenarios-writeback-matrix-only#iv-bulk-editing-a-scenario). {% endhint %} # Quick formula Inforiver provides several one-click calculations for inserting columns and rows. ### 1. Quick formula Columns/measures such as running total, % contribution to parent/grand total, etc. can be inserted in a single click. These options can be accessed from the Insert tab > Quick formula.

When you write custom formulas, you can also reference quick formula measures in them.

#### i) Running total The following configuration options are available for 'Running total'. Insert as - The running total can be inserted as a [measure or column](https://docs.inforiver.com/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae/pages/ikgtokcJ0oes0aCiLKJA#2.-measure-vs-column). Based on Measure - Column/measure based on which the running total needs to be calculated.

If you want to calculate the running total for all leaf nodes, irrespective of the level of the hierarchy they belong to, select the 'Continuous Total' checkbox.

Continuous running total for hierarchical datasets

#### ii) Percentage running total This formula is a variant of the running total quick formula. The running total is first calculated in the background at each level of the hierarchy, after which it is displayed as a percentage of the total/subtotal.

#### iii) %Growth/Decline This option allows you to insert visual measures or a column that calculates the required percentage growth or decline of the chosen measure.

#### iv) % Contribution to parent Use this option to quickly calculate each member's contribution to their parent's total value. In addition to choosing to insert as a visual measure/column and the base value, a progress bar can be enabled along with a percentage and/or value to display.

% Contribution of 2022 Actuals to parent

#### v) % Contribution to grand total Contribution to the grand total can be inserted as shown below. To insert % contribution only for a selected category instead of all the categories or only for the column grand total, choose the 'Visual column' option and the corresponding column.

% Contribution to grand total as visual column

#### vi) Lead/lag You can perform a lead /lag calculation to shift any trend data by 'n' periods. This helps you quickly perform downstream variance calculations such as QoQ growth, YoY growth, etc. for each period.

#### vii) Overall ranking Ranks can be added across different groups in a single click. Choose to insert as a measure or column and the base measure. Note that there are no ranks applied for the subtotals.

#### viii) Ranking within a group Ranks within groups can be added including ranks for subtotals as shown in the below image.

#### ix) Insert variance The default variance calculated by Inforiver is based on the first measure added to the AC/PY/PL/FC fields. *Insert Variance* can be used to calculate the variance between any native measures, simulations, or formula fields in your report.

#### x) Empty Column This option allows you to insert an empty column into the report to improve readability and visual appeal. Values cannot be entered in this column.

#### xi) Empty Measure This option allows you to insert empty measures into the report to improve readability and visual appeal. Values cannot be entered in these measures.

### 2. Smart analysis % contribution and variance % columns can be added in a single click based on any cell in the visual. These can be accessed in the Insert tab -> Smart analysis as shown below. {% hint style="info" %} You need to select a cell to enable the 'Smart analysis' option. {% endhint %}

In the below image, % contribution has been added based on 2022 Actuals -> East.

In the below image, % variance has been added based on the grand total. But you can choose any other value as well. Note that the calculation gets added as a measure or column based on the presence of categories in the column field.

### 3. % Contribution rows % Contribution based on any row can be inserted in a single click. To achieve this, in the Insert tab-> Insert row, select '% Contribution row'. {% hint style="info" %} Select a row to enable the 'Insert row' option. {% endhint %}

The % contribution row gets added as shown below.

# Visual column inside visual measures We have covered the different types of manual input columns that can be inserted in the report in the previous sections. We have also learned the steps to [insert calculated columns](/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae/insert-calculated-columns), in the form of visual measures as well as visual columns. In this page, we will look at a specific case where you can include a data input visual column to be referenced inside a visual measure formula. Data fields like interest rates, discount rates, tax slabs, and foreign exchange rates might be common to all the column dimensions. Hence they would be created as visual columns and we might need to refer to them often in calculations. In such cases, you can reference those visual columns in visual measures using the **COLUMNS** prefix. Let us consider the following example: a visual input column is included to specify a discount rate of 10%.

To calculate the new sale price, we can insert a formula measure.

In the formula, we need to refer to this visual column, **Discount*****%*** to calculate the discounted sale price. The visual column is referred to using the **COLUMNS** prefix identifier.

Visual column referred inside a visual measure

Click **Create** and the result is shown below:

{% hint style="info" %} In the current edition, visual measures can only refer to **data input** visual columns and not calculated visual columns (formula columns). {% endhint %} # Manage inserted rows (Writeback Matrix) Rows inserted in the visual such as calculations, static rows, template rows, or data input rows can be managed using the **Manage Rows** option. ## 1. Rows Inserted rows such as static, calculated, etc. can be managed from the **Rows** tab. A list of the inserted rows is displayed. Each type of row: calculated, aggregated, data input, and template can be identified by the row icons. The following operations can be performed: a) Edit - Formulae or other properties can be modified. b) Delete - The inserted row can be permanently deleted. c) Show/hide row - Inserted rows can be hidden temporarily. d) Show/hide row indicator - The pencil icon beside the inserted rows can be hidden. e) Add rows - You can instantly add child rows and sibling(at the same level of the hierarchy) rows right from the Manage Rows side pane. Hover over the row to view these options.

f) Search and filter custom rows - Use the Search and Filter options to search for a particular row category or display rows based on the type.

g) Hover over a row to view the timestamp when it was inserted.

#### **Tree view** Use the Tree View to easily identify the hierarchy level where a specific row was created.

#### **List view** The **List** view displays rows in the order in which they were inserted.

## 2. Row settings The **Manage Rows** side panel has a **Row Settings** tab that lets you configure settings such as user permissions.

### 2.1. Create row configuration You can set category-based rules on rows that are bulk-inserted. For example, you can disable row insertion for certain row dimension categories, enforce distinct values, or source categories from an Excel spreadsheet. [Learn more about bulk inserting rows.](https://docs.inforiver.com/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae/pages/uPRcNMHmlz1ZIWhFbxNm#id-2.-bulk-insert-static-rows) ### 2.2. Create Row Access You can explicitly set permissions for users to create rows in read mode. You have options to restrict all users, allow all users, or authorize specific users to create rows. Navigate to Insert > Manage Rows >Settings > Create Row Access to set permissions. * Enable the **Allow in Read Mode** toggle to allow users to create rows in reading mode. * To allow all the members in your organization to create rows, choose the **All users** radio button. * If you want to restrict users from creating rows, choose the **Specific users** radio button**.** You will then be able select the users to whom you want to provide access.

### 2.3. Row edit user validation You can set row-level permissions to edit rows of Data Input and Forecast columns. If your semantic model contains an Email ID field, you can grant access to specific email IDs to edit associated row categories. The steps to configure row edit access have been outlined below. **STEP 1:** Specify the workspace, semantic model, table, and the field in the table that contains email IDs.

**STEP 2:** Select the **All** radio button to set row edit permissions for all the forecasts and data input fields in your report. To grant access to specific measures, check the **Selected** radio button and choose the measure.

**STEP 3:** Specify users who will have elevated access to edit all rows, irrespective of the categories assigned to email IDs in the semantic model.

**STEP 4:** Map the dimension category in the semantic model to the row dimension category in your report. Click **Save & Preview**.

Map semantic model dimension to visual dimension

**STEP 5:** Verify the email IDs and the categories assigned.

Once row-level user edit validation is configured, users in read-only mode will only be able to modify the values for row dimension categories to which they have been granted access. # Manage inserted rows (Reporting Matrix) Rows inserted in the visual, such as calculations, static rows, template rows, or data input rows, can be managed using the **Manage Rows** option. ## 1. Rows Inserted rows, such as static, calculated, etc., can be managed from the **Rows** tab. A list of the inserted rows is displayed. The following operations can be performed: a) Edit - Formulae or other properties can be modified. b) Delete - The inserted row can be permanently deleted. c) Show/hide row - Inserted rows can be hidden temporarily. d) Show/hide row indicator - The pencil icon beside the inserted rows can be hidden. Hover over the row to view these options.

## 2. Row settings The **Manage Rows** side panel has an **Insert Row Settings** tab that lets you configure settings such as user permissions.

### 2.1. Insert row configuration You can set category-based rules on rows that are bulk-inserted. For example, you can disable row insertion for certain row dimension categories, enforce distinct values, or source categories from an Excel spreadsheet. [Learn more about bulk inserting rows in Reporting Matrix](https://docs.inforiver.com/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae/pages/J1kKkM2pdV7YnqfIQrDi#id-2.-bulk-insert-static-rows). ### 2.2. Insert Row Access You can explicitly set permissions for users to insert rows in read mode. Navigate to the Insert ribbon > Manage Rows > Insert Row Settings > Insert Row Access to set permissions. Enable the **Allow in Read Mode** toggle to allow users to insert rows in reading mode.

# Manage inserted measures & columns Measures and columns inserted in the visual such as calculations or data input columns can be managed using the **Manage Measures** option. ## 1. Measures and columns Similar to the [Manage Rows](#id-1.-manage-rows) option, the **Manage Measures** option displays a list of inserted columns/measures with options to edit, delete, or hide them. All the measures created in a visual can be viewed in the Measures tab. Visual columns can be viewed and managed in the Columns tab. In addition, there is also an 'Insert New' option which lets you insert calculated columns or data input columns right from this panel.

Use the duplicate icon to quickly replicate formulas that need to be reapplied in similar calculations.

## 2. Settings The **Manage Measures** side panel has a **Settings** tab that lets you control and configure important settings concerning the rows and measures, such as user permissions, time interval mapping, row dimension ID mapping, etc.

### 2.1. Data input access Inforiver Writeback Matrix allows setting explicit read/write access for specific users on data input and forecast columns. To set it, click **Insert -> Manage Measures -> Settings** **->** **Manage** in the **Data Input Access.** You can add the required users in the pop-up window.

{% hint style="info" %} Access control for all the columns can also be set through the **Manage Columns** dropdown as explained [here](https://docs.inforiver.com/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae/pages/ikgtokcJ0oes0aCiLKJA#id-3.-access-control). Specifically for the forecast columns, the user access can be configured [here](/working-with-inforiver/7.-planning-budgeting-and-forecasting/forecasting-writeback-matrix). {% endhint %} ### 2.2. Time interval mapping When you have a date hierarchy in your rows/columns, you can use the time interval mapping to verify the formats that Inforiver auto-detects. Hover over the

icon to view all the supported date formats.

You can also choose whether to use Power BI sorting or Inforiver sorting. When the **Sort** toggle is enabled, any sorting changes made at Power BI level will not be reflected in the visual. In the example, notice how the Power BI sorting is not applied on the Quarter when the Sort toggle is enabled.

### 2.3. Dimension ID mapping Inforiver automatically assigns a dimension ID to each row dimension to uniquely identify them. This mapping helps to track and manage them, especially during operations like writeback. Visual components such as formatting, notes, comments, and data inputs added to the rows are also linked to the dimension IDs. When row dimensions are renamed/changed, we might lose these visual elements added. To avoid this, Inforiver allows us to map the row dimensions to a constant dimension ID. In the example below, we’ve applied formatting, added notes, and comments, and added data inputs to the products, *Juices* and *Tea & Coffee*.

Sample report with formatting, comments and data input columns

The visual elements were lost after the product names were renamed to *Fruit Juices* and *Chai & Coffee* respectively.

When the row dimension 'Product Name' is renamed

To avoid this, let us map the dimension IDs to a constant dimension, such as the *Product ID* instead of the *Product Name*. To do so, navigate to **Insert -> Manage Measures -> Settings -> Row ID mapping -> Manage**.

{% hint style="info" %} In Writeback Matrix, the **Row ID Mapping** option is referred to as **Dimension ID Mapping**. {% endhint %} The image below shows the default row dimension ID mapping.

Let us map the 'Product Name' to the constant dimension, 'Product ID' as shown below. Click **Apply**.

Note that changing the mapping removes all the initial formatting and visual elements associated with it. Any formatting, notes, comments, and data inputs added after mapping with the constant dimension ID are retained as shown below, including during the writeback.

After manually mapping row ID dimensions

**Updates due to skipped row ID dimensions reflected in writeback data** After mapping the row IDs to a constant dimension, not only the visual formatting, data changes, notes, comments, etc., are retained in the report but also captured in the writeback data promptly. The report below shows the default mapping, followed by the results of the writeback data.

After manually mapping the row dimension to a constant ID like the Product ID, any changes made in the report are also effectively captured in the writeback. In the image below, you can see the updated records in the report that are also reflected in the writeback data.

Writeback data after row ID mapping and data changes

### 2.4. Schedule backup for measure You can retain point-in-time measure values with the new scheduled backup feature. The measure values are captured as separate read-only visual columns within the same visual. With this feature, you can easily calculate historical variances and analyze fluctuations in your numbers. {% hint style="info" %} This is option is only available in Writeback Matrix. {% endhint %} Navigate to Manage Measures > Settings > Schedule Backups for Measure to create monthly, weekly, or daily schedules.

* **Start and End date:** Specify the time frame during which the measure should be backed up. * **Schedule Time:** The time and timezone at which the backup job should be triggered. * **Frequency**: Opt for daily/weekly/monthly schedules. * For daily backups, you can specify the number of backups to create. For weekly schedules, you can select the day of the week to take a backup. For monthly schedules, you can specify which day of the month to take a backup on and additionally opt to take a backup on the last day of the month as well.

* **Measures**: Select the measures that need to be backed up. * **Backup name:** Enter the name of the backup field. You can run ad-hoc backups by clicking the **Run now** icon.

{% hint style="info" %} Measure backups will work only after the report is saved in Power BI. The report should also be created in a common workspace. {% endhint %} The image below shows a report with backed-up measures:

Measure backup jobs have dedicated logs that show the status of the backup, milestones, and the backups that are deleted when the limit is reached. Click the **View jobs** option from the Schedule Measure Backup side pane.

Scheduled measure backup logs:

### 2.5. Show all periods from Infobridge Infobridge supports forecasts and allows you to capture projections or data for future time periods. Your target reports, however, may not require future data. The **Show All Periods from Infobridge** option in the Manage Measures side pane can be used to control whether time periods that do not exist in the target visual should be imported from Infobridge: * When the toggle is enabled, all the time periods available in the bridge will be imported into the target report, irrespective of whether they exist in the target visual. * When disabled, only the time periods in the bridge that exist in the target visual will be imported. This option will be enabled only after creating an integration to a bridge {% hint style="info" %} This is option is only available in Writeback Matrix. {% endhint %}

**Show All Periods from Infobridge option**

In the bridge, we have the allocated budgets for 2023 and 2024 as well as the projected budgets for 2025.

Projected and allocated budgets in the bridge

The target report contains the profits for 2023 and 2024. We need to integrate the budgets for 2023 and 2024 with this report. The projected budgets for 2025 are not required in this case.

Since we've disabled the **Show All Periods from Infobridge** toggle**,** when we insert the budget from the bridge, it will be inserted only for the time periods that exist in the target report.

Inserting budgets for existing time periods

# Pivot data (Writeback Matrix) Business reporting and analysis often involve pivoting data and interchanging the order of row dimensions. You can re-order dimension parameters from Power BI, however, you would end up losing data input fields. The new Pivot option allows you to create aggregated tables or views within the Inforiver visual, with different combinations of row dimensions. The Pivot Explorer, when enabled, retains all your pivot views so you can easily switch between them for analysis. Creating pivot views in Inforiver is a simple, straightforward process outlined below: **STEP 1:** Enter a relevant name for the pivot view.

**STEP 2:** Add row dimensions by selecting the checkboxes. Click Save.

**STEP 3:** Click the Add link to create new views.

Pivot views for different row dimensions

Within each pivot view, you can create data inputs, forecasts, formulas, snapshots, and scenarios corresponding to each combination of dimensions. The pivot view/table you create also lets you enter numbers at the higher level and allocate proportionally to all the relevant sub-levels. Notice how the single select (ProjectStatus) and formula (NormalizedSales) values change based on the pivot selection.

You can manage your pivots using variables. Pivot and Variables are linked by using the toggle button while defining the variables.

Enable the Region of Sales variable to Pivot by Region.

Disable the Region of Sales variable to Pivot by City.

# Insert image URLs Enhance data presentation and comprehension in your Inforiver reports with image URLs. Users can customize reports by embedding cell-level images or using images in the row or column dimension. For example, you can make your reports more engaging by displaying the image of a product against its sales or forecast. {% hint style="info" %} The Power BI data category type should be ‘Image URL’ to embed images in reports. {% endhint %}

* **Cell-level images** When comparing different items, row-level images can make it easier to distinguish between them. It also makes it easier for users to identify and locate data.

* **Column level images** Assign the image URL field to the column dimension visual parameter to use images as measure headers instead of category names.

* **Images as row categories** Assign the image URL to the row dimension visual parameter to use images as row categories.

# Data validation rules Ensure accurate Power BI reporting by setting up validation rules for manually entered numeric data using Inforiver Writeback Matrix. ### Why are data validation rules important? {% hint style="success" %} In a shared environment where multiple users edit data within the same Power BI reports, data validation is essential for preserving data integrity. Validation rules help prevent manual data entry errors and ensure consistent reporting. {% endhint %} You can set up 3 types of data validation rules in Inforiver: * **Locking rule**: Locks the selected measure or column for editing. [Learn more about locking Rules.](/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae/data-validation-rules/locking-rule) * **Distribution rule:** Select how to distribute entered values among child rows in a hierarchy. [Learn more about distribution rules.](/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae/data-validation-rules/distribution-rules) * **Min/Max rule**: Set the minimum and maximum values to define a range that can be entered. [Learn more about min/max rules.](/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae/data-validation-rules/min-max-rule) {% hint style="info" %} * Data validation rules are supported only in Writeback Matrix. * Data input rules can be applied only to numeric data input measures and columns. {% endhint %} ### General configuration options for rules You can select the data input measures and columns to apply the rules to. You can also apply rules to specific rows or column dimension categories. To demonstrate these options, we've chosen locking rules. The functionality is the same for distribution and min/max rules. #### 1. Apply to Select the measures or data input columns to apply the rule. * **All Measures:** Locks all the data input measures in the report. * **Selected Measures:** Choose the measures that should be locked for editing. Select the measures from the **Choose Measures** dropdown. * **All Visual Columns:** Locks all the data input columns in the report. * **Selected Visual Columns:** Choose the data input columns that should be locked. Select the columns from the **Choose Measures** dropdown.

#### 2. Choose Measures Select specific data input measures or columns that should be made read-only fields.

Only the ESG fund visual column is locked

#### 3. Target rows In typical business reporting, it’s often necessary to apply data input rules to specific row categories. The rule can be applied to all the rows, or you also have the flexibility to select specific row categories that should be made read-only. Select the **All Rows** radio button to lock the entire field.

By default, all row categories are locked

To lock specific row categories, select the **Custom** radio button and click **Configure.** Select the categories to lock in the **Configure Custom Row Filter** window**.**

You can also use the **Filter** option to apply conditions based on which rows will be locked for editing.

#### 2.4. Target columns * **Apply rules to specific columns** Data validation rules are applied to all columns by default. However, an actual business report may require that rules be applied only to certain columns. For example, locking rules need to be enabled on columns that are audited or approved. Select the **Custom** option and click on **Configure** to select the column dimension categories to lock. Based on our selection, the Interest field is locked for the APAC and East regions, but the Central region is open for editing.

Select column dimension catgories to lock

* **Apply rules for a specific time period** When you have a date dimension in your columns, you can choose to apply rules for a defined time range. For example, in a planning use case, approved historical budgets will be locked for editing; however, budgets for future time periods will be editable. In this example, we've locked the budget for the previous year (2024) and the first quarter of the current year (Q1 2025). Users can edit the budget for the rest of 2025.

Data input fields are locked for the defined time range

#### 2.5. Apply to children Apply rules automatically to child rows when the parent row is selected. {% hint style="info" %} This option should be used with the Custom option, where specific row categories are selected for locking. {% endhint %} To demonstrate this for row hierarchies, we've selected the 'Discounts' and 'Sales Allowances' categories and selected the **Custom** option in the **Target Rows** section.

Row category selection for locking rules

Notice how all the child categories under the Discounts hierarchy level are locked, although we only selected the 'Sales Allowances' and 'Discounts' rows.

Lock all child categories when the parent row is selected for locking

Similarly, for a date hierarchy in the columns, we've selected Qtr 1 2026 and February 2026 in the column selection window.

Only Q1 and February are selected for locking

The entire forecast for Qtr 1, including January and March, is closed as the **Apply to children** option is selected.

Forecasts are closed for months as well when the quarter is selected

### Managing data input rules You can define multiple rules within the same Inforiver report and manage them by navigating to Data Input > Input Rules > Manage Rules. You can also edit the configuration of the rules that you created. When you hover over a rule, you'll see options to *

Edit rules * ![](/files/RWRi9lHgJBUoRF5nuSlo) Copy rules * ![](/files/ELBJxRnLo72UNRpHTpuh) Delete rules * ![](/files/OeCc0r512tUTXiKEvwim)Enable/disable rules

# Locking rule Set up rules to regulate editing values and lock targeted rows and columns in your reports. ### Why do we need to lock data in reports? {% hint style="success" %} In shared or collaborative environments, we need to lock certain fields for editing to maintain data integrity. This feature is essential in preventing accidental edits to critical values. In live financial reporting environments, editing should be disabled on FX rates from source systems, approved budget values, or audited financial results. {% endhint %} In this section, we'll look at how to configure locking rules. ### 1. Step-by-step guide to setting up field locking rules **STEP 1:** Navigate to the Insert ribbon > Data Input > Input Rules section and select the type of rule to set up. You can select locking, distribution, or min/max rule types.

**STEP 2:** Let's select **Locking Rule** for demonstration purposes. In the Add Rule side pane, we'll change the title to Lock Tax. In the **Apply to** dropdown, let's choose the **Selected Measures** option.

Assign a title and choose the **Selected Measures** option from the **Apply to** drodown.

**STEP 3**: Let's select Tax from the **Choose Measures** dropdown.

Select the Tax measure from the choose measures dropdown

We'll keep the default settings for the other options and click **Create**. Notice how all the Tax measures are locked for editing.

### 2. Configuration options for locking rules Basic configurations are covered in the [Data validation rules](/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae/data-validation-rules) section. The options specific to locking rules are covered in this section. #### **2.1. Lock open forecast periods** If you've created a forecast in Inforiver, future time ranges will be open for editing, and forecasts for closed periods or past dates cannot be edited. [Learn more about forecasting](/working-with-inforiver/7.-planning-budgeting-and-forecasting/forecasting-writeback-matrix). In this use case, we've created a forecast for 2026. When the forecast is created, edits are automatically disabled on the forecast measure until 2025 - which is the closed period.

Select the **Open Period** option to disable editing on open forecasts or future time frames as well. Notice how the 2026 forecast columns are greyed out and cannot be modified.

# Min/max rule Set up min/max rules in your Inforiver Power BI reports to reflect financial constraints such as budget caps, approved ranges, or regulatory thresholds. ### Why do we need min/max rules in reports? {% hint style="success" %} Min/max rules can prevent entries such as percentages above 100, or budgets that fall outside the specified business range. Catching out-of-range values reduces corrections and rework down the line. Outliers caused by data entry errors can skew trends and KPIs - min/max rules help avoid false alarms. {% endhint %} In this section, we'll look at how to configure min/max rules. Inforiver Writeback Matrix supports 3 types of rules: * **Static values**: Enter the minimum and maximum values that can be entered. * **Measure-based:** The range is calculated based on the minimum and maximum values in the selected measure. * **Variable-driven:** Min/max values can be controlled by variables.

### Step-by-step guide to setting up min/max rules #### 1. Min/max rules with static values In this example, the interest and rebate rates are percentages. We'll look at how to enforce a numeric range rule for these fields. **STEP 1:** Choose the **Selected Measures** from the **Apply to** dropdown and select the Interest Rate and Rebate Rate options from the **Choose Measures** dropdown. **STEP 2:** Select the **Static** option from the **Minimum Value** and **Maximum Value** section.

Apply the rule to selected measures and choose the static option

**STEP 3:** Enter the values that will define the upper and lower bounds of the acceptable range. We have set the lower limit to 1.25 and the upper limit to 18.95.

**STEP 4:** Select the **Custom** option and select the target rows and columns the rules should be applied to. We've selected only the child rows and excluded the total and grand total rows and columns.

Apply rules to specific rows and columns

Notice how values outside the defined range are not accepted.

Inforiver throws an error when values outside the defined range are entered

#### 2. Min/max rules with variables Another option is to control the minimum and maximum values with variables. **STEP 1:** Define numeric variables to control the minimum and maximum limits.

Define variables to control minimum and maximum values

**STEP 2:** Select **Variable** and choose the variables defined in STEP 1 in the **Minimum Value/Maximum Value** section.

Select the pre-defined variables that will be used to control the value range

**STEP 3:** In the **Target Rows** section, let's select Custom and choose the child categories. The range rules will apply only to the selected child rows. This step is optional and depends on specific requirements.

With variables, the upper and lower limits can be controlled dynamically, as shown in the animation.

Use variables to control min and max values

### Configuration options for min/max rules Basic configurations are covered in the [Data validation rules](/working-with-inforiver/4.-adding-business-logic-and-formulae/data-validation-rules) section. The options specific to mix/max rules are covered in this section. #### 2.1. Set exclusive Use **Set Exclusive** to exclude boundary values, ensuring the minimum is greater than and the maximum is less than the specified limits - for example, when the minimum value must be greater than (but not equal to) the lower limit, and the maximum value must be less than (but not equal to) the upper limit. In the animation, notice how the visual does not accept 1.25 although it is the lower bound. This is because the Set Exclusive option has been enabled.

Error when entering the lower bound value when set exclusive is enabled

#### 2.2. Mimimum/Maximum value In the first section, we used static values to set the upper and lower limits. You can also use measures from your report as the min/max values. # Distribution rules Set up rules to allocate metrics like budgets, headcounts, or marketing spends in your Power BI reports with Inforiver. ### Why are distribution rules important in reports? {% hint style="success" %} Distribution rules determine how totals are split between regions, time periods, departments, or products. When distribution rules are defined: * The same logic is applied every time, ensuring consistency * Different reports reconcile to the same totals * Resources are utlized optimally {% endhint %} ### Step-by-step guide to allocating values #### 1. Equally allocate Let's create a rule to allocate budgets equally across all product lines and quarters. **STEP 1:** Select **Equally** as the **Distribution Method**.

**STEP 2:** Enter the budget in the grand total cell. Notice how the budget is allocated equally across row and column dimension categories.

The values entered are allocated equally across the report

#### 2. Allocating values by weighted measures Let's consider a real-world example where we need to allocate discounts based on sales. The higher the sales, the higher the discounts should be. **STEP 1:** Select **By Weight** as the **Distribution Method**. **STEP 2:** Select the measure to drive the weights. In this case, sales.

**STEP 3:** Select the column dimension to drive the weights. For demonstration purposes, we'll choose **Single Column** and select the Qtr1 > January option. Click Create.

**STEP 4:** Let's enable the column subtotals and enter a value of 48k as the discount. You'll see that Inforiver automatically distributes the 48k based on the January Sales, i.e., the product categories with higher sales get higher discounts and vice versa.

Data input value is ditributed based on the configured dimension and measure

### Configuration options for allocating data #### 1. Column range In the example we looked at earlier, we distributed the discounts based on a single dimension value - the sales in January. We can also distribute based on a range of column dimensions. Let's allocate discounts based on the sales in Q2. Select **Column Range** and 'Q2' in the **Weights from Column** section.

Allocating values based on a column range

The discounts are allocated based on the sales for quarter 2, as shown in the image.

Values are allocated based on a range of columns

#### 2. Disable other distribution options You can configure distribution from the context menu as well. These will override any distribution rules that have been set up.

Distributing values from the context menu

To give precedence to distribution rules, select the **Disable other distribution options** checkbox**.** The allocation options will be removed from the context menu.

Disabling distribution from the context menu

# 5. Conditional formatting Conditional formatting in dashboards and reports is key to guiding users’ attention to specific performance areas. Compared to charts, tabular reports have higher information density, which makes conditional formatting a lot more useful. {% embed url="" %} Conditional formatting - Overview {% endembed %} Conditional formatting can be used to highlight or emphasize specific records using color, icons, data bars, and other visual elements. In this section, we'll explore how to apply conditional formatting and manage conditional formatting rules.


Configuring rules for Reporting Matrix	/files/lyatvK3w0gCjdn0cvk0X	/pages/lcEghABCpCrKe4f4J6bu
Configuring rules for Writeback Matrix	/files/7upxcp6lX8iXpOnSnZHO	/pages/RrSuohFTHUDAvi62v01H

#### Resources [5 ways to supercharge your Power BI Conditional Formatting](https://inforiver.com/blog/general/supercharge-power-bi-conditional-formatting/) # One-click options With Inforiver Reporting and Writeback Matrix, you can perform various conditional formatting actions in a single click. Options include semantic formatting, color scales, segmentation, icons, ratings, data bars, and many more. A major benefit of the one-click setting is that you do not need to create rules from scratch. After you create a quick rule, you will be able to customize it if required. {% hint style="info" %} The images in this section are from the Inforiver Reporting Matrix. While the toolbar and options may differ from those in the Writeback Matrix, the conditional formatting functionality remains the same. {% endhint %} ### 1. Quick rule Quick rules allow you to highlight positive and negative values in the visual in a single click. Under the Quick Rule section, there are two options - Positive and Negative.

Positive and Negative options in Quick Rules

{% hint style="info" %} The one-click conditional formatting options are enabled only if a cell/column is selected. {% endhint %} **STEP 1:** Select a column. You can highlight values greater than or equal to zero in green by clicking on the 'Positive' option.

Positive values in the selected measure/cell are highlighted in green

**STEP 2:** Similarly, you can highlight values less than or equal to zero in red by clicking the 'Negative' option.

Positive values in the selected measure/cell are highlighted in red

If you have used inline charts to visualize your data, the conditional formatting quick rules will automatically be applied to the chart. In this example, we have used both positive and negative quick rules to highlight the bars in red or green.

### 2. Color scales Color scales in tabular reports are used to visually enhance data comprehension by applying gradient colors based on value magnitude. A wide variety of color scales, such as sequential, qualitative, diverging, continuous, and continuous-diverging, can be applied in a single click. **STEP 1:** Select any column or cell and click on Conditional Formatting > Color Scales. Click to apply any of the color scales. Hover over a particular color scale to see a preview of how it will look in your report.

Color scale option in conditional formatting

**STEP 2:** A sample heatmap using the sequential color scale is shown below. Notice that the font colors are automatically adjusted to be in contrast with their backgrounds for enhanced readability.

To learn more about customizing color scales, visit [this section](/working-with-inforiver/5.-conditional-formatting/create-rule-writeback-matrix/color-scale-and-data-bars). ### 3. Classification You can apply conditional formatting based on icons/ratings and even deliver ABC segmentations in a single click. When you click on **Classification**, you can see the following options.

Let's look at examples for the three categories - Text, Icon set, and Rating. **3.1.** **Text**: Text-based classification is commonly used to categorize performance. A sample report with ABC classification is shown.

**3.2.** **Icons**: You can deliver conditional formatting using icons in a few clicks. Here is an example where items that contribute the most to sales are highlighted.

**3.3.** **Ratings**: You can use ratings such as the star-based ratings commonly seen in e-commerce sites in the product feedback section.

To learn more about customizing classifications, visit [this section](/working-with-inforiver/5.-conditional-formatting/create-rule-writeback-matrix/classification). ### 4. Data bars Data bars can be used to insert colored bars inside a cell to show how a given cell value compares to others. **STEP 1:** Click the Data Bars option and select the bar color.

Data bars option in conditional formatting

**STEP 2:** Data bars get added as shown in the image, making it easy to spot the highest and lowest values at a glance.

To learn more about customizing data bars, visit [this section](https://docs.inforiver.com/working-with-inforiver/5.-conditional-formatting/pages/aehHbPQXfo9krzBUmt8O#2.-data-bars). ### 5. Action Analysis #### 5.1. Action dot Action dots represent the degree to which the cell values deviate from the desired range/value in the measure. Adding them to the cells helps you assess how the quantities compare to the middle value or any desired value in the measure. **STEP 1:** Select any measure to which you want to add them. Click **Conditional Formatting -> Action Analysis -> Action Dot.**

Action dot option in conditional formatting

**STEP 2:** By default, Inforiver provides custom color ranges based on values or percentages. The sample report has action dots applied to the *Sales* measure.

The color scale indicates a positive or negative deviation, and the number of dots represents the magnitude of the difference, with which you can focus on the values that diverge the most. #### 5.2. Action Color Action colors are a variation of action dots in which the degree of divergence of cell values from the target value is expressed by color gradients. The color scale denotes a positive or negative deviation, while the gradient intensity indicates the magnitude of the deviation. **STEP 1:** Select any measure to which you want to add them. Click **Conditional Formatting -> Action Analysis -> Action Color.**

**STEP 2:** By default, Inforiver provides custom color ranges based on values or percentages. The sample report has action colors applied to the *Sales* measure.

The conditional formatting side panel provides options to customize the action dots and action colors. The options are similar to the color scale, data bars, and classification, which are explained [here](/working-with-inforiver/5.-conditional-formatting/create-rule-writeback-matrix/color-scale-and-data-bars#c-custom-color-scale) and [here](/working-with-inforiver/5.-conditional-formatting/create-rule-writeback-matrix/classification#classification-ranges). The **middle percentage** option is used to set the desired median percentage value from which the spread is calculated. #### 5.3. Bubble charts You can use bubble charts to gauge the magnitude of a measure instantly and for quick comparative analysis.

The bubble size can be determined by comparing values in the same column or within the same row. You can also use a different measure to determine the size of the bubble.

#### 5.4. Bubble only Choose the Bubble Only option if you need to render the bubble charts without displaying measure values.

# Create rule (Writeback Matrix) You can build your own conditional formatting rules from scratch or customize the rules created using the one-click options if your report requires it. In this section, we'll cover some of the basic settings related to conditional formatting. **STEP 1:** To create a new rule, select Conditional Formatting -> Create Rule from the Home ribbon. The conditional formatting side pane opens as shown.

**STEP 2:** The rule can be renamed to a more relevant name by editing the **Title** field. **STEP 3:** You can apply conditional formatting to the **row headers, rows, column headers,** or **columns/measures**. Choose the desired option in the **Apply to** field. For example, if you opt to apply conditional formatting for row headers, you will be able to select the row dimensions that will be impacted by conditional formatting.

**STEP 4:** You can apply conditional formatting to values and totals, totals only, or values only. By default, 'Values only' will be selected. Customize as required using the 'Row hierarchy levels' field.

**STEP 5:** There are a number of formats that you can use to create rules. You can select the desired format using the ‘Format by’ field. The available options are Rules (If Conditions), Color Scale, Classification, and Ranking.

In the next section, we'll be covering [Rules (If conditions)](/working-with-inforiver/5.-conditional-formatting/create-rule-writeback-matrix/rules-if-conditions). # Rules (If conditions) You can apply conditional formatting using font color, style, icons, or background based on one or more IF conditions. Refer to the [Create Rule](/working-with-inforiver/5.-conditional-formatting/create-rule-writeback-matrix) section to get started. Once the rule is created and you can see the Conditional Formatting side panel, follow the below steps. **STEP 1:** Choose 'Rules (If conditions)' in the **Format by** dropdown. You can see two sections - Style and Conditions.

**STEP 2:** Using the **Style** section, you can format text based on color/style, apply a background color, or select icons. **STEP 3:** In the 'Conditions' section, you can define conditions using options such as Number, Data selection, Values, Formula, and User Selection.

**STEP 4:** When you have inline charts in your reports, conditional formatting rules can be applied to the chart labels or the chart itself. Select the desired option(s) from the **Impact on** list**.** Notice how the bars for subcategories with sales > 20k are highlighted in blue.

Let's look at examples for each of these options. ## Style * **Font style: bold, italic, underline** Set the font style based on conditional formatting rules. Notice how we've applied Bold, Italics, and Underlined the values that satisfy the condition. Click on the

icon to apply a color for the underline.

* **Cell background** Highlight the cells that match a conditional formatting rule by applying a background color.

* **Font color** Apply a custom font color when a conditional formatting rule is met.

* **Cell borders** Highlight cells that satisfy the conditional formatting rule by setting a custom border. You can choose the border color by clicking the

icon.

* **Adding icons or text** Display icons to apply conditional formatting on your data. You can also use custom icons by clicking the Upload Icon link.

You can position the text/icons with respect to the cell values. You can also choose to display only the icons or text and hide the cell values.

When you use icons, you have an additional option to align your icons in the grid. By default, the icons are left aligned.

* **Hiding values** Business reporting may require withholding certain information to protect strategic interests. You can use conditional formatting rules to mask values based on specific criteria.

* **Hatched fill pattern** Highlight your data with hatched cell backgrounds – this feature allows you to spotlight your data with hatched styling.

## Conditions ### 1. Number In this example, we are highlighting the subcategories where 2021 Actuals are greater than 10 million. Note that we have selected 'Bold' and selected 'Green' as the font color. The numbers field supports scaled entries such as 10m. Click 'Apply' once the changes are done.

Conditional formatting based on a numeric input

### 2. Data selection You can also use a cell value in the condition. 2.1. Select 'Data selection', click on the 'Set value' field and select a cell in the report.

Applying background color to values and totals

Note: * In this example, we have used 'Values and Totals' as the 'Row hierarchy levels'. You can see a new field where you can choose whether conditional formatting needs to be applied to the row grand total or not. * We are also using a background color for the formatting. 2.2. Click on the 'select value from' field and click on a cell in the report. The value gets populated automatically. Click 'Apply'.

2.3. The formatting is applied to all the hierarchy levels where 2021 Actuals are greater than the selected value.

Conditional formatting based on data selection

### 3. Value You can apply conditional formatting based on another measure in the visual. Let's highlight 2021 Actuals when it is greater than the 2021 Plan. {% hint style="info" %} Measures that were added from the data source, auto-calculated variances, columns/measures created using calculations, data input and simulations can all be used in the IF condition. {% endhint %} 3.1. Click on the highlighted dropdown and select 2021 Plan. Click 'Apply'.

3.2. Note that conditional formatting is applied only to the totals - Categories, Regions, and Subregions since we have chosen 'Row hierarchy levels' as 'Totals' and included 'Row grand total'.

Conditional formatting when 2021 Actuals > 2021 Plan

### 4. Formula You can create simple formulas using either numeric values or measures. Let's highlight the records where 2021 Actuals are greater than the 2021 Plan by at least 5m. Configure as shown in the below image and click 'Apply'.

Tea & coffee in the East subregion is the only record that matches the given condition.

The '**Add condition**' option lets you create nested AND/OR conditions. Let's consider another example where the conditions are Q4 2021 Actuals greater than 10m, the Category is Beverages and the Sub-regions are Pacific and East. **STEP 1:** Configure the settings as shown below for the first condition. Click on 'Add condition'.

**STEP 2:** You can see another condition with default selections and an option to select AND/OR. Let's select 'AND' and 'Category' from the highlighted dropdown.

**STEP 3:** You can see several options as shown in the below image. Let's go with the default option.

**STEP 4:** In the 'Choose members' dropdown, select 'Beverages'.

**STEP 5:** Let's now add the third condition. Click on 'Add condition'. In the highlighted dropdown (2021 Plan), select 'Sub Region'.

**STEP 6:** Select Pacific and East in the dropdown as shown below. Click 'Apply'.

**STEP 7:** You can see that the rows for Juices and Soda for East and Pacific are highlighted based on the three conditions.

Conditional formatting based on nested conditions

### 5. User selection You can apply conditional formatting based on a selection during runtime ie. in the reading view. Let's consider a case where we want conditional formatting to be applied to 2021 Actuals based on a Variance value selected during runtime. **STEP 1:** Configure as shown in the below image. Note that 2021 Actuals is set in the 'Apply to' field and 'Variance' in the IF condition. Click on the dropdown and select 'Variance'.

Conditional formatting based on user selection

**STEP 2:** Let's also add an icon. Click on the 'Icon' checkbox. There are several customization options.

**STEP 3:** Click on the icon dropdown and choose the flag icon.

**STEP 4:** Change the flag color to green and the font color to black. Click 'Apply'.

**STEP 5:** Click on a value in any of the variance columns. You can see flag icons in the 2021 Actuals column where the variance is greater than the selected variance.

### 6. Dates With Inforiver, you can compare date dimensions in rows and columns and automatically format cells based on the comparison. Let's add date dimensions in the row and column parameters. To compare two date dimensions, select the **Compare Date** option. In the example below, we used conditional formatting to highlight the cells where the order date exceeds the ship date.

In the example above, we compared each ship date against each order date and highlighted the cells with the order date greater than the ship date. Instead of comparing each cell, you can also compare a date dimension with the minimum or maximum value of another date dimension. To demonstrate this, let's highlight the cells with the order date greater than the minimum ship date.

Highlight cells with order date greater than minimum of ship date

You can compare date dimensions against static dates using the Selected Date option and specify the date to be compared against.

### 7. Conditional formatting for data input fields Highlight your data input fields like number, dropdown, and person columns with conditional formatting. When users enter values, you can specify rules to automatically apply formatting when the rules are satisfied e.g. spotlight the cells when the budget entered exceeds a certain limit.

### 8. Rules for non-numeric measures You can apply conditional formatting to non-numeric measures using conditions like **is blank/is not blank/contains/does not contain,** etc. In this example, we've set a hatched background for the cells with blank customer names.

In the next section, we'll be covering [Color scale](/working-with-inforiver/5.-conditional-formatting/create-rule-writeback-matrix/color-scale-and-data-bars). # Color scale & data bars Another commonly used type of conditional formatting is the 'color scale,' which applies a gradient fill to a range of cells based on their values. This is a useful way to quickly visualize and compare values in a table. Color scale can be applied for the background, font color or data bars. It can also be applied row-wise, column-wise, or table-wise. Refer to [create rule](/working-with-inforiver/5.-conditional-formatting/create-rule-writeback-matrix) to get started. Once the rule is created and you can see the 'Conditional formatting' side panel, follow the below steps. Choose 'Color scale' in the 'Format by' dropdown. There are several options enabled as shown in the below image.

## 1. Font/Background Let's go with the default. Click 'Apply'.

### i. Based on a) Let's now apply formatting for 2021 Actuals based on the absolute variance between AC and PL. Select '2021 Actuals - 2021 Plan' from the 'Based on' dropdown. Click 'Apply'.

Conditional formatting based on a different measure

b) Let's hide the 2021 Plan column and show the variance column. Click on 'Manage columns' and check/uncheck the checkboxes as highlighted.

Enabling the 2021 Actuals - 2021 Plan column

c) You can see that the color scale has been updated to highlight values based on the variance. For eg., even though East -> Tea & coffee is 3.75m, the formatting is dark blue because of the high variance of +3.99m.

Conditional formatting for 2021 Actuals based on absolute variance AC vs PL

### ii. Color scale for a) Let's now apply color scale for font. Select 'Font' in the 'Color scale for' dropdown. Click 'Apply'.

b) You can see that the font for 2021 Actuals is formatted sequentially based on the variance.

c) Let's revert back to background formatting based on 2021 Actuals. Data bars are covered in the [next section](#2.-data-bars).

### iii. Heat map type a) Notice that the formatting is applied column-wise. That is the maximum and minimum values in a column are formatted using the darkest and lightest gradients.

b) Also, notice the value of East -> Soda across quarters. The highlighted values are around 15m, but for Q4 it is a darker gradient compared to the first two quarters. This is because of the column-wise formatting.

c) Let's now apply row-wise formatting. Select 'Row wise' in the 'Heat map type' dropdown and click 'Apply'. You can see that the maximum and minimum values in a row are formatted using the darkest and lightest gradients.

d) Also, notice the highlighted values in Q1. East -> Mineral water(16m) is greater than Pacific -> Soda (10m) but is formatted using a lighter gradient. And East -> Juices and Pacific -> Soda are formatted using the same gradient even though there is a huge difference. This is because of the row-wise formatting.

e) The below image shows table-wise formatting. Notice that similar values are formatted using the same gradient throughout the table.

### iv. Color scale type There are a number of types such as Sequential, Diverging, Qualitative, Continuous, etc. You can click on the 'Color scale type' dropdown to see the entire list. a) Let's apply a 'Diverging' color scale. Select from the dropdown and click 'Apply'.

b) You can see that the backgrounds are formatted using the Diverging scale.

c) Below is an example where the Continuous-Range scale is used.

### v. Colors #### a) Color scheme For color scale of types Sequential, Diverging, Diverging-color safe, Qualitative and Qualitative-color safe, there are several default color schemes to choose from. You can click on the 'Color scheme' dropdown and choose the desired color scheme.

#### b) Min/max/center For color scale of types Continuous-Range, Continuous-Diverging Range, Continuous and Continuous-Diverging, you can define the min/max colors and center color if applicable.

#### c) Custom color scale The 'Custom' color scale type can be used to define custom color ranges based on value or percentage. On selecting the custom option, you can see the fields highlighted in the below image. You can define the values/percentages for the ranges, add or delete ranges, define colors and reverse the order. Changes can also be reset to default.

#### d) Reverse color Color scale can be reversed for cases where the minimum and maximum values need to be denoted with the highest and lowest gradients. To achieve this, check the 'Reverse color' checkbox.

#### e) Number of bands By default, the number of bands is defined as 5. But it can be increased or decreased using the 'Number of bands' field. The color scheme field also gets updated to show the gradients.

#### f) **Hide value** You can choose to show only the color scale and hide the values. To do this, check the 'Hide value' checkbox.

#### g) **Auto font color** When you apply background conditional formatting in Inforiver, the font colors are automatically adjusted to be in contrast with their backgrounds to enhance readability. But it can be turned off if not required by unchecking the 'Auto font color' checkbox.

#### h) **Include null** In cases where there are null values in your table, you can choose whether to include or exclude them from conditional formatting. In the below image, the 2022 Forecast for Pacific is empty. To show conditional formatting for Pacific as well, check the 'Include null' checkbox.

## 2. Data bars In the previous section, we covered color scales for fonts and backgrounds. In this section, we'll look at data bars. Note that you can either create a new rule as shown here or edit the data bars inserted using the one-click option explained [here](https://docs.inforiver.com/working-with-inforiver/5.-conditional-formatting/create-rule-writeback-matrix/pages/tjKfMJrlcOLHSBjQjxoW#4.-data-bars). a) Select 'Data bars' in the 'Color scale for' dropdown.

b) In the side panel, you can see the customization options available.

c) Let's go with the default settings. Click 'Apply'. The data bar gets added as shown in the below image.

d) Let's now look at each of the customization options. Check the 'Hide value' checkbox and click 'Apply'. You can now see only the data bars and the values are hidden.

e) By default, the data bars are applied to all the values (values and totals if selected in the row hierarchy levels). If you only want to use data bars for a particular range of values, you can enter a minimum and maximum value as shown in the below image. Data bars are enabled only for values between 8m and 20m in this case.

f) Data bars can be aligned left or right using the 'Alignment' field. Right alignment is shown in this example.

g) Note that when there are positive and negative values in the column for which you want to use data bars, the options differ as shown in the below image. You can choose to hide the values and select colors for positive and negative values.

Data bars for positive and negative values

In the next section, we'll take a look at [Classification](/working-with-inforiver/5.-conditional-formatting/create-rule-writeback-matrix/classification). # Classification Inforiver provides data classification based on text, icons and ratings. Refer to [create rule](/working-with-inforiver/5.-conditional-formatting/create-rule-writeback-matrix) to get started. Once the rule is created and you can see the **Conditional Formatting** side panel, follow the below steps. Choose 'Classification' in the 'Format by' dropdown. There are several options enabled as shown in the below image.

Conditional formatting based on classification

Click on the 'Display' dropdown. You can see the three types of classifications already mentioned. Let's look at them one by one.

### 1. Text Many times, it may become essential to categorize performance. A common technique used by enterprises to categorize inventory, vendors or materials is [ABC analysis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ABC_analysis). Inforiver delivers this capability right out of the box. 1.1. Select 'ABC' from the **Display** dropdown. Let's go with the default settings. Click Apply.

1.2. The rows are classified and the text is displayed on the left of the data.

1.3. You can also have the classifications appear in a separate column if required. Check the **Show as new column** checkbox.

1.4. When there are charts in the column where classification is to be applied, check the **Apply to charts** checkbox. In the below image, 2021 Actuals are visualized using bar charts, and the colors defined for the ABC ranges are used for formatting.

1.5. you can choose to enable a background for the text. The **Enable background** option is only available for text classification, not icons or ratings.

1.6. You can also choose to display only the classification text by selecting *Only Text* from the **Text position** dropdown.

1.7. When you choose the *Only Text* option, you can choose to apply the color to the font, background, or both.

1.8. You can display the percentage contribution to the left or right of the text using the **Percentage text** dropdown.

1.9. You can define custom ranges as shown below. Click the **Add Range** button to create an additional range of values.

1.10. Ranges can also be defined using numeric values. Click on the 'Value' option. The values get populated automatically based on the defined percentages, but they can be further edited.

1.11. You can delete specific ranges or reset all changes using the icons highlighted in the below image.

### 2. Icon set Icon-based formatting provides the same properties as text-based formatting. Refer to [Text](#1.-text) for more details. We'll only at a simple example for icon sets. In the 'Display' dropdown, choose the 'Five arrows' option. Click 'Apply'. Note that we have applied formatting to 2021 Actuals based on 2021 Actuals - 2021 Plan. Hence, we can see which categories have done worse/better than the plan.

### 3. Rating You can also use star-based ratings as seen in e-commerce sites in the product feedback section. a) Select the '3 stars' option from the 'Display' dropdown and click 'Apply'.

b) You can see the 1-5 rating icons on the left of the data. By default, the number of ranges has been set to 5.

c) You can move the ratings to a separate column by clicking on the 'Show as new column' checkbox.

#### **Invert rating** d) Check the 'Invert rating' checkbox in cases where higher values need to show lower ratings.

e) As seen in text and icon-based formatting, you can choose only to display the classification or change the position. In the below example, we have chosen the 'Only rating' option.

#### **Number of range**s f) You can customize the number of icons that appear in your scale – 'Number of ranges' has been set to 3 in this case.

g) The rating text can be shown on the left or right. Select the position and color as shown below.

#### **Enable custom** h) In Inforiver, you have the option to configure value ranges for each of the ratings. Click on the 'Enable custom' checkbox. For every half rating, you'll be able to define percentage/value ranges in the 'From' and 'To' fields as shown in the below image.

i) To reverse the order of colors and reset all changes to the ranges, click on the highlighted icons.

In the next section, let's look at [Ranking](/working-with-inforiver/5.-conditional-formatting/create-rule-writeback-matrix/ranking). # Ranking One common use of conditional formatting is to highlight the top/bottom N ranked items in a report, which can help to quickly identify the most important or relevant items in the data. Refer to [create rule](/working-with-inforiver/5.-conditional-formatting/create-rule-writeback-matrix) to get started. Once the rule is created and you can see the 'Conditional formatting' side panel, follow the below steps. Choose 'Ranking' in the 'Format by' dropdown. You can see the options shown in the below image. Using the 'Style' section, you can format text based on color/style, apply a background color or select icons.

Conditional formatting based on Top N ranking

a) Let's apply icon-based formatting to the Top 3 subcategories based on Q4 2021 Actuals. Update the highlighted properties as shown below and click 'Apply'.

b) The top 3 categories based on Q4 2021 Actuals show an icon on the left as shown below.

Conditional formatting applied based on Top N ranking

c) You can also apply ranking based on percentages. In the below image, the bottom 50% of subcategories based on Q4 2021 Actuals are highlighted in red.

Conditional formatting for bottom 50% of subcategories

d) You can apply conditional formatting for the top and bottom items using the 'Both' option. In the below image, conditional formatting has been applied for the top and bottom subcategories.

Conditional formatting for top and bottom subcategories

e) Let's create one more rule for highlighting the top 2 subregions. Create a new rule and configure it as shown below. Click 'Apply'.

Applying CF for subregions based on Ranking

f) Conditional formatting doesn't get applied. This is because the subregion level is a total level but we have defined 'Row hierarchy levels' as 'Values only'.

g) Change the 'Row hierarchy levels' to 'Values and totals' and click 'Apply'. You can see East and Pacific are highlighted.

In the next section, we'll be looking at [managing rules](/working-with-inforiver/5.-conditional-formatting/manage-rules). # Field value You can assign fields from your dataset and apply conditional formatting based on the specified color. Let's consider a Benchmark dataset - each benchmark is represented by a designated color which is part of the source data.

Let's look at how to setup conditional formatting based on a field from your data source. Assign the text column containing the color scheme to the Writeback Matrix visual. You'll see a **Field value** option in the **Format by** dropdown. Select the text field that will be used to assign colors from the **Based on** dropdown.

**Format font color** The font color for the Actuals measure is changed based on the Benchmark indentifier text field. To apply conditioinal formatting on the font color, select the **Font** option from the **Color for** dropdown.

**Format background color** To change the cell background color select **Background** from the **Color for** dropdown.

Applying a background color based on a source field

**Using Auto font color** When the **Auto font color** option is checked, Inforiver assigns a font color which will have maximum visibility against the backgroun color. Uncheck this option to assign a custom font color from the **Format** menu.

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