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.

Dropdowns - overview

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.

If you are using Inforiver Writeback Matrix, you need to sign in to start inserting a dropdown column.

Some of the properties, such as Insert as Visual measure/column and Allow input are covered in earlier sections.

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.

Creating a list of values

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.

New list created 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.

Using a preset list of values

The list of values that gets created is shown below.

List of values from presets

1.3. Text columns(For Inforiver Writeback Matrix only)

Inforiver allows you to source dropdown values from text data input columns 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.

Select text column from another visual

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.

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.

Localization settings

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.

Manage inserted data input column

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

Editing properties

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.

Editing the names

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.

Add an option

Enter the name

Option created

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.

Changing the color

To reorder or delete options, use the highlighted icons.

Reordering or deleting options

2.4. Icon position

This option allows you to hide or display the icon in the options to the left or right of data.

Icon position in the options

3. Options Style

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

Options Style

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 while using the dropdown, without the need to open the side panel for adding options.

Allow user to add new option

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.

Disabling input in total/subtotal rows

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

Entry disabled in total/subtotal rows

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.

Static default value

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.

Default values from a dimension

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.

Default options from a measure

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.

Selecting from the dropdown

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’.

Available options in the LOV

To add a new value of ‘Rejected’, type the new value in the search bar and click on the Create button.

To allow users to input custom options, the Allow user to add new option should be enabled in the Single-Select/Multi-Select configuration.

Adding a new value to a LOV

The new value gets added to the list.

New value added to the LOV

In the next section, we'll cover other data input types such as text, checkbox, and date.