Perform dashboard filtering using dashboard parameters in Combo Box

Published:

In Bold BI, dashboard filtering can be effectively achieved using dashboard parameters in the Combo Box widget. This allows users to filter data based on selections made from another widget, enhancing the interactivity and usability of the dashboard.

Consider a scenario where you want to filter the dashboard using the value from another data source. For example, Order Details and Shipping Details. A dashboard is designed with order details, and you want to filter the dashboard based on the Countries from the shipping details data set. Then you can create a data source for Shipping Details and configure the shipping country field with the dashboard parameter, bind the dashboard parameter in a combo box, and you can filter the dashboard with the combo box selection using data filters, code view, and URL parameters.

Using Data Filters

Create Data Source:
- Create a data source and dashboard parameters in “list mode”.
- Note: Do not enable the “set first value” checkbox while creating the dashboard parameter.

Create Another Data Source:
- Create a second data source that utilizes the previously created dashboard parameter.
Configure Data Filter:
- Open the data filter configuration.
- Choose the respective column and the dashboard parameter for the filtering process.

Save both the data filter and the data source.

Configure Combo Box:
- Configure the dashboard parameter in the Combo Box widget.
- Configure any other widget with the data filter configured data source.
Test the Filtering:
- Change the values in the Combo Box. The dashboard will be filtered based on the selection made in the Combo Box.

Using Code mode

Create Data Source:
- Similar to the first method, create a data source and list the dashboard parameters in “list mode”.
- Note: Do not enable the “set first value” checkbox.

Create Another Data Source:
- Create a second data source that uses the previously created dashboard parameter.
Switch to Code View:
- Switch to code view mode for the second data source.
- At the end of the custom SQL code, add a WHERE condition with the dashboard parameter:
```
WHERE <Filtering column> in (<Dashboard parameter>)
```

Execute the custom query and save the data source.

Configure Combo Box:
- Configure the dashboard parameter in the Combo Box widget.
- Configure any other widget with the code view mode data source.
Test the Filtering:
- Change the values in the Combo Box. The dashboard will be filtered based on the selection made in the Combo Box.

Using URL Parameters

Create Data Source:
- Create a data source and dashboard parameters in “List mode”.
Note: Enable the “set first value” checkbox while creating the dashboard parameter, as this will be passed through the URL. If the REST API supports passing multiple values in the parameter, then we can disable it for multi-select.

Create Another Data Source:
- Create a second data source that uses the previously created dashboard parameter in the URL and make sure it is a Live mode connection. For Extract mode the URL will only be triggered during a data refresh. For example:
```
https://northwind.netcore.io/query/orders.json?shipCountry=@{{:PeopleApi.Country}}
```
Save the Data Source:
- Save the data source.
Configure Combo Box:
- Configure the dashboard parameter in the Combo Box widget.
- Configure any other widget with the dashboard parameter configured data source.
Test the Filtering:
- Change the values in the Combo Box. The dashboard will be filtered based on the selection made in the Combo Box.