SAS Visual Analytics trick! Use a button bar as a dynamic text object

[#1]

Looking for a way to display dynamic text in a text box in SAS Visual Analytics? Look no further. You can allow a button bar control object to masquerade as a text box. Let me tell you how.

The report below includes a title that displays text along with the value of the selected period.

 

The report example includes a list table object that displays data for periods. A period (Date by Month) is selected using a drop-down list.  A button bar is incorporated to display the header text, the category role for the button specified as  the value of a calculated data item, Report Description.

This example uses a calculated data item (Report Description) created in the designer. The expression for calculated data item Report Description makes use of the concatenation and format operators to combine text and numeric information. The expression in both visual and text mode:

 

Filter Interactions are defined between the drop-down list and the list table and the drop-down list and the button bar.

 

Now how about adding a second title line (another button bar) that contains the total operations expenses value for that month?

 

For this example, it would be great if we could create an aggregation (sum overall) and concatenate that value, but we’re unable to use an aggregation in a calculation. So instead, just use the Visual Data builder to create a new table containing only the aggregations of operational expenses by the Date by Month data item. Once you have your new table (sample below) you can then create a new button bar based on the new table.

  

The Category role for the new button bar will be the value of a new calculated data item, total operational expenses.  The visual and text versions of the expression are below:

 

One additional interaction is added, as shown:

[cuevasj]

This is great, but how do you get the button bar to print when you create a info window and allow pdf printing?

[rodrigo_pereira]

We still need to do this in the 7.4 version?

I heard that in 7.4 a new enhancement is "dynamic text". This functionality will replace the need to do what is described in this post? 
Thank you, Rodrigo

[BobbieWagoner]

Rodrigo, you are correct. The dynamic text feature is available in Visual Analytics 7.4, and you can use that feature instead of the Button Bar approach.

[cafce25]

Button Bars are still useful to display dynamic category values which is not possible in 7.4