In Part 1 of this series, I focused on the point-and-click instructions for building expressions. In Part 2, this article, I will demonstrate the coding features.   The new Expression Editor was first introduced in Stable 2023.06 (June 2023) and included in the LTS 2023.10 (November 2023) release. There are some noticeable changes to previous versions and I wanted to go through some tips and tricks for using the new editor.   I know I used the quote from Paul Cezanne, "It’s so fine and yet so terrible to stand in front of a blank canvas" to relate to those who dislike the daunting task of putting something into a blank window. But there are those that enjoy the blank slate and jump right in. I like the Vincent van Gogh quote, "Just slap anything on when you see a blank canvas staring you in the face like some imbecile." But also Stephen Sondheim’s, "White. A blank page or canvas. So many possibilities." from the musical Sunday in the Park with George.   This is what the new Expression Editor can offer: the flexibility to code using SAS syntax, structure and document using your preferred style. Here are some of the features available in the new Expression Editor:   suggestion lists for data items, operators, functions inline help for operators and functions add comments reformat your code (Available Stable 2024.01 (January 2024))   Let’s take a look at the same expressions that I showed you how to build using the point and click options in Part 1 of this series, but this time, using code.     Subtraction Expression   To build the subtraction expression using the point and click method, it took roughly eight steps. Let’s take a look if we just start typing. (Hint: it’s less than eight and I was over generous with the numbering.) Here the expression we will build. The text highlighted in yellow is what I manually typed.     First, I added a comment line and then started typing the name of the data item. As soon as I started typing the name of the data item, you can see the drop-down list of suggestions. I see the data item I want at the bottom, so I used my mouse to click on Unit Yield (target). You could also have arrowed down and press enter to have the data item added to the expression.     Next, I typed the subtraction operator and I started typing the name of the next data item I wanted to add to the expression. You can either use your mouse to click on the suggested data item or your can use your arrows and press enter.     Done in four steps! Coding a simple expression is very fast and straight forward if you know the name of your data items!       IF... Else WITH In Condition Expression   This next expression, If... Else, is extremely customizable and one of the few with no auto complete available. The SAS syntax, which you can see below, is straight forward and similar to other programming languages; therefore, quite easy to type freehand.   And one of the extremely nice things about this expression editor, is that even if you start typing you can always use the point-and-click functionality. There is no suggested list for actual data values, so you can use the Edit functionality that will open the expression builder to see a list of data values so you don’t have to worry about getting the case correct when typing.     First, I type If and parenthesis then the data item name Product. I select the data item Product from the suggested list. Remember, the text highlighted in yellow is what I manually typed.     Next, I start typing for the function In and select it from the suggested list.     Finally, I type the rest of the expression. There is no suggested list of data item values when typing like there is with the point-and-click wizard.     And available starting in Stable 2024.01 (January 2024) release is the ability to reformat your code for greater readability. You can use the right-click menu or the key combination Shift + Alt + F.       Typing the If... Else expression took four steps as opposed to the seven steps when using the point-and-click method. Here’s a demo of coding the If... Else expression.       Ratio with Sum numerator and AggregateTable denominator Expression   Like in the previous post, this last expression I want to build comes from the article: SAS Visual Analytics Report Example: Percent of Total – For All, For Rows, and For Columns.   The need to find a column’s percent of total has been popular recently, so let’s take a look how we would build this using the new expression editor. Feel free to read the entire article, but here are the expressions we will need to build using the new expression editor.     And here is my screenshot of the solution using the previous expression editor.     Here is a screenshot of the solution using the new expression editor.     Since this one is straight typing and using the suggested auto complete, here’s the demonstration.       Conclusion   I hope that you now feel comfortable to dive right into the new Expression Editor and start typing. Here’s a summary of some of the features that will make building expression using code easier:   suggestion lists for data items, operators, functions inline help for operators and functions add comments reformat your code (Available Stable 2024.01 (January 2024))     Find more articles from SAS Global Enablement and Learning here. ... View more

The new Expression Editor was first introduced in Stable 2023.06 (June 2023) and will be made available in the LTS 2023.10 (November 2023) release. There are some noticeable changes and I wanted to point out how to use some of the new features.   The quote from Paul Cezanne, "It's so fine and yet so terrible to stand in front of a blank canvas" can resonate when you first look at the new expression editor. This can be especially true if you don’t want to start typing syntax! But don’t worry, as soon as you start to click in the editor, you’ll find your fears put to ease.   In Part 1 of this series, I will focus only on point-and-click instructions for building expressions. Part 2 of this series will demonstrate the coding features.     Select any image to see a larger version. Mobile users: If you do not see this image, scroll to the bottom of the page and select the "Full" version of this post.     Subtraction Expression   Let’s first look at building a simple expression. The only thing you’ll need to do is point, click, and place your cursor in the second argument position. In less than ten steps, you can build this subtraction expression.                         The key take aways from this example are:   Single click to add operators, functions, or data items to the expression editor. Place your cursor at the position you want to add a new operator, function, or data item. Type in the filter at the top to narrow down selections.     IF... ELSE with In Condition Expression   This is a commonly used expression in most reports I build, usually to build a flag indicator to define Display Rules. Let’s take a look at how to build this using the new expression editor.         The key take aways from this example are:   Some functions have an expression builder wizard. To get back to the expression builder wizard, right-click anywhere inside the expression then select Edit.             Ratio with Sum numerator and AggregateTable denominator Expression   This last expression I want to build comes from the article: SAS Visual Analytics Report Example: Percent of Total – For All, For Rows, and For Columns.   The need to find a column’s percent of total has been popular recently, so let’s take a look how we would build this using the new expression editor. Feel free to read the entire article, but here are the expressions we will need to build using the new expression editor.         And here is my screenshot of the solution using the previous expression editor.         Here is a screenshot of the solution using the new expression editor.         Here’s the demonstration:       The key take away from this example is:   You can build out your expression structure then go back and assign data roles, aggregations, etc.   Conclusion   I hope that you are now less weary about using the new Expression Editor. There are lots of new features I haven’t covered yet, but I will cover the coding using inline help and code completion for the Part 2 article.   When using point-and-click for the expression editor, here’s a summary of the things to keep in mind:   Single click to add operators, functions, or data items to the expression editor. Place your cursor at the position you want to add a new operator, function, or data item. Type in the filter at the top to narrow down selections. Some functions have an expression builder wizard. To get back to the expression builder wizard, right-click anywhere inside the expression then select Edit. You can build out your expression structure then go back and assign data roles, aggregations, etc.     Find more articles from SAS Global Enablement and Learning here. ... View more

A SAS Visual Analytics report requirement came in requesting to dynamically highlight the maximum of an average measure. The added level of complexity to this requirement is that it is to also support a hierarchy.   Whenever you see the requirement to dynamically highlight this translates into Display Rules in SAS Visual Analytics. Check out my Display Rule Series here: Report - Level Table – Level Graph – Level Gauge – Level   Let’s look at the final solution. In this first click path through the hierarchy: Oceania – Australia, we can see how the first bar in the Bar Chart Object is being dynamically highlighted.     In this second click path through the hierarchy: South America – Argentina you can see again how the first bar in the Bar Chart Object is being dynamically highlighted.     Report Requirement Desire to highlight the maximum value on a Bar Chart for the measure Average Gross Margin which is a calculation of Product Sale – Product Cost of Sale aggregated as an average. The category is a geographic hierarchy: Continent – Country – Region – City.   Solution Part 1: Average Gross Margin Disclaimer: my data is not exactly representative of the request, so I had to work with the columns available to me.   Since this is a straightforward expression, we can use the power of SAS Visual Analytics’ default aggregation to do a lot of the work. However; you can use a more complex expression, so I will show both the simple and complex, in case you need to substitute an advanced expression to meet your needs.   Simple Expression: Create a Calculated Data Item and use the default Average Aggregation Notice in this simple expression, I create a Calculated Data Item. I then assign the Average Aggregation behavior from the Data properties pane.     Complex Expression: Create an Aggregated Measure In the complex expression, I create an Aggregated Measure. In this expression, I define the average aggregation but using a ratio operator. I wanted to show you can use this solution for more complex expression if needed. You do not have to create the aggregated measure and you can instead use the default aggregation if your business needs suit.     If you need additional information about a Calculated Data Item versus an Aggregated Measure, you can reference my Article or YouTube.   Here I wanted to show that we get the same results across the different levels of the hierarchy:     Solution Part 2: Find the Maximum Average Gross Margin In order to find the maximum of a group of cells, I use the AggregateCells Aggregated (tabular) Operator. See the SAS Visual Analytics Documentation: Reference: Operators and Functions for Data Expressions for more detail.   Notice in the below screenshots, I will set the aggregation type to _Max_ and I will set the start-index and the end-index to encompass all of the cells in the visualization object.   I include both screenshots using the simple and complex expressions as defined above.   AggregateCells Expression: Using the Simple Expression Notice here, I simply plug in the Calculated Data Item that I created earlier.     AggregateCells Expression: Using the Complex Expression Notice in this example, I do not plug in the previously created Aggregated Measure. You can, but I wanted to illustrate that you can put an aggregated measure expression inside the AggregateCells operator.     Again, here is a screenshot looking at our results when added to the Crosstab object. We get the same, as expected.     Solution Part 3: Assign Data Roles and Define Display Rule Before I add the Bar Chart Object to the report, I will define the Display Rule for the Crosstab objects. This solution works for any visualization object, which is the true power behind SAS Visual Analytics. Some of the Objects will allow for Hidden or Data Tip Roles which allow you to hide the Max Gross Margin data item but other Objects will require both data items to be assigned a Role in order to define a Display Rule.   Here is the Display Rule definition: If the Average Gross Margin = Max Gross Margin then highlight graph green.     Since I have two sets of expressions for simple and complex, I duplicated the Display Rule. Notice that for the bottom Crosstab object there are two rows highlighted. That is because for each level in the hierarchy it will highlight the level’s maximum!     Now we can add the Bar Chart Object to the report, assign Data Roles and define the Display Rule. The Bar Chart is one of the Objects that allows you to use any measure combination in the Display Rule definition without requiring it to be assigned an explicit Role.     And even snazzier, since the requirement came in saying the hierarchy was a geographic hierarchy, you can even see this on a Geo Map Object. In order to be able to define the Display Rule for this Object, you can add the Max Gross Margin to the Data tip value Role.     Conclusion I have now shown you how you can use the AggregateCells Operator to get the maximum of an average measure. You can then use Display Rules to conditionally highlight the maximum value using a variety of visualization objects.   If you need additional information on Display Rules or would like step-by-step instructions, please refer to my series here: Report - Level Table – Level Graph – Level Gauge – Level   If you need additional information about a Calculated Data Item versus an Aggregated Measure, you can reference my Article or YouTube.   And here is a list of additional Visual Analytics report examples: VA Report Example: Use Display Rules to get diagonal coloring on a Crosstab VA Report Example: Applying a Color-Mapped Display Rule for a Dual Axis Bar-Line Graph VA Report Example: Moving Average VA Report Example: Percent of Total – For All, For Rows, and For Columns VA Report Example: Moving 30 Day Rolling Sum VA Report Example: Number of Days Profitable for the last 30 days VA Report Example: Current Month vs Previous Month VA Report Example: Month Average versus Total Average VA Report Example: Ways to use the Cumulative Period operator VA Report Example: Relative Period Report in SAS Visual Analytics VA Report Example: Distinct Count If – Run multiple queries at once VA Report Example: Add a scope to an aggregated measure: Article | YouTube         ... 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I saw a SAS Visual Analytics report requirement request a diagonal color pattern be applied on a Crosstab Object. And since I just finished my series about Display Rules, I thought this would be a fun exercise to walk through.   Display Rule Series: Report - Level Table – Level Graph – Level Gauge – Level   Here was the original request:   Select any image to see a larger version. Mobile users: To view the images, select the "Full" version at the bottom of the page.   And here is the solution using SAS Visual Analytics:     Data Structure I wanted to use the Crosstab Object in SAS Visual Analytics for two reasons: I didn’t want to use a List Table Object because I would have had to add 25 individual data items to the Data Roles. I wanted to find a mathematical pattern or equation that I could use to assign the Display Rules and I didn’t want to define four Display Rules for each of the 24 individual data items. Therefore, I transposed data structure similar to this. Notice that when I import this Excel file into SAS Viya, the Date-1 will come in as a measure data item and the Date will come in as a category data item.     In order for me to assign both Date-1 (measure) and Date (category) to the Crosstab Object they must both be category data items. In SAS Visual Analytics, it is very easy to do this. All you need to do is: Duplicate the Date-1 data item. Change the Classification from Measure to Category. Change the name to make it easier for you to identify.   This allows me to define the Crosstab Object Data Roles like this:     Display Rule Solution I got lucky with the data structure that was in the original request. We can see in the Row and Column Data Roles that the values are from 0 to 23 or a character prefix in front of 0 to 23.   This gave me the idea much like the elementary math story of Gauss, where he was given the task to add up the numbers between 1 and 100 inclusive and instead discovered a formula to solve the problem.   Now, in no way am I comparing my abilities for mathematical problem solving to Gauss, but I did see a pattern in the coloring when I used the expression of taking the absolute value of the difference in the Row and Column values.   One of the tricks to get this to work is that I need both data items to be measures. Funny, right! Because I just made sure that both data items were categories. So now we need Date (category) to be a measure data item. To do this, we have a few more steps than simply duplicating and changing the classification type.   Here is the expression to use. We will use the Parse Operator to assign a numeric format but we first need to get only the numbers after the prefix "t1_". I will use the Substring Operator to start at the fourth position and read two digits.     Now I can build the expression for the Color Expression where I take the absolute value of the difference between the Row and Column values.     In order to define a Display Rule for our Color Expression data item, we will need to add it to the Crosstab Object. I know this isn’t ideal, but the Crosstab Object does not support the Hidden Data Role. Don't worry, I’ll show you a few tricks we can apply to polish off the solution. Add Color Expression to the Crosstab.   Now here is the pattern I found to use in building the Display Rules. If you need additional guidance on the steps then please take a look at my blog: SAS Visual Analytics Display Rules: Table – Level.     At this point, you’ll have something that looks like this:     Finishing Touches Let’s make the a few changes so that this can get closer to the initial customer requirement.   Rename Color Expression to “.” Use the properties drop-down to change the name of the Color Expression data item to be a single small character. In the end I chose to use the period, but a lower case L could also work. Don’t worry, SAS Visual Analytics automatically handles any expressions or Display Rule references to this name and it’s updated automatically for you!     Rename Date-1 (Cat) to Date-1 Again, don’t worry that it looks like we have two data items with the same name Date-1. SAS Visual Analytics will add an internal reference name so that it can tell the difference between the two.     Style the Crosstab Cells Last, we need to color all of the cells in the Crosstab to be pink using the Background color and I deselected the Alternating background color.     Now we have our finished visualization:     Conclusion I have shown how we can use the Crosstab Object and Display Rules to get a diagonal coloring on the visualization. There are a few workarounds to set up the report but, in the end, this is a great way to programmatically reproduce the initial requirement while being able to easily schedule data refreshes.   See the below for additional Visual Analytics report examples: VA Report Example: Applying a Color-Mapped Display Rule for a Dual Axis Bar-Line Graph VA Report Example: Moving Average VA Report Example: Percent of Total – For All, For Rows, and For Columns VA Report Example: Moving 30 Day Rolling Sum VA Report Example: Number of Days Profitable for the last 30 days VA Report Example: Current Month vs Previous Month VA Report Example: Month Average versus Total Average VA Report Example: Ways to use the Cumulative Period operator VA Report Example: Relative Period Report in SAS Visual Analytics VA Report Example: Distinct Count If – Run multiple queries at once VA Report Example: Add a scope to an aggregated measure: Article | YouTube   Find more articles from SAS Global Enablement and Learning here. ... 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This is the fourth and final post in a series about the available Display Rules in SAS Visual Analytics. Report - Level Table – Level Graph – Level Gauge – Level (this article!) Recall from the previous articles, that there are three types of display rules. Here are examples for each type. Color-mapped Value: based on a Category data item. Expression: based on a measure data item expression. Gauge: based on a measure data item interval definition. The conditions are defined in the Rules pane. These Boolean expressions are evaluated for each visualization based on the assigned data Roles.     Select any image to see a larger version. Mobile users: To view the images, select the "Full" version at the bottom of the page.   SAS Documentation: Working with Display Rules.   Gauge – Level In this article, I will be focusing on the Gauge - Level Display Rules that apply to the Gauge Objects. We saw in the Table – Level Display Rule article that the List Table Object supports a gauge display rule however, it only supports a subset of gauges.     The recommendations in this article will span more than just the display rule since the dedicated gauge object itself has several aspects to consider when using in your report.   The Gauge Object, has six Shape options and six Style options which includes a Customizable Style which gives over thirty-six possible combinations.     Despite the many ways you can style a Gauge Object, the fundamental steps to define the Gauge – Level Display Rule are the same. I like to think of the steps as an equation. Add the Gauge object from the Object pane to the report page. Assign Data Roles. A default interval expression Display Rule will be defined based on the Data Roles. Customize as necessary. Success – you have your gauge.   Now let’s dive into the different options, combinations, and customizations for the Gauge Object and Gauge – Level Display Rules.     Gauge Object To satisfy the curious, I put together a sample of the available Shape and Style gauge combinations. I kept the default three equal interval expression Display Rule and the default red, yellow, green coloring so that you can easily see how the same Display Rule definition looks across the different gauge combinations.   Gauge Objects became popular with the rise of the dashboard style of reporting in the 1990’s when business needs required a quick way to assess their key performance indicators (KPIs). These gauge objects are similar to what you would see on a dashboard for a plane, automobile, or manufacturing machines for monitoring fuel, pressure, temperature, etc.   At a quick glance, which style and shape do you prefer? I tend to prefer the thermometer styles since it only shows the interval color that has been met and displays the interval ranges.     Data Roles Now that we have examples of the types of gauges we can include in our report, let’s look at the data role assignments and best practice recommendations.   Notice in the Roles pane that there is only one required data role and that is for the Measure assignment. This tells us that the gauge will aggregate the measure data item for the data source and apply any filters defined.   The Target Role is a measure field and it should match the scale of the Measure Role as the measure represents the magnitude of how close it is to the target. Another optional Role is the Group role. This will act as the by group and the Measure (and Target if assigned) will be aggregated by the category data item assigned to the Group Role.     One best practice recommendation to consider, if you are using the Group assignment or using multiple gauges on your report, is the scale. The scale is essentially the range of numbers that help to measure or quantify the target. If you are in a business where your Group values have consistent targets or performance, then you are lucky and this may not apply to you. Otherwise, consider using a percentage-based measure scale so that even if the magnitude of the scale is different, you can easily compare these values.   In this first example, if you have Unit Yield (actual) and Unit Yield (target) values, you could use the Unit Yield (rate) = Unit Yield (actual) / Unit Yield (target). This is especially helpful, in this case, when the Product Lines have widely different unit yield actuals and targets.     In this second example, using a percentage-based Measure allows you to easily duplicate the gauge and change the Group Role as you explore your data.     In this third example, I used a cumulative percent of total across the months to show the progress to the Year’s Order Total. I can now easily use the Year drop-down prompt to explore the data without having to adjust the scale.     Gauge – Level Display Rule Now we need to explore our third operand in our equation, the Display Rule. When you use a percentage-based Measure Role assignment there is no requirement to have the Target Role, and the intervals can be defined between 0 and 1.   Notice that in the Display Rule overflow menu there is an option to Recalculate.... This brings up a dialogue window that helps you to easily define equal intervals between lower and upper bounds. The default lower and upper bounds are prepopulated with values which are queried from the data source based on the Role assignments.   You can then manually change any of the interval bounds as you like. You can also use the color chip to select the desired color you want associated with each interval.     In the case where you are using actual values, and not percentages, and using both a Measure and Target Role assignments then you may run into the informational warning that The gauge contains an out of bounds target which is not shown. This is because the default lower and upper bounds for the interval display rule is queried from the Measure data item. You can use the Recalculate window to make the adjustments to either the lower or upper bound as needed. Notice that the intervals have to be manually entered and cannot yet be dynamically driven. This is why it is recommended to, if your data allows, use a percentage-based measure and interval definition.   Another recommendation is to be sure the lower bound for any bar-based gauge starts at zero. This is the industry wide recommendation for any bar chart or bar gauge to start at zero. The other styles, such as the arc or dial variations, can have a lower bound not start at zero but use caution as most real-world applications of these gauges have conditioned us to use zero as a starting point.   Summary Here are the key points for using the Gauge – Level Display Rules which encompasses more than just the display rule itself since it uses its own Gauge Object. Use a percentage-based measure so that it can easily adjust for additional data and across different by groups. This allows for an easy Gauge – Level Display Rule interval definition to be between 0 and 1. For any bar style gauge objects, be sure to start the lower bound at zero. Also, consider using zero as the lower bound, unless your measure includes negative values, as we have been condition by real-world applications to assume the starting point is zero.   This now concludes the series for using Display Rules in SAS Visual Analytics. Report - Level Table – Level Graph – Level Gauge – Level (this article!)   Here is a list of the supplemental enablement materials I mentioned in this article as well as other helpful resources: Get to know the List Table Creating Hierarchies to use in SAS Visual Analytics Reports SAS Visual Analytics Cell Graphs to enhance List Tables and Crosstabs: Article | YouTube SAS VA Report Example: Add a scope to an aggregated measure: Article | YouTube Use Report Themes to quickly change your data color palette SAS VA: Use Custom Categories to create user-defined categories for dates, measures, or categories: Article | YouTube SAS VA: Automatic Actions Part 1 – Easy exploration for multiple data sources: Article | YouTube SAS Visual Analytics 8.1: Configuring prompts with different source data: Article | YouTube Tips for working with multiple data sources in SAS Visual Analytics: Article | YouTube SAS Visual Analytics Report Examples using Container Objects: Article | YouTube   Find more articles from SAS Global Enablement and Learning here. ... 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This is the third post in a series about the available Display Rules in SAS Visual Analytics. Report - Level Table – Level Graph – Level (this article!) Gauge - Level Recall from the previous articles, that there are three types of display rules. Here are examples for each type. Color-mapped Value: based on a Category data item. Expression: based on a measure data item expression. Gauge: based on a measure data item interval definition.   The conditions are defined in the Rules pane. These Boolean expressions are evaluated for each visualization based on the assigned data Roles.   Select any image to see a larger version. Mobile users: To view the images, select the "Full" version at the bottom of the page.   SAS Documentation: Working with Display Rules.   Graph – Level This article builds on the concepts and steps presented in the previous articles. I will not have all of the click paths enumerated in this article, but I will focus on the features, style combinations, options and considerations. If you need those steps, please refer to the Table – Level article.   I will cover the Graph – Level Display Rules. In general, most graph objects support two types of display rules: Color-mapped Value Expression However, bear in mind, there are thirty different graph objects and ten different geo objects in SAS Visual Analytics and each object can have its own nuances. I have highlighted the Graph – Level in the below summary table, let’s take a look at a some examples.         Graph – Level: Color-mapped Value Display Rule For the below graph objects, I defined each display rule for each individual graph. Since I already covered Report – Level Display Rules in my previous article, I wanted to show how the different graph elements displayed the Color-mapped Value Display Rule. One of the major differences in a Report – Level and Graph – Level Color-mapped Value Display Rule is that at the Report – Level you can define it for any category across any data source in the report. This is not the case for a Graph – Level Color-mapped Display Rule where once you select a graph object, the display rule is tied to the data source and you must select either a single category data item or any category data item for that one data source for the rule definition.   I split this report page into two columns. On the left, I defined a Color-mapped Value Display Rule for the category data item Facility Region and on the right column for the category data item Product Line.       Left Column: Facility Region Color-mapped Value Display Rule You can see down the left column there is a Bar chart, Bubble plot, Box plot, and Word cloud. Right now, you are seeing the Display Rule in effect for all of these graph objects, but that is because I did not define a Color Data Role for either the Bubble plot or the Word cloud. If I had, then the Color Data Role takes precedence over the Graph – Level Display Rule.     Right Column: Product Line Color-mapped Value Display Rule On the right column, I have added a Pie chart, Treemap, and a Key value latticed by Product Line. Again, you are seeing the Display Rule in effect for these graph objects, but like the Word cloud above, if I assign a Color Data Role for the Treemap then that role assignment takes precedence over the Graph – Level Display Rule.     You can also define Color-mapped Value Display Rules for Geo map objects. SAS Visual Analytics has ten different geo maps and not all display rule options are available for teach type, similar to the standard graph objects like above. Be sure to refer to SAS Documentation: Working with Display Rules for additional details.   The Geo bubble map, so long as you do not assign a Color Data Role, will evaluate the defined Color-mapped Value Display Rules. Here are two examples. Notice that for the lower map I have selected to plot the Facility State Geo data item but I am using the display rule to color the bubbles according to the values in Facility Region Geo. Also notice that I had to use the Any Category for that display rule.   The upper map is straight forward, where I use Facility Region Geo in both the Geography Data Role and in the display rule definition.     This next feature of display rules for Geo map objects is very customizable. For only the Geo coordinate and Geo network map objects you can specify an Icon in place of the standard geo marker. In the below example, I used an icon that is in the shape of a building, but there are many out-of-the-box icons to select from. You can even upload your own custom icon but custom icons are static images and do not respond to the selected color as the standard icons do. I could have selected a different icon for each value in my display rule, but for this example, I kept them all the same.     Next, I wanted to give an example using our Geo pie map object. This object was released with the LTS 2022.1 (May 2022) release and allows you to define a pie chart object to replace the geo marker. As you can see in this example, I defined my display rule to use the Product Line category data item.     Graph – Level: Expression Display Rule Recall that when you define an Expression Display Rule you must select a measure data item and build a Boolean expression that when it evaluates to true, the rule is applied (if applicable) and when false, no rule is applied. Recall that we also learned in the Table – Level Display Rules article that we can layer and order Expression Display Rules. Keep in mind that the winning rule is the one at the top of the list, or the rule that is applied last.   One of the fantastic features about using an Expression Display Rule is that typically all the measures in the data source are available to use in the expression definition even if that measure is not assigned to a Data Role in that object.   In this below example, I am showing one of the Graph – Level Expression Display Rule options to select a Style Area: Graph or Background. On the left, I have selected the display rules to be applied to the Graph element. Where on the right, I defined the display rules to be applied to the Background element. We can see how the Graph affects the actual bar colors and the Background affects the area behind the bars.   This is one of those Expression Display Rule Options that is available for a subset of the graph objects. Generally, most graph objects only support the Style Area: Graph option since the background of some graph objects do not fall into such a defined range.     In this next example, I use a Line chart graph object to demonstrate some of the Style Area: Graph or Background features. Notice that for each Line chart I have the Options: Markers turned on. Those are the filled circles at all of the data points. If you want to have the Line chart’s Expression Display Rule Style Area: Graph to be visible, then you must have selected Markers to be visible. The line itself will not change color depending on the display rule definition, only the markers, as you can see which filled circles are light green and dark green.   Now, for the Style Area: Background, you do not have to have Options: Markers turned on, but it makes it easier to see which data values are in the background display rule bands.     Now let’s look at the Treemap and Word cloud objects again. We saw these earlier in the Color-mapped Value Display Rule section and we saw that if there was a Color Data Role assigned, then the Color Data Role took precedence over the Color-mapped Value Display Rule.   The good news is, when an Expression Display Rule is defined for these objects; it is the measure being evaluated and the display rule will be applied successfully even if there is a Color Data Role assigned. The object will display an Informational Warning letting us know that This report object uses rules that might conflict with essential color mapping. Use the Rules pane to remove the conflicts. This warning just lets us know that the object has default coloring based on Data Roles but that there are Display Rules which might negate the values.   Remember, one of the great things about using an Expression Display Rule is that all the measures in the data source are available to use in the expression definition even if that measure is not assigned to a Data Role in that object.   In this Treemap example, I do have the Expenses assigned to the Size Data Role.     In the Word cloud example, I do not have the Expenses assigned to a Data Role. I used the same category data item, Product Description with the same Expression Display Rule definition for Expenses so you can see how the same values are colored.     Now let’s look at an example where an object has both a Style Area: Graph and Background display rule definition. Here I am using a Dual axis bar-line chart object. We can see how I have two different display rule definitions for each type of style area. Also notice, that in order to see the Style Area: Graph be applied to the Line chart, the Markers must be enabled.     In this next example, I am also visualizing the category data item Month of Year but this time only the measure Unit Yield (rate). Notice that I have the same Expression Display Rule definition but for the Key value object there is no Style Area option.     I have two last Expression Display Rule examples I will show, both Geo map objects. The first is using the Geo region object. Now typically, when the Color Data Role is assign, the display rule will not be applied, but in this case, using an Expression Display Rule we can see that the regions are colored per the display rule definition.     Next is the Geo coordinate map object so that I can show another icon example. As you can see here, I have an Expression Display Rule defined for the Expenses data item but this time I have two different icons: a sad red face for Expenses > 5M and a happy green face for Expenses <=5M.     Summary We have now explored many of the available Graph – Level Display Rules. I hope that by seeing some of these examples you can determine how to incorporate meaningful color into your reports! Report - Level Table – Level Graph – Level (this article!) Gauge - Level       Here are some key things to remember for the Graph – Level:   Graph - Level Color-mapped Value Expression If there is a Color Data Role assigned, then this value takes precedence over the defined display rule. Usually, you can use any measure available in the data source and it does not always need to be assigned a Data Role in the object. Some graph objects will have the option to define a Style Area: Graph or Background.   Here is a list of the supplemental enablement materials I mentioned in this article as well as other helpful resources: Get to know the List Table Creating Hierarchies to use in SAS Visual Analytics Reports SAS Visual Analytics Cell Graphs to enhance List Tables and Crosstabs: Article | YouTube SAS VA Report Example: Add a scope to an aggregated measure: Article | YouTube Use Report Themes to quickly change your data color palette SAS VA: Use Custom Categories to create user-defined categories for dates, measures, or categories: Article | YouTube SAS VA: Automatic Actions Part 1 – Easy exploration for multiple data sources: Article | YouTube SAS Visual Analytics 8.1: Configuring prompts with different source data: Article | YouTube Tips for working with multiple data sources in SAS Visual Analytics: Article | YouTube SAS Visual Analytics Report Examples using Container Objects: Article | YouTube   Find more articles from SAS Global Enablement and Learning here. ... 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This is the second post in a series about the available Display Rules in SAS Visual Analytics.   Report - Level Table - Level (this article!) Graph - Level Gauge - Level   Recall from the first article, that there are three types of display rules. Here are examples for each type.   Color-mapped Value: based on a Category data item. Expression: based on a measure data item expression. Gauge: based on a measure data item interval definition.   The conditions are defined in the Rules pane. These Boolean expressions are evaluated for each visualization based on the assigned data Roles.     Select any image to see a larger version. Mobile users: To view the images, select the "Full" version at the bottom of the page.   SAS Documentation: Working with Display Rules.     Table – Level In this article, we will cover the Table – Level Display Rules. There are two types of table objects in SAS Visual Analytics, the List Table and the Crosstab. Here are the available Display Rule types that each table object supports:     List Table Crosstab Color-Mapped Expression Gauge Expression   List Table   The List Table Object is one of the most feature rich objects. I cover several of these features in this article, Get to know the List Table. From the above list, we can see that the List Table supports all three types of Display Rules. Let’s look examples of each.     List Table – Color-mapped Value Display Rule Here are the steps to define a Color-mapped Display Rule for a List Table:   Select the target object in the report, in this example, the List Table Object. Then open the Rules pane. Select + New rule. Now you must select which category data item you want the Color-mapped Value Rule to be built from. As you can see from the screenshot, you can select Any Category or you can select a specific category data item. We will, in this example, select Product Line. That means, this Display Rule color-mapped value condition will only be applied to the Product Line data item. This is different from a Report-Level color-mapped value condition as it is applied to any category data item in any data source in the Report. If I had selected Any Category in this rule definition, then it would behave similarly to the Report-Level where it would try to apply the rule for any category but only in the selected List Table and thus only the data source feeding the List Table.        Next, start typing the case sensitive string value. A list of available values will appear for the selected data item. Select the color to be applied when the display rule condition is true. And lastly, you will need to select the Placement of the rule.   In this example, my List Table only has two Roles assigned: Product Line and Profit. The available Placement choices will be to apply the coloring to the entire Row or only to a selected column.        Here is how each of those Placement positions would look in this example List Table for a Color-mapped Value Display Rule.        List Table – Expression Display Rule To define an Expression Display Rule for the List Table Object, you start with the same steps:   Select the List Table Object you want the Rule defined for. Select the Rules pane. Click + New rule Select either Any Measure or the specific measure data item to define the Rule for. In our example, we will select Unit Yield (rate). The measure selected can be a measure from the data source, a calculated data item or even an aggregated measure.     Next we must define the Display Rule Expression. Let’s walk through these steps.     Rule Type: Expression Label: This will display in the Rules pane when viewing the report. Operator: Select the Boolean operator to use when comparing the current aggregated value to the Value defined in the next step. Value: Type or select a value to use for the Boolean comparison. Notice that all of the measure data items and aggregated measures are available for selection. If defined, you could also select a parameter. For this example, I created an aggregated measure using the _ForAll_ context to use in this display rule, Unit Yield (rate) For All. Format: Next, select how you would like to style the object when the expression returns true. In this example, I will change the font color to be red. Placement: Like in the previous example, you may select how to style the object. If you would like the entire row styled or select an individual column from the assigned Roles.      Here is how each of those Placement positions would look in this example List Table for an Expression Display Rule.        Pro Tip: Notice that this List Table Expression Display Rule uses a column in the data source that is not assigned to the List Table Roles. This is an incredibly powerful feature of the List Table.   List Table – Gauge Display Rule   The Gauge Display Rule for List Tables adds an additional visualization in line with each row. There are four gauges to select from and the display rule allows for a custom interval definition. Here are the available gauge types:        Here is how to define a Gauge Display Rule   Select the target List Table object to make it the active object. Open the Rules pane. Select + New rule Select the measure to use in the Boolean expression for the Display Rule. You can select Any Measure from the data source or you can select a specific measure. In this example, I have duplicated the Expenses measure data item several times and added the name of each gauge I will define a Rule for to the end in parentheses.      Now we must define the gauge expression:   Rule Type: Gauge Interval definition. Use the overflow menu and select Recalculate. You will be presented with a default of 3 intervals with automatically populated Lower and Upper bounds based on the current data item’s minimum and maximum. You can adjust the number of intervals if you wish and manually overwrite the Lower and Upper bounds with a custom value. Next, you will need to define the color palette that corresponds to your interval definitions. Be cautious to not always use the default red, yellow, green coloring. In this example, we are visualizing Expenses, therefore the higher the value, the larger the expense which, in our case, is the less desirable outcome. Therefore the larger the value, the more "in the red" I want the gauge to display. Gauge type: Bullet Column for the gauge to be placed in. In this example, we will keep the gauge next to the data item it represents. Placement in our example will be to the Right of text. You can see that it can also be placed Left of text or Replace text entirely. If you choose to replace the text entirely, make sure the Column label indicates what the gauge represents.      Here are how all of the available gauges look for the same measure, Expenses, and with the same interval definitions.      Crosstab   The Crosstab is our second Table Object available in SAS Visual Analytics. Similar to the List Table in its popularity, it has a different purpose when visualizing data. The Crosstab Object is able to present hierarchical data items in a visually attractive way. You can assign a Hierarchy data item to either the Rows or Columns or you can just add multiple category data items and the Crosstab will handle the hierarchical display. If you use a hierarchy data item then the expand, collapse, and drill navigations are available. The Crosstab also has Options to display Subtotals and Totals or switch the orientation of where the measures are placed.     But let’s talk about the available Display Rules for the Crosstab Object. The Expression Display Rule is the only type of rule supported. Now, before you become disheartened, the Crosstab (and the List Table) Object has two Cell Visualization Options available that can be used to enhance each cell which both add richness to the visualization. See my blog, Use SAS Visual Analytics Cell Graphs to enhance List Tables and Crosstabs or my YouTube, Add Cell Graphs to List Tables and Crosstabs in SAS Visual Analytics, for additional examples.     Back to our Expression Display Rule for the Crosstab. Let’s start with the final result for this one. Here you can see the Crosstab Object and below you can see the Roles and Rules panes.     When defining the Expression Display Rule for a Crosstab, the option to define an intersection of where the rule is to be applied is unique to this object. This means that the Boolean expression will only be evaluated at the specified intersection and the display rule formatting will only be applied to those cells. If there is no intersection defined, then all cells in the Crosstab will be evaluated and formatted if they meet the display rule condition.        Now let’s dive into the details. First up, is the cells that have the font color red. This Expression Display Rule is intended to color the font red if any of the cells are less than zero. To define this rule:   Select the Crosstab to make it the active object. Open the Rules pane. Select the + New rule menu. Select Any Measure.      Then you must: Label: This will display in the Rules pane when viewing the report. I like to use a label that describes the display rule: Less Than Zero. Operator: Select the less than sign. Value: Enter the number zero. Notice that you could select from one of the measures assigned to the Crosstab or a parameter. Specify Intersections: Leave this unselected. We do not want to specify an intersection for this rule, we want all of the cells to be evaluated and if true then have the display rule applied. Format: Select the font color you want to use to style any cells that are less than zero. In my example, I would like to style those red. Placement: The only available placement for this display rule is the Cell.     In the screenshot below, I’ve used a red square in the first row to show how all of the cells where the display rule evaluates to true, the font color is now red. This applies to all cells, regardless of the intersection.         Now let’s take a look at one of the display rule definitions for a specified intersection. You can then repeat similar steps for the other display rules in this example. Notice this time we select Expenses and not Any Measure.     Select the Crosstab to make it the active object. Open the Rules pane. Select the + New rule menu. Select Expenses.    In this display rule, we will have to specify an intersection.   Label: This will display in the Rules pane when viewing the report. To represent this rule I will label it Greater Than 500K. Operator: Select the greater than sign. Value: Enter the number 500,000. Notice that you could select from one of the measures assigned to the Crosstab, a parameter, or an individual value of Expenses from the data source. Recall that when we selected Any Measure we were not presented with individual values, but we are when we select a measure data item. Specify Intersections: In this example, I want the inside cells to be evaluated for this display rule. From experience, I know that this is the most detailed intersection, with both row and column data items selected: Facility Region / Product Line / Date by Year / Date by Quarter. The great thing about this, is after you select an intersection and need to change it, you can easily edit the display rule. So sometimes this is a trial and error process till you get the desired outcome for the specific cells you are trying to create the display rule for. Format: In this example I selected a light red background color. Placement: I selected the measure data item I am evaluating, Expenses. But notice that you have the other measure data items assigned to the Crosstab available.  In the screenshot below, I’ve used a red square to show how only the cells where the display rule evaluates to true and only at the intersection: Facility Region / Product Line / Date by Year / Date by Quarter are formatted with the red background.     You can also use Display Rules to assist when defining a scope for an aggregated measure. See my blog, SAS VA Report Example: Add a scope to an aggregated measure or YouTube, SAS Demo | Add Scope to an Aggregated Measure in SAS Visual Analytics for more information.   Pro Tip: Notice that unlike the List Table, the Crosstab Expression Display Rule only allows for you to select measure data items that are assigned a Role in the object to use in the Value comparison.   Table – Level Display Rule Considerations   One of the major benefits of Display Rules is that we can layer several rules on a single object. This can; however, lead to unexpected results. If you have multiple Display Rules for the same element, then the winning rule is the one at the top of the list.   Depending on the type of object, List Table or Crosstab, the type of Rule will determine how you can reorder and layer the rules. For all of the details, see SAS Documentation: Reorder Display Rules.   I’ve included an example for both the List Table and the Crosstab to demonstrate some of the layering results.       Summary   I hope these List Table and Crosstab examples have given you lots of ideas you can use in your VA Reports.   This is the second article in the series.   Report - Level Table - Level (this article!) Graph - Level Gauge - Level   In the interim, here is a List Table Object using the Gauge (Icon) Display Rule summarizing the supported combinations of Display Rule type and Object level. This summary table will build out as we continue the series.     Here is a list of the supplemental enablement materials I mentioned in this article as well as other helpful resources: Get to know the List Table Creating Hierarchies to use in SAS Visual Analytics Reports SAS Visual Analytics Cell Graphs to enhance List Tables and Crosstabs: Article | YouTube SAS VA Report Example: Add a scope to an aggregated measure: Article | YouTube Use Report Themes to quickly change your data color palette SAS VA: Use Custom Categories to create user-defined categories for dates, measures, or categories: Article | YouTube SAS VA: Automatic Actions Part 1 – Easy exploration for multiple data sources: Article | YouTube SAS Visual Analytics 8.1: Configuring prompts with different source data: Article | YouTube Tips for working with multiple data sources in SAS Visual Analytics: Article | YouTube SAS Visual Analytics Report Examples using Container Objects: Article | YouTube   Find more articles from SAS Global Enablement and Learning here. ... 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This is the first post in a series about the available Display Rules in SAS Visual Analytics. Display Rules allow you to conditionally highlight data that meet defined criteria. There are three types of display rules and here are examples for each type.   Color-mapped Value: based on a Category data item. Expression: based on a measure data item expression. Gauge: based on a measure data item interval definition.   Notice the conditions defined in the Rules pane. These Boolean conditions are evaluated for each visualization based on the assigned data Roles.     Select any image to see a larger version. Mobile users: To view the images, select the "Full" version at the bottom of the page.   You can define Display Rules for the different types of Visual Analytics objects at the following levels. Be aware that not every level supports all types of Display Rules.   Report - Level (this article!) Table - Level Graph - Level Gauge - Level   Report – Level   We will focus on a Report – Level Display Rule in this post. The only available type of Display Rule at the Report – Level is the Color-mapped Value rule.     The Report-Level Display Rule is incredibly powerful for a number of reasons:   Available Display Rule type: Color-Mapped Values Applied to all applicable objects in all pages of the report Not tied to a Data Source or data item If multiple Display Rules are defined, the Object Level Display Rule takes precedence   The Color-Mapped Value Display Rule requires a case sensitive category data item value, i.e. string value, and a color. Then, every time a Visual Analytics object is rendered, the results will be conditionally evaluated to determine if any category data item values have a display rule defined and if true, it will try to apply that color to the object.     As you can imagine, there will be lots of conditions where a Color-Mapped Value Display Rule cannot be applied or requires a specific Data Role assignment combination. For a full list of details see the SAS Visual Analytics Documentation: Working with Display Rules. As an example, for the Line Chart Object, the category data item will need to be assigned to the Group Role. And that Crosstab Objects require a Table-Level Color-Mapped Value Display Rule and is not affected by a Report-Level Display Rule.     One of the key reasons to use a Report-Level Display Rule is to get consistent coloring for a category data item value across the report. This is important especially if your report uses Control Objects to filter your data because returned results may not always order the values the same way. And if say, for example, the Product Line Stuffed Animal value is colored yellow on one Page 1 of the report but blue on Page 2, it could confuse your report consumers.     Define a Report-Level Display Rule   Let’s take a look at how you can define the Report-Level Display Rule. First, select the Rules pane and then use the drop-down menu to select the name of your report. This will activate the Report-Level Display Rules menu. Next, click the + New rule and the New Display Rule window will open.        Then start typing the case sensitive string value you want to define a display rule for. Next, pick the color assignment from either the predefined Basic colors or use the Custom tab. Use the + to add additional values to define rules for.       Report-Level Display Rule Examples   Now let’s take a look at how some of the Visual Analytics objects use a Display Rule. I will also include screenshots of filter selections to show how using a Report-Level Display Rule can be important.     The Report-Level Display Rule screenshots will be on the left and the report default coloring will be on the right. As a reminder, here is our Report-Level Display Rule definition:        List Table, Bar Chart, Line Chart Page   Here, in this example, you can see how assigning the Report-Level Display Rule is keeping the color of Action Figure, purple, the same even with filtering on the left. In the default coloring on the right, we can see that Action Figure is styled purple but with filtering it is then styled yellow.     List Table   Notice that the behavior of a Report-Level Display Rule colors the entire row of the List Table object. If this styling is too much, then you can define a Table-Level Display Rule which will take precedence over the Report-Level. There, you can style the List Table to have a white background.     Line Chart   The Line Chart object requires the category data item to be assigned to the Group Role in order for a Report-Level Display Rule to be applied.           Crosstab, Pie Chart, Treemap Page   Crosstab   Here you can see that the Crosstab object does not respond to Report-Level Display Rules. You can use a Color-Mapped Value Display Rule but it must be defined at the Table-Level for Crosstab objects.     Treemap   In the default coloring report, I did not assign a Color Role for the Treemap. If there were a Color Role assignment then that would take precedence over the Report-Level Display Rule.           Key Value, Geo Map Page   I think this is another great example of how the use of color really helps see the connection between the two visualizations. It’s very easy to see on the right which Key Values map to the Pie Geo Maps.           Multiple Data Sources Page   I mentioned earlier that one of the key benefits of a Report-Level Display Rule is that it is not tied to a Data Source. This is one of the few features that gets applied at the Report-Level.     In this example, I have added two additional data sources: Insight Toy and Cars. Insight Toy has one overlapping value for Product Line, Game that you can see in the upper left that gets picked up by the Report-Level Display Rule. In the object below, you can see that I have used Product Line Custom Category in the Bar Chart. For this data item, I created a Custom Category to map additional Product Line values and we can see how once that Custom Category data item is included in the object’s Role assignments, then more of the Report-Level Display Rules are able to be applied.     Similarly with the Cars data source. We can see that by default, there are no mapping values between the Type data item and the defined Report-Level Display Rule. But I created a Type Custom Category where I mapped some of the Car Type values to match the Report-Level Display Rule.       Summary   I hope these examples have given you a starting point to include Report-Level Display Rules in your reports. This is especially critical when the consistency of styling a value can impact your data analysis.     Remember there are a number of other reasons the Report-Level Display Rule is incredibly powerful:   Available Display Rule type: Color-Mapped Values Applied to all applicable objects in all pages of the report Not tied to a Data Source or Column If multiple Display Rules are defined, the Object Level Display Rule takes precedence   This is just the first post in this series. I’ll cover the remaining types of Display Rules in the following posts.   Report – Level (this article!) Table - Level Graph - Level Gauge - Level     I cover additional tips and tricks in these other helpful articles:   Use Report Themes to quickly change your data color palette SAS VA: Use Custom Categories to create user-defined categories for dates, measures, or categories: Article | YouTube SAS VA: Automatic Actions Part 1 – Easy exploration for multiple data sources: Article | YouTube SAS Visual Analytics 8.1: Configuring prompts with different source data: Article | YouTube Tips for working with multiple data sources in SAS Visual Analytics: Article | YouTube SAS Visual Analytics Report Examples using Container Objects: Article | YouTube   Find more articles from SAS Global Enablement and Learning here.     ... View more

A report requirement came my way asking for a Color-Mapped Display Rule on a Dual Axis Bar-Line Graph. Because of the multiple measure Role Assignment this graph object does not support the typical out-of-the-box Color-Mapped Display Rule. This restriction is in place because if you have multiple measures assigned to an object then the object will often use color to identify what the graph element represents. The legend also helps the user identify which color maps to which value. For additional details see the SAS Visual Analytics Documentation: Working with Display Rules.   This requirement came in for the Dual Axis Bar-Line Chart and because the multiple measure assignments are for different graph elements entirely, one for the bar and one for the line, we can use a workaround to achieve the report requirement.   Since the out-of-the-box Color-Mapped Display Rule isn’t supported, we will need a numeric representation for each Category value. This technique isn’t difficult and depending on how many unique Category values you have; this can be added into your data transformation so that you don’t have to create a numeric representation at the Visual Analytics report level.   Let’s dive into this VA report example. Here was the request:   Select any image to see a larger version. Mobile users: To view the images, select the "Full" version at the bottom of the page.   Color-Mapped Display Rule   Bar Chart   Typically, to define a Color-Mapped Display Rule, you use the + New rule from the Rules pane. Here in the Bar Chart you can see we have two ways to define a Color-Mapped Display Rule:   Any Category: here you would type a value and for any time that value is graphed, regardless of the Category data item it belongs to, if it falls into the ability to have a Display Rule applied, then that color will be applied to the graph as defined. Individual Category Data item: here you would select a data item that has been assigned a Role in the object and when you type a value, if it falls into the ability to have a Display Rule applied, then that color will be applied to the graph only for the selected Category data item as defined.   In the Rules pane, you can see that for the Category data item Product Line, I have defined a Color-Mapped Display Rule for the Product Line values: Action Figure, Game, Promotional, and Stuffed Animal.       Dual Axis Bar-Line Chart   When selecting the + New rule for the Dual Axis Bar-Line Chart, you can see that only Measure data items are available. This is because this chart requires multiple measure Role assignments which means that Display Rules cannot always be applied at the Category level.   We can work around this limitation by creating a non-additive numeric representation for the Category data item, in this example, Product Line.     Solution   For this solution, we will create a non-additive numeric representation for the Category data item: Product Line. We will do that by creating a new calculated data item and name it: Product Line (Numeric). In the List Table shown, you can see how each value of Product Line will map to a number. As you can see by the Frequency column, this List Table object is aggregating the rows as defined in the data item properties. Creating this List Table is a good way to double check that your calculated data item is returning the expected results.     Create the calculated data item   From the Data pane, use the + New data item and select Calculated item.     In the New Calculated Item window, create an IF… ELSE logic statement for each value of the Category data item minus 1. This is because the last ELSE condition will hold the final value.   After the new calculated item is created, use the Data pane and expand the data item properties using the chevron button. Then change the Aggregation to be non-additive. You can select either Minimum or Maximum.     Define the Display Rule   Now we will need to define the Display Rule for our new Measure data item that represents our Category data item. We will need to create an expression for each value of our data item.   Follow these steps:   Select the Dual Axis Bar-Line Chart to make it the active object. Select the Rules pane. Click the + New rule menu. Select the newly created measure data item: Product Line (Numeric). In the New Display Rule window, give the rule a Label. I will use the value of the Category data item as the label. Select the equals Operator. Enter the Value that corresponds to the Category value. Select the desired color for the graph Style.  Once you click OK you will see something similar to the below:     Repeat steps 3 – 8 for the remaining values. The end result will look like this:     This informational message lets us know that the Display Rule defined for this object conflicts with the color assignment that is defined by the object and shown in the legend.   To ensure your users understand what is graphed, I recommend adding a descriptive title and removing the legend.     Conclusion and Considerations   Now you have seen how you can work around a Display Rule limitation if the Object and Role assignment combination results in the restriction of Color-Mapped Display Rules.   Remember this restriction is in place because if you have multiple measures assigned to an object then the object will often use color to identify what the graph element represents. The legend also helps the user identify which color maps to which value. It can be the case that working around this restriction can make sense in your VA report, just use caution and be sure to title your object carefully and remove the conflicting legend display.   If you have “a lot” of Category values that would make the IF…ELSE logic statement cumbersome, you can add a numeric representation in the data source and then use the Data properties to make the Aggregation Type non-additive. This is done for other types of numeric data items that are non-additive such as ID numbers like Social-Security Numbers, Zip Codes, and SKUs.   See the below for additional Visual Analytics report examples:   VA Report Example: Moving Average VA Report Example: Percent of Total – For All, For Rows, and For Columns VA Report Example: Moving 30 Day Rolling Sum VA Report Example: Number of Days Profitable for the last 30 days VA Report Example: Current Month vs Previous Month VA Report Example: Month Average versus Total Average VA Report Example: Ways to use the Cumulative Period operator VA Report Example: Relative Period Report in SAS Visual Analytics VA Report Example: Distinct Count If – Run multiple queries at once VA Report Example: Add a scope to an aggregated measure: Article | YouTube   Find more articles from SAS Global Enablement and Learning here. ... View more

If you are new to SAS Visual Analytics, welcome. I’m excited to have you here and I have no doubt that you will be able to discover insights and knowledge to help you perform your job, make better decisions, and improve performance using SAS Visual Analytics.   To do this, here are the Top 5 things you need to know for using SAS Visual Analytics.   Select Data, Pick an Object, & Assign Roles Report Prompts & Page Prompts Actions: Automatic & Manual Multiple Data Sources Create new Data Items #1: Select Data, Pick an Object, & Assign Roles   The first step to build a SAS Visual Analytics report is to select Data. Your SAS Viya Administrator will have defined the available CASlibs you have access to and loaded the data tables. Then in SAS Visual Analytics, use the Data pane and click on the Select to add data drop-down.   Select any image to see a larger version. Mobile users: To view the images, select the "Full" version at the bottom of the page.   Next, use the tabs to navigate till you find your data. In this example, I navigated to the configured SAS Help CASlib and selected the CARS table. I can tell that the data is available in CAS because of the green lightning bolt. Click OK to add it to the SAS VA report.     From here, you can start building your report. SAS Visual Analytics can actually Pick an Object & Assign Roles automatically if you are not sure what to select. This feature is called Auto Charting and you can see the chart type that is selected given the available data items you dragged onto the report canvas in SAS Documentation: Work with Report Content: Basic Object Tasks.   Auto Charting   The Automatic Chart feature is great to use when you are unfamiliar with the data, if you’re unsure of the data relationships, or looking for insights.   Pro Tip: Change measure aggregation types before auto charting.     See the short video below for a demonstration of using the automatic charting.      Pick an Object & Assign Roles   To manually add an object, use the Objects pane. Find the type of object you want to use in your report, then you can drag it onto the report canvas, right-click and add to page, or double click on it.     Use the Roles pane on the right to assign data roles. Required Roles will have a red asterisk next to it, all other Roles are optional for the object.   Use the + Add to select qualifying data items for each role.     Here is what the Box plot object looks like with Roles assigned. To make any customizations to objects, use the Options pane.     Suggest Pane   SAS Visual Analytics also has a Suggest pane that produces objects given the data source’s available data items. Use the gripper icons at the top of the object to drag it onto the report canvas.     You can see in the below screenshot that the Roles are automatically assigned.   Use the More and Refresh buttons to get additional objects. See the SAS Documentation: Using the Suggestions Pane for more details.   #2: Report Prompts & Page Prompts   The next thing to know for using SAS Visual Analytics is how to quickly and easily apply a filter across either the entire Report or for an individual Page. This is when you would use Report Prompts or Page Prompts accordingly.     Here is how you would expand each of those areas:     The Report Prompt and Page Prompt areas are now configurable. I cover this option in my article, New control prompt placement option in SAS Visual Analytics.   It’s important to know that a prompt is a two-part entity. Control Object Data Item   The Control Object is the type of prompt you will use to ask the report user for a value. And the Data Item populates the values available in the Control Object. You can, of course, use parameters to populate Control Objects as well.     As you can see, prompting your user for a filter is a two-part process. First you must drag the Control Object into either the Report or Page Prompt area then second assign the Data Roles. SAS Visual Analytics has a lot of features that assist the report builder to increase efficiency, one of them is Auto Controls to help eliminate this two-part process when building Report or Page Prompts. All you need to do is drag the data item into one of the Report or Page Prompt areas.   You can see the SAS Documentation: Working with Controls for more details. But I also cover this functionality in my blog: VA 8.1 Makes Report and Page Prompts Easy With Auto Controls. One of the great things about the Auto Controls is that it will build the dependency between Controls automatically if you drag a Hierarchy Data Item into one of these spaces.   If you want to manually build cascading prompts, or prompts that filter each other, then check out my blog, Cascading Prompts as Report and Page Prompts in SAS Visual Analytics.   Or if you need to Configuring Prompts For Different Data Sources see my blog or accompanying YouTube.   Pro Tip: The List Control Object can be used both the Report and Page Prompt areas. See this article if you run into issues: Use a List Control as a Visual Analytics Report or Page/Section Prompt. #3: Actions: Automatic & Manual   The third thing to know for using SAS Visual Analytics is how to create an interactive report. This is a standard industry requirement and an example use case is clicking on a value in one object and expecting one or more objects to be filtered by that value or highlighted (called linked selection in SAS VA).   Automatic Actions   As you can tell by the theme, SAS VA has an automatic option that makes things quick and easy. This functionality is covered in my SAS Visual Analytics: Automatic Actions: a three-part series or demonstrated in my YouTube.                                                 Articles                            Covers Part 1 – Easy exploration for multiple data sources Automatic Actions: One-way filters Part 2 - Dive into multidimensional or hierarchical data easily Automatic Actions: Two-way filters Part 3 - Find related data fast Automatic Actions: Linked Selection   Manual Actions   As you can tell by the name, some steps to configure Manual Actions will be needed. Manual Actions will need to be defined when you want interactivity between report objects and you have not configured the Page to use Automatic Actions. We will focus on either filtering or linked selection (also known as data brushing or highlighting).   Here are the steps to define a Manual Action:   Select the source object to make it the active object. Open the Actions pane. Select the target object(s). Select the type of Action: Filter or Linked Selection. If needed, define data mapping between different data sources.   Here is an example of a Manually configured Filter Action.     And below is an example of a Manually configured Linked Selection Action.     #4: Multiple Data Sources   Typically, you will use multiple data sources to feed your report. You might have one data source per report page or have different report objects using different data sources in one page. Let’s give a quick highlight of what's possible, what’s recommended, and provide some tips and tricks to make developing these reports easier.   What’s Possible   Report Composition   SAS Visual Analytics can have an unlimited number of data sources assigned to a report. But, as you can guess, just because you can have an unlimited number, it doesn’t mean you should.   Page Composition Yes, you can use multiple data sources on a single report page.   Report and Page Prompts Yes, you can use multiple data sources in your Report and Page Prompt areas. If you want to define an Action between different data sources, check out this blog, Configuring Prompts For Different Data Sources: Blog or YouTube.   Objects Objects can only have ONE data source. This is the fundamental piece to understanding how to build your reports. Any report object can only have one data source.   If your report needs one object to have data from more than one data source your options are to either join the data before it is loaded into CAS or use SAS Visual Analytics to join the data. You can read about how to join tables in SAS Visual Analytics in this article: VA 8.3 Join Tables in VA Reports. The key point to keep in mind when choosing to use SAS VA to join data is that the join will be performed for every user, every time the report is opened. Sometimes this is necessary given custom calculation requirements, but do not use this for your standard recurring ETL needs.   What’s Recommended   SAS has developed guide for report design considerations: Beautiful Reports.    This guide will offer recommendations on how to prepare and plan your report. How to select good visuals, advice on page layouts, style, and color.   Ultimately, once you reach a saturation point of acceptable report performance for your sized environment, that is when you’ve reached the number of data sources per report your environment can support. There are other tools available in SAS Visual Analytics that can help guide you when determining how to improve your report design. Refer to my article: Use the Report Review pane to ensure good VA Report performance and accompanying YouTube.   Tips and Tricks   I have put together a list of tips and tricks in this article: Tips for working with multiple data sources in SAS Visual Analytics and you can see the demonstration in the YouTube.   I offer advice on how to work with report objects, prompting, combining data sources, and recommendations on labeling and adding footer information to assist the report user in being able to consume the report with ease. #5: Create New Data Items   Now comes one of the more critical pieces in reporting, creating the business KPI’s. You will need to create new measures that reflect the important metrics for your business. You many even need to create hierarchies or new groups of data for analysis.   Here are some helpful posts to get you up to speed quickly on how to create and use: Calculated Data Items Hierarchies Custom Categories: Article | YouTube Here are some business use case examples that walk you though how to create some of these measures: VA Report Example: Moving Average VA Report Example: Percent of Total – For All, For Rows, and For Columns VA Report Example: Moving 30 Day Rolling Sum VA Report Example: Number of Days Profitable for the last 30 days VA Report Example: Current Month vs Previous Month VA Report Example: Month Average versus Total Average VA Report Example: Ways to use the Cumulative Period operator VA Report Example: Relative Period Report in SAS Visual Analytics VA Report Example: Distinct Count If – Run multiple queries at once VA Report Example: Add a scope to an aggregated measure: Article | YouTube   Summary There you have it, the Top 5 things to know for using SAS Visual Analytics.    Select Data, Pick an Object, & Assign Roles Report Prompts & Page Prompts Actions: Automatic & Manual Multiple Data Sources Create new Data Items   Find more articles from SAS Global Enablement and Learning here. ... 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According to Wikipedia, a hierarchy "is an arrangement of items (objects, names, values, categories, etc.) that are represented as being "above", "below", or "at the same level as" one another." In reports, hierarchies are used to group data together and then as you drill "down" into the hierarchy you are presented with more detailed data.   I have recorded an accompanying video tutorial for these examples so that you may follow along.   One straight forward example is using time. For example, you may start at the Year then drill down into more detail to the Month level, and then drill down into Day. You can also use a geographic example. If the top level is Country then State/Province then City.   In SAS Visual Analytics, you can create hierarchies by defining the levels in order from the top or most general level down to the more detailed level. While there are no limitations as to how you structure your hierarchy, be conscience that the typical arraignment is based on parent-child relationships and if your data does not lend itself as such you may get unexpected results.   You can create a hierarchy from categorical data items which include date/datetime and geographic items. Not all SAS Visual Analytics report objects support a hierarchy Role assignment or may only support one hierarchy at a time. For additional details please refer to the SAS Documentation: Working with Hierarchies in a Report.   Create a Hierarchy: Geography Example   To manually create a hierarchy, use the + New data item menu and select Hierarchy.   Select any image to see a larger version. Mobile users: To view the images, select the "Full" version at the bottom of the page.   Next, select the data items in the order you want and either double-click on them to move them to the Selected items side or select the data item and use the horizontal arrows.   Notice that as you add data items to the hierarchy, the Name is automatically generated for you. If you start typing in the Name field, then the auto-generated name will stop and the custom name will be kept. If you clear the name field and rebuild the hierarchy then the auto-generated name will regenerate.     Now we can add this hierarchy to a report object. Since we built this hierarchy using geography data items, let’s use a Geo bubble map object. Here you can see from the Roles pane we assigned our hierarchy to the Geography role.       To navigate the hierarchy, simply double click on the bubble in the map. You can see the breadcrumb path of the hierarchy in the upper left of the geo map, use those hyperlinks to navigate back to the top of the hierarchy.         Create a Hierarchy: Automatic Date/Datetime Example   SAS Visual Analytics has really neat features that help automatically generate data items. One of these features is the Quick Calculations, check out this article for additional details: Using Calculated Data Items in SAS Visual Analytics. A second example of an automatic feature is the date/datetime hierarchy.   From SAS Documentation, Add a Date Hierarchy to a Report, here are the levels which are automatically generated depending on the format of the source data item, some of the levels might not be created.   Date Data Item Datetime Data Item Year Quarter Month Day Year Quarter Month Day Hour Minute Second   To create a new automatic date hierarchy, right-click on a date data item and select New date hierarchy. The Date Hierarchy is automatically built for you and you can see it listed in the Data pane. To inspect or alter the levels in the hierarchy, right-click on the hierarchy and select Edit.     From this Edit Hierarchy window you can choose to keep all of the levels under the Selected items column or you can remove them.     You may notice that these automatically generated data items are not listed in the Data pane. That is because, by default, these data items are generated but not shown. To see these data items in the Data pane use the overflow menu and select Show or hide data items. Then you can see the automatically generated data items in the Available items column. Move them to the Selected items column if you want to see them listed in the Data pane.     I chose to use a Crosstab object so that I can expand all of the levels of the hierarchy for you to see the default formats. To change these formats, you must first use the Show or hide data items window to make the automatically generated data items visible. Then you can use the data properties format menu to select the desired format.       Once you use the automatic date hierarchy to generate the date/datetime data items, you can change their formats and make your own custom hierarchies.     Here is an example of using the newly created date hierarchy and using it in a Bar Chart object.     Create a Hierarchy: Automatic Crosstab Example   Another way to create a hierarchy is from the Crosstab object. In this example, I will use standard category data items with parent-child relationships and add them to the Columns Role in a Crosstab.   You can see that I added Product Brand, Product Line, and Product. When you right-click anywhere on the column headings, you can select Create and add hierarchy to columns.   If you had added these data items to the Rows Role then the menu selection would have said Create and add hierarchy to rows.     In this next screenshot, you can see that I right-clicked on the automatically created hierarchy and selected Edit so that you can see the hierarchy details. You can also see how the automatically created hierarchy has been atomically added to the Columns Role.     You can use this automatically generated hierarchy as any other hierarchy in other report objects. In this example I added it to the Tile Role in a Treemap object.   Summary   I have shown you three ways to create a hierarchy:   Manually define the hierarchy levels using the new data item menu. Automatic Date/Datetime hierarchy by right-clicking on a date/datetime data item. Automatic Crosstab hierarchy by adding category data items to either the Column or Rows and right-click in the header area.   Hierarchies can be used in many report objects and help keep reports interactive while providing insights at each of the different hierarchy levels. Here is a demonstration of navigating the hierarchies shown in this article.       Check out the below articles for additional SAS Visual Analytics examples:   SAS VA: Automatic Actions Part 1 – Easy exploration for multiple data sources: Article | YouTube Tips for working with multiple data sources in SAS Visual Analytics: Article | YouTube Use a List Control as a Visual Analytics Report or Page/Section Prompt New control prompt placement option in SAS Visual Analytics SAS VA: Use Custom Categories to create user-defined categories for dates, measures, or categories SAS Visual Analytics 8.1: Configuring prompts with different source data: Article | YouTube   Find more articles from SAS Global Enablement and Learning here. ... View more

The ability to create new calculations for your reports is a fundamental requirement for any good report building tool. SAS Visual Analytics has an “easy button” to create common calculations called quick calculations and also a manual way to define the expression for both calculated data items and aggregated measures.     Calculated Data Item versus Aggregated Measure   Before I start showing you screenshots, let’s first understand the difference between calculated data items versus aggregated measures.     Calculated Data Item Aggregated Measure The expression is evaluated for each row of unaggregated data. The expression is evaluated on aggregated data. Expression is evaluated for each row in the source data, before aggregations are performed. Aggregations are evaluated by context: By Group – calculates aggregation for each subset of the data item For All – calculates aggregation for the entire data item (after filtering)     The key point to take away is that for a Calculated Data Item the calculation is performed at the row level, then aggregated and for Aggregated Measure it defines how to perform the aggregation within the expression.     The easiest way to demonstrate this is using ratios. We have all learned the rule that you cannot just straight sum ratios, you must first sum the numerators then sum the denominators and then perform the division.     In this example, the ratio expression for Unit Yield is shown in the below screenshot for both the Calculated Data Item and the Aggregated Measure. For ease of readability, I have zoomed in on the expression. I have applied a percent format that you can see in the List Table objects below.   Calculated Data Item Expression     Select any image to see a larger version. Mobile users: To view the images, select the "Full" version at the bottom of the page.   Aggregated Measure Expression       In the Detailed Data List Table, both expressions evaluate correctly. We can see the difference in how the expressions evaluate at the aggregated data level.     In the Aggregated Data List Table, we can see that the Calculated Data Item expression is evaluated for each row of data then aggregated. In this case, I left the default aggregation to SUM and we can easily see that this is not the correct evaluation for this expression. In the Aggregated Measure expression, the aggregation is done as part of the evaluation. The aggregation SUM _ByGroup_ is performed for the numerator subtraction, then the denominator, then the ratio is evaluated. We can see that for the Aggregated Measure we get the correct evaluation when the data is aggregated.       Now that we understand the differences between a Calculated Data Item and Aggregated Measure, the question as to when to use one versus the other will depend on the type of report object you use, what level of detail will be displayed, and if the expression requires an aggregated measure operator.       Quick Calculations   Quick Calculations are the “easy button” for creating commonly used Aggregated Measures. For additional detail see the SAS Documentation Working with Quick Calculations in a Report.     To create a Quick Calculation, right-click on any data item and select New calculation....       There are different types of quick calculations for the types of data items.     Date and Datetime Data Items   The Min and Max aggregated measures for Date/Datetime data items were introduced in the SAS Viya LTS 2021.2 (November 2021) release.       Category Data Items       Measure Data Items   If the data source has date/datetime data items, then the measure data items will have periodic quick calculations available.       If the data source does not have date/datetime data items, then these will be the available quick calculations.       Once you select a Quick Calculation it automatically gets grouped with the Aggregated Measures in the Data pane and you can right-click to edit if desired.         The Quick Calculation can be used like any other Aggregated Measure in report objects. If you are using any of the periodic aggregated operators, then the report object must contain the same date/datetime data item in the role assignment.       Using the Expression Editor   If you want to manually build an expression for either a Calculated Data Item or Aggregated Measure you will use the Expression Editor from the + New data item menu and select Calculated item.       Here are a few tips when using the Expression Editor. First select your desired result type. If you know you want to build an Aggregated Measure then select that. If you know you want to build a Calculated Data Item then select the type of result you want date, datetime, character or numeric.     It is best to first select the result type so that the error messages generated are with respect to your target expression. If you start adding Operators to the expression first, then the result type will change automatically, and you may get hung up depending on the order in which you add your operators.     The Visual mode, as seen below, is great for seeing groups of expressions and what variables may be missing.       The Text mode, as seen below, can make it more difficult to spot the missing variables but is much easier when wanting to copy-paste.       Defining the expression   Use the Operators tab to build your expression. Like many things, it’s all personal preference as to the order in which you’d like to build your expression, but I like to build the structure first before I add Data Items.     Use this excellent Reference: Operators for Data Expressions for more details about the available Operators.     Here is a demonstration of how to build an Aggregated Measure. If you wanted to build only a Calculated Data Item then you would skip over adding the Aggregated Operators.       I have a separate post about how to Build a date in SAS Visual Analytics: Article | YouTube.       Summary   You should now have a solid understanding of how SAS Visual Analytics uses the terms Calculated Data Items versus Aggregated Measures. I’ve given you an example to show how these data items vary in the way they are evaluated during aggregation.     I’ve also showed you how to leverage the “easy button” for Quick Calculations and how to build your own custom calculations using the Expression Editor.     I have additional examples solving business problems and working with the different types of data items such as dates and character data items.     Additional Resources   VA Report Example: Ways to use the Cumulative Period operator New Max/Min Aggregate Measure for Date and Datetime Formats! VA Report Example: Number of Days Profitable for the last 30 days VA Report Example: Moving Average Build a date in SAS Visual Analytics reports: Article | YouTube VA Report Example: Distinct Count If – Run multiple queries at once VA Report Example: Use Text Input for custom search   Find more articles from SAS Global Enablement and Learning here. ... View more