Managing Data Properties :: SAS(R) Visual Analytics 7.1: User's Guide

Overview of Managing Data Properties

At any time after you have loaded a data source for your exploration, you can modify the properties of the data items. The changes that you make are saved as part of the exploration, but do not affect the original data source.

You can manage the properties for individual data items by using the Data pane or manage the properties for all of your data items by using the Data Properties window.

Manage Data Properties for Data Items

You can manage data properties by using the Data Properties window or by using the properties table in the Data pane.

To access the Data Properties window, select Data

Data Properties from the menu bar.

For each data item, you can specify the following properties:

Name

specifies the name of the data item.

Classification

specifies whether the data item is a category, a measure, a document collection, or a geography.

Note: Changing the classification from a category to a measure or vice versa does not change the data type of the data. You can change the data type by using the Format and Parse operators in a calculated data item.

Model Type

specifies the type of data model for a measure or for a category with datetime data. Select whether the data model is continuous or discrete.

The model type that you specify determines the type of data filters that you can create for the data item.

Note: If you change the model type for a data item that is used in a filter, then the filter is removed.

Format

specifies the data format for the data item.

See Select a Numeric Format and Select a Date or Time Format for information about specifying formats.

Aggregation (for measures only)

specifies the method that is used to aggregate values for the measure. For a list of the aggregations that you can choose, see Aggregations for Measures.

Select a Numeric Format

Here are the steps to select a numeric format:

In the Data Properties window or in the property table in the Data pane, click the format for the data item. A window appears.
Select the basic format type from the Format list.
Specify the Width parameter for the format. The width of the format specifies the maximum number of characters that a value can contain, including decimal points.

A preview of your format appears in the Sample field.
Specify the number of Decimals for the format. The Decimals value specifies the number of digits that appear to the right of the decimal place.

A preview of your format appears in the Sample field.
Click OK to apply your format.

Note: You can restore the default format by clicking Reset to Default.

Select a Date or Time Format

Here are the steps to select a date or time format:

In the Data Properties window or in the property table in the Data pane, click the format for the data item. A window appears.
Select the basic format type from the Format list.
If necessary, select a more specific format from the Sample list. The format names also represent sample values for the format.
Click OK to apply your format.

Note: You can restore the default format by clicking Reset to Default.

Note: Time and datetime values in the explorer ignore daylight-saving time.

Show and Hide Data Items

If your exploration contains a large number of data items, you might want to hide the items that you are not interested in.

Here are the steps to select which data items that are shown in the Data pane:

Select DataShow or Hide Items from the menu bar. The Show or Hide Items window appears.
Click Select All to select or deselect all of the data items, or click the check box beside each data item to select whether that data item is shown.
Click OK to apply your changes.

Sort Data Items

To sort your data items in the Data pane, select Options

and then select Sort Items. Select Ascending by Name or Descending by Name.

Group Data Items

To group your data items in the Data pane, select Options

, and then select Group Items. Select one of the following grouping types:

By First Letter

groups by the first letter of the data item name.

By Data Type

groups by data type (date, numeric, or character).

By Model Type

groups by model type (continuous or discrete).

By Classification

groups by data classification (category, geography, hierarchy, measure, or aggregated measure).

By Format

groups by data format (for example, $CHAR, Numeric, Percent, or MMMYYY).

By Aggregation

groups measures by the default aggregation.

Note: The default grouping is By Classification.

Assigning Colors for Category Values

About Colors

By default, the explorer assigns colors dynamically to category values for grouped visualizations. You can assign specific colors to your category values to ensure that the category values are always represented by a specific color. Because the same assigned colors are used in every visualization, you can easily compare values between visualizations.

Assign Colors for a Category

Here are the steps to set the colors for a category:

Right-click on a category from the Data pane, and then select Colors. A color selection window appears.
For each category value to which you want to assign a color, select the value from the Choose drop-down list, and then click the color box to select a color. Click Apply to save your selection.
(Optional) To automatically assign persistent colors for all of the unassigned category values, click Assign remaining. Colors are assigned to all of the remaining category values. These colors are used consistently in all of your visualizations.
Click OK to apply your changes.

Reset Colors for a Category

Here are the steps to reset the colors for a category:

Right-click on a category from the Data pane, and then select Colors. A color selection window appears.
Click Reset all to clear all of the color assignments for the category.
Click OK to apply your changes.

Assign a Color for a Specific Category Value

Here are the steps to assign the color for a specific category value:

Within a grouped visualization, right-click on a data value, and then select Change Color.
Click the color box to select the color.
Click OK to apply the new color. This color value is used consistently for the selected category value in all of your visualizations.