Working with measures

Measures are the numbers displayed in the cells of the cube. You can specify them in the cube properties.

Adding a measure

To add a measure:

1. Click the Add Measure button.

2. Choose to create a measure from a variable, a table or an expression.

3. Alternatively, you can also combine these options in a calculation (see Calculated Measures).

4. If you have added rows or columns, then you have an appropriate measure chosen for you.

Note: When adding a measure or calculated measure to a visualisation, you can choose to display its labels with decimal places ranging from 0 to 2.

Using a table as a measure

To display the number of records that match your filter in a cube, add the ‘table’ you wish to report on. For example, a table might be something like people, bookings, transactions or responses.

Using a numeric variable as a measure

If you choose to report on a numeric variable, such as ‘Booking Cost’, then additional functions are available. The function is the way each booking cost is summarised in a cell, for example, displaying the mean value, or the sum of all values.

Using a calculation as a measure

To use a calculation as a measure:

1. Click the Calculator icon, next to the Add Measure button. You then see spaces for two measures, and a drop down with the calculation to be used.

   

2. Choose Plus, Minus, Multiplied by, or Divided by.

   

3. You can also choose to Show as a percentage, and name the calculation for use in the cube display.

   

Using a colour scale

The colour scale is used to colour the background of the cells. The first measure is used in the calculation. You can choose the number of colour bands and a start and end colour.

The colour scale attempts to have the same number of records in each colour category and the boundaries and sizes of each colour band vary to enable this.

See also Reusing favourite cubes.