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Hyperlinks - Measures vs Dimensions, and multiple fields
Is it possible to use measure fields in hyperlinks?
As an example, if I was to count number of customers by using a customer ID field and counting distinct the number of customer IDs, I may have a bar in a bar graph that represents 10 customers (and 10 underlying IDs). If that Customer ID field is a measure I can't seem to use it as a field in the hyperlink - hyperlink lists as invalid. All of the IDs are in view (and visible when viewing underlying data).
Additionally - I'd like to click on a bar in a bar graph and create a query string based on all of the underlying ID's
For example: http://search?custID=1+3+5
It seems in order to this I have to add cust ID to Level of detail and then select each individual sub bar in the bar total bar and then hyperlink. This isn't practical in cases where I have many customer IDs creating a single bar. Is there not away to select the bar not broken into detail and have all of the underlying cust IDs get based in the search query? -- all of the data is there.
Thanks in advance.
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Yes, there are some situations where it is possible to do hyperlinks on measures. Basically, you need to not aggregate on that measure -- right clicking on the field on the shelf and select "All Values" is the easiest way. In my attached workbook, there is an example of using Margin to link to a Google search.
However, this doesn't really get at the root of your first question. The better thing to do in your case is to make the customer ID field a dimension. Database ID fields are often imported as measures when they are represented as numbers, but their role is really a dimension. Drag your employee ID field form the Measure window to the Dimensions window, or right click on it an convert it to dimensional.
Making the ID field a dimension will not prevent you from counting the number of customers or counting the distinct number of customers -- you can create a calculated fields (a measure) for the distinct number employees, or you can use the built-in Number of Records fields to get the count. My attached example shows both -- in my example I'm doing a link on the products, not employees, but the concept is similar.
Also, my example workbook, I've turned mark border on to show stacked bars actually contain multiple marks on them -- in this example, multiple products, which are stacked.
Finally, there is a way to do hyperlinks with multiple values. When you define the hyperlink, be sure to enable "Multi-select" and then choose the appropriate delimiter for you URL -- a + in your case. You can then select multiple marks (rubber band select, shift-select, control-select), then right click and you will see the link for the entire selection. See the attached screen shot.
If you want to select the whole stacked bar to follow a link, first click on the column or row header to highlight the whole row, then right click on one of the bars and follow the link -- see the attached screen shot.
I hope this was helpful.
Austin