Regionalization Part Two

Bill Perrello shared this question 7 years ago
Answered

Hello Nathan - our monetary data is not stored converted into a single currency. For customer x the currency of the numbers might be USD, while another customer it may be CAD, yet a third might be GBP. Our reporting uses a significant number of reports publicly on the dashboard, so it isn't realistic to have a different report per currency.

As we discussed on the phone today, we are doing some creative work using the DASH-XML product and some custom work returning the currency for the data in order to use the same YF report and dash-XML dashboard to show one currency symbol for customer A and another currency. The problem I haven't figured a way around yet, is when the currency symbol is defined (Hard coded) as a prefix for the amount, and now we want that prefix to be dynamically set based on an attribute of the the data set. The currency symbol shows up on mouseovers/popups on line charts, pie charts, etc. Our ideal would be to figure out how to dynamically indicate/change the currency based on the customer that is viewing the data. Possibly even the mouseover could have another attribute that says "Currency: USD ($)" See the attached screen shot for a good look at what I would like to figure out how to accomplish.

Replies (6)

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Additional need/Ask. I have reports that have monetary amounts as the x axis scale. They are currently formatted with a prefix ($). To internationalize, I need to find a way for the prefix not be static, but dynamically defined (formulaic or controlled within the data).

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Hi Bill,


Thanks for the elaboration and sorry for the delay here. I have been playing with various approaches here but unfortunately have had to rule all of them out for one reason or another. Either way, I should have a more substantive response for you later today or early tomorrow.


Regards,

Nathan

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Hi Bill,


As I mentioned, my hopes of an easy way to solve this have waned:

  • It is possible to create a custom advanced function that receives one column as input (currency code) and then returns the properly formatted value, but this needs to be returned as a string, which renders the field useless for subsequent numeric charting.
  • The custom formatter would be the better approach in this case, as it applies on top of the current field type, however in this approach it is not possible to access values from other columns in the report (the column selection menu will appear, but is not populated).


We are currently expanding the tool-tip functionality. In 7.3+ we introduced a tool-tip option for scatter charts (see attached screenshot). This will replace the available tool-tip with anything of your choosing. This could be the result of the advanced function mentioned above and would meet your needs well. Unfortunately this only applies to scatter charts at the moment, and I am not sure the time-line on development for other types. What chart types are you looking to build in these reports?


To have a solution that is truly sustainable and not just a one-time hack, we will need to raise enhancements. Either:

  1. Allow report data to be access from a custom formatter. I doubt that this will happen, but it might be worth looking into.
  2. Expand tool-tips to a couple other charts. Ideally this would be every chart, but realistically it would be better to start with a few of your more common charts, and scope out what the timeline for implementation looks like.


In 7.4 we will be introducing a light ETL framework, that allows you to conduct transformations on data prior to the view editor. Among other things, this will introduce a new interface for clients to code their own transformation functions. I will be receiving the foundation of this within the next couple of days and should be able to tell you then if this is an approach worth looking into.


Regarding dynamic axis labeling: This is going to be far more difficult. Are you referring to the tick labels, or the axis title?


Let me know your thoughts here.


Regards,

Nathan

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Hi Bill,


One other thought:


Can you pass along a sample of one of these dash-xmls?


Nathan

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Examples attached...

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Hi Bill,

I have been looking for other ways to approach this, but it seems the tool-tip option will be the best here. After looking a bit deeper into the dev planned for 7.4, I am seeing hints of a complete tool-tip rework that will dramatically expand the possibilities for all charts. Of course it is too early to provide any guarantees here, but this looks quite promising and I will keep you updated on this.

Regarding the advanced function. I can provide you with a sample that converts a number into a formatted string based on another columns value, if it would help get started?

Generally, does this sound like an approach that will work for your needs?

Regards,

Nathan

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Hi Nathan - I'm afraid that wouldn't work - because that would result in a non-numeric - tough to graph. I made the decision last week as we ran out of time for any other option. Unable to accomplish what is desired in this version of YF. Our sprint starting tomorrow, we are updating 14 reports to remove the label for currency from the report. That will have to suffice for now. Please keep me tuned into what they are going to accomplish for 7.4

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Hi Bill,

In the solution I proposed, the advanced function would be used in conjunction with the tool-tip options (numeric field would be used for charting, string result would be used in the tool-tip) so this would not be viable until the 7.4 release anyway.

Sounds good though, I am hopeful, and will keep you up to date.

Nathan

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