Manipulate Tables
Above a table there are a number of drop-down boxes, one for each variable, or if tabular (cube) data, one for each table dimension. Survey data may also include a 'Type' and/or a 'Measure' box.
These boxes can be used to change the displayed information and to create new categories using the 'Insert calculation' functionality.
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This section contains information on:
- Item level metadata
- Variable/Dimension boxes including 'Custom selection'
- Sorting rows and columns
- The 'Filter' box
- The 'Type' box
- The 'Measure' box
- Drag and drop
Item Level Metadata
When opening a tablular/cube dataset you may find a marker in the top left corner of some cells. This indicates that information is available about that cell. If you hover over the cell marker information about that cell will be displayed as a 'tool-tip'. There may also be markers for certain categories in either the the table header or row information. These indicate that information is available for those specific categories.
Variable/Dimension boxes
These enable you to:
- Choose a different level of a variable. For example, to change from National to Regional level data
- Choose a different category for a variable used as a filter. For example, you may wish to display just 'Male' or 'Female' categories within a 'Gender' variable
- Move a variable from column to row or vice versa
- Use a variable as a filter so that only one category of that variable/dimension is displayed. The category currently used in the table will be displayed next to the variable/dimension name
- Move a variable into the table, using either 'Move to row' or 'Move to column' - available for variables that are used as filter variables
- Choose to display selected categories in the table. See 'Custom selection' below
- Insert Calculations by creating new categories within the table. Please refer to Insert Calculation for further information
Selecting an option will automatically recreate the table. For 'Custom selection' and 'Insert calculation' a new window will open containing the available options.
Custom selection
This option will open a new window containing a list of categories for the chosen variable/dimension. Categories can selected by:
- Ticking or unticking the boxes next to each category
- Using the Select all and Deselect all buttons
- Typing into the 'Search for categories' box
Subcategories may be present and these are indicated by a '+' next to a category name. Click on the '+' to expand each category in turn, or use the options 'Expand tree' or 'Collapse tree' as necessary.
Click on the OK button to update the table with the selected categories.
The selection criteria for the categories can be changed using the options available under the dropdowns for each selected variables.
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Sorting rows and columns
Clicking a row or column heading will display 
if that row or column can be sorted. Select one of
the following options to sort your chosen row or column:
- Sort Ascending
- Sort Descending
- No sort
Filter box
The Filter option can be modified as shown below.
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Type box
When no 'measure' variable has been added to a survey-based table, the numbers in the table represent either the number of cases or the percentage of cases. For crosstabulations, 'Column percentage' is displayed by default. The Type drop-down box contains the following options: Column Percentage, Row Percentage, Raw Numbers, or Row and Column Percentage, which can be selected as necessary.
Measure box
For survey data, when a variable is added as a 'measure' to a table, the numbers in the table represent the measure variable. For example, in a cross tabulation of 'Marital status' and 'Gender' with 'Age' as the measure variable, the values in the table, by default, represent the average age for each combination of 'Marital status' and 'Gender' category.
Other values available for survey data are (with examples):
- Average - the average age of respondents
- Count - the number of men in the survey
- Min - the minimum age of men in the survey
- Max - the maximum age of women in the survey
- Standard deviation
- Sum - the sum of the ages of married men in the survey
Tabular (cube) datasets always have a 'Measure' box. If more than one measure is available, e.g. numbers and percentages, these can be selected from this box.
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Drag and drop
When working with tables, Nesstar WebView also supports drag and drop to alter a table. It is possible to drag variables in and out of the table, and to move a variable from column to row and vice versa.
To drag a variable already in the table, click and hold the cell containing its name. The cell will “jump” out and attach itself to the mouse pointer, and droppable areas will light up. These are usually the opposite table position (column or row) or the area above the table where all the variables in use are shown. Drag the variable to a drop area and drop it by releasing the mouse button.
To move a variable into the table, it must already be in the table as filter. This is indicated by a “handle” on the left side of the variable's drop down box in the area above the table. Click and hold this handle to drag it and drop it on either the column or row label cells.
To cancel a drag, simply release the mouse button while holding the dragged cell outside a drop area.
The following 'drag and drop' options are supported.
- Dragging variables from rows to columns and vice versa
- Dragging the variable name in a table and dropping it onto its variable box will force the system to treat it as a filter variable
- Dragging variables out of a table and dropping them elsewhere on the screen will remove them from the table
- Dragging variables back into a table. For variables used as a filter, selecting a highlighted variable name above a variable box and dragging it back into a table, will add all categories back into the table
Dropping variables onto other variables will rearrange the layout of the table.
