Views
A View is a saved combination of filters, sorts and column visibility over a Data Set.
Views are what make a single Data Set reusable across many templates. One Clients Data Set can feed a control that offers Active Clients Only, another that offers Clients in EMEA, and a third that offers everything — without duplicating any data.
Every Data Set can have up to 20 Views.
The All Records View
Every Data Set starts with a default View called All Records. It shows every record, unsorted and with every column visible.
All Records is special:
- It cannot be renamed.
- It cannot be deleted.
- It can still have filters, sorts and hidden columns applied to it if you want to — it is only its name and its existence that are fixed.
Switching Between Views
Each View has a tab above the grid. Click a tab to apply that View to the grid. The + tab creates a new View.
The View you are looking at also determines what Export CSV downloads.
Creating and Editing a View
- Click the + tab (to create) or View Config (to edit the current View).
- Configure the View in the panel that opens on the right.
- Click Save View.
View Name
Up to 200 characters. This is the name template authors will see when they pick a View to link to, so make it descriptive — Active Clients, not View 2.
Filters
Click Add filter to add a row. Each row is a field, an operator, and a value.
Multiple filters are combined with AND — a record has to satisfy every filter to appear in the View.
| Operator | Meaning |
|---|---|
| equals | The value matches exactly |
| does not equal | The value does not match |
| contains | The value contains the text |
| does not contain | The value does not contain the text |
| starts with | The value begins with the text |
| ends with | The value ends with the text |
| > | Greater than |
| >= | Greater than or equal to |
| < | Less than |
| <= | Less than or equal to |
| is empty | The cell has no value |
| is not empty | The cell has a value |
| is one of (comma list) | The value matches any item in a comma-separated list, e.g. USD,EUR,GBP |
Comparison operators (>, >=, <, <=) compare numerically on Number fields and chronologically on Date fields. On other field types they compare as text.
Filters on a True/False field are forgiving about how you write the value — yes, 1 and true all match a stored true.
note
If a filter refers to a field that has since been deleted, the filter is quietly ignored rather than breaking the View.
Sorts
Click Add sort to add a row. Each row is a field and a direction (Ascending or Descending).
Sorts apply in the order they are listed — top to bottom priority. The first sort is the primary sort, the second breaks ties in the first, and so on.
- Number fields sort numerically; Date fields sort chronologically. Anything that cannot be interpreted as a number or a date is sorted to the end.
- With no sorts configured, records appear in the order they were created.
Column Visibility
Tick or untick each field to control whether its column appears in the View.
Hidden columns:
- Are not shown in the grid for this View.
- Are excluded from a CSV export of this View.
- Are still available to Data Set dynamic values and to the record snapshot stored with an answer — hiding a column is a presentation choice, not a security boundary.
You can also hide a column quickly using Hide in this View on the column header menu.
Deleting a View
Open View Config for the View and click the red trash button.
Any Template controls linked to this View will show a warning until you re-point or remove them.
Deleting a View that is in use is deliberately allowed. The links are left pointing at the missing View, and the template shows a warning banner when it is opened, prompting the author to re-point or remove the affected controls. See Linking to Controls.
Checklists that are already running are unaffected — their answers are snapshots.
tip
Use Connections in the Data Set toolbar to check which templates use a View before you delete it.
Views and Template Links
When you link a control to a Data Set you always link it to a specific View, not to the Data Set as a whole. That is what lets the same Data Set drive several different option lists.
Two rules follow from this:
- Editing a View's filters changes what appears in every control linked to it — including controls in checklists that are already running (for Dropdown and Multi-Choice).
- A linked Table control can only use a View that returns 500 records or fewer, because it creates one table row per record.
Related Pages
- Linking a Data Set to a Control — a control links to a View, not to the whole Data Set.
- Records — what a View filters.
- Fields — what a View can hide and sort by.