Flex Modes

Use the Flex modes for a richer exploration of your data.

Flex Modes is coming soon. It's still in development, under the Flexible Variance Beta badge. Therefore, the content on this page and its related pages is subject to change.

Flex Modes is module that provides additional Analytics functionality. It contains a set of new modes and different functionality to give you more flexibility in the way that you view and analyze your data.

What's the difference between the Analytics and Flex modes?

If you're familiar with the Analytics module, you'll notice some differences with these new Flex modes:

• There's a fresh, modern UI and some things have moved around.

• There are new features, such as sparklines and the ability to add custom columns directly within the grid.

• Some of the existing Analytics functionality has been retained but enhanced, such as the Nest and Advanced search features.

It's important to understand that some of the Analytics and core Phocas functionality is not available in the Flex modes. In particular, the ability to add content to a dashboard isn’t available yet. While you can save and share favorites, the process is a little different for now.

Getting started

In the navigation menu, click Analytics > Flex Modes, then select the required database. The database opens in Flexible Variance mode by default. You can then switch to another Flex mode, such as Flexible Period mode. More modes are coming soon.

Take a tour of Flex Modes

Flex Modes has similar features and functionality to Analytics. Its basic layout is the same: the toolbar along the top, dimensions on the left, and the grid in the center. It has many of the features you're familiar with in the other Analytics modes, along with some of its own. Its five key elements are identified by the numbers in the image and explained below.

1. Toolbar

The toolbar at the top has menus you use to change your view of the data, as well as some action buttons.

Menus

Each Flex mode has its own set of menus but common menus you'll see are:

• Mode: This menu lets you switch between the Flex modes. Each mode is a pre-defined view of data that displays particular columns in the grid. The Other modes option takes you the Analytics modes.

• Properties: This menu lets you change the properties (information stored about a dimension) displayed in the grid.

• Stream: This menu lets you change the stream (series of data in the underlying database) displayed in the grid.

• Measure: This menu lets you change the measures (numerical data) displayed in the grid. The Count option allows you to replace the displayed measure value with the relative count of items in a specific dimension.

• Period: This menu lets you change the period (timeframe) that applies to the data in the grid.

Action buttons

All of the Flex modes have the following action buttons:

• Conditional formatting: Apply color coding to columns in the grid based on the rules you create.

• Sparklines: Turn the sparklines on or off.

• Chart builder: Open the chart builder tool to visualize your column data in a chart.
• Save as favorite: Save your analysis as a favorite

2. Dimensions

The panel on the left displays the list of dimensions, as in other modes. However, there are two additional features. The Nest view feature sits right above the dimensions, making it easy to drag and drop at least two dimensions into the box to get a nested grid view (with levels you can expand and collapse). When you have many dimensions, a filter displays above the dimension list to lets you quickly find a particular one.

3. Filter bar

The filter bar above the grid is where you perform a quick keyword search to filter the grid or access the Advanced filter panel. When you select one or more rows in the grid, the Focus and Matrix tools become available. When you use any filtering tools, chips appear in the right side of the filter bar to help you keep track of what you've done.

When you are working with a calculation column, the filter bar transforms into the fx (formula) bar, making it easy to identify and understand the formulas used to calculate the values in the grid.

4. Grid

Just like in other places in Phocas, the grid is where you view and analyze your data. Each Flex mode has its own custom-built grid corresponding to the menus in the toolbar, along with the following features:

• Right-click menu: A context menu that displays when you right-click a cell in a particular column. This is a handy way to do an advanced filter based on a condition directly from the grid.

  
• Sparklines: A column of mini charts amongst the data. Sparklines illustrate the trends over the period in a graphical format, allowing you to identify changes, trends and anomalies at a glance. For example, a sharp decrease in the sparkline might signal a drop in sales, something worth investigating.

  

5. Tabs

The tabs at the bottom of your screen provide different views of the data in the mode. These views mirror each other; they're based on the same data selections. For example, if you're looking at the grid and you change the period, when you go to the Chart view tab, that period is applied there too. In addition to responding to changes you make using the menus in the toolbar, the data and charts update according to the filters you apply and the dimensions you select.

• Grid view: This tab opens by default. This is the standard Phocas grid you're familiar with, where you view and analyze your data. For best results, filter and focus on data here before switching to another view.

• Chart view: Click this tab to view pre-built charts that allow you to visualize the data in the grid. These charts were created by Phocas for displaying the data in this particular mode. They save you time, as you don't need to create them yourself. It is possible for you to create your own charts and add them to this tab.
• Transaction view: Click this tab to view the list of transactions that make up the data you see in the Grid view tab. The purpose of this tab is similar to the Transaction mode that's available with the other modes, but instead of having to open another mode to view the underlying transactions, you can see them right here within the same mode.