Feature Overview
Introducing new Descriptions for Story Calculations in SAC! In this blog post, I’ll be giving you a look into the new feature in SAC that enables you to add descriptions to any story calculations. Previously, when creating a story calculation, you would add a single “Name” field that had several limitations:
- It needed to be unique and could not be used for any other calculation.
- You were unable to add a separate description vs. ID.
- There was no ability to add any dynamic text.
With the new update, all three of these pain points are eliminated! You can now do the following when creating a calculation in a story:
- Create a separate “ID” and “Description” for your calculation.
- Re-use/have duplicate “Descriptions” based on your story needs (“IDs” remain unique).
- Utilize dynamic text from calculation input controls in the “Description.”
This dramatically increases the flexibility of your calculation names and improves your admin UI when creating many calculations within a single story.
Previous Interface
New Interface
Feature Explanation
The main focus of this feature is the increased flexibility of naming story calculations. The benefit is the ability to add the separate “ID” and then a “Description” – similar to any other dimension/member in SAC. The Description will be what is displayed in Tables/Charts and is available for calculated accounts, measures, cross-calculations, calculation input controls, and calculated dimensions. Finally, you can add dynamic text based on a calculation input control to the description, allowing the description to change/adapt with the calculation itself.
Separate IDs and Descriptions:
- The “Description” will ultimately be what displays in your visuals throughout your story. The “ID” will be more of a reference point for the story builder when creating new calculations/visuals. Now because of the separation, the end-user will not be impacted by the “IDs” which will improve the look and feel of the story (as well as the usability).
Duplicate “Descriptions”:
- IDs must remain unique, but you can now use the same description for multiple calculations. This allows you to have different calculations functionally but still have a cleaner and more effective view for the end users.
Calculation Input Control Dynamic Text:
- Once you’ve setup the relevant input control, you can then add the Input Control dynamic text to the “Description” of the calculation:
