The November 2024 Update for Oracle Analytics Cloud introduced the Visibility Parameter property, allowing users to conditionally display workbook visualizations. In this article, I’ll take a deep dive into this feature.
Show or Hide Visualizations Based on Parameter Values
Showing or hiding visualizations based on parameter values is straightforward and more intuitive than using conditions in Classic Analytics. To do this, select the visualization you want to conditionally display and open the Properties pane. Then, set the Visibility Parameter property by either selecting an existing parameter or choosing the Create Parameter option to create a new one with two values: Show and Hide (Figure 1).
Then, click on the Visibility Settings icon and select the condition and parameter values that determine when the visualization will be shown. For example, in Figure 2, the Sales by Country visualization is displayed only when the Show Visual parameter is set to Show.
Quirks and Considerations
When conditionally displaying workbook visualizations, it’s important to note that:
It’s not possible to configure the Visibility Parameter property for visualizations created from custom plugins.
The Visibility Parameter settings are applied only in Preview mode (i.e. the visualizations are never hidden in Edit mode).
When a visualization is hidden, it is not skipped. Oracle Analytics still builds it behind the scenes! This behavior impacts performance and can briefly expose restricted (or incosistent) information due to a short delay in hiding visualizations.
When a visualization is hidden, it leaves a gap (empty space) on the canvas, disrupting the layout. In my opinion, to enhance usability and aesthetics, the empty space should be automatically redistributed across the remaining visualizationss. For example, this could be achieved by following a configurable rule—such as redistributing by row or column—ensuring a seamless and adaptive layout that maintains visual harmony.
The Visibility Parameter property allows authors to achieve something similar to a Classic Analytics view selector, but it requires switching from an Auto Fit to a Freeform layout. The Freeform layout can be used to overlay visualizations on top of each other, so that one is shown in the space on the canvas while the others are hidden. This may be acceptable in some cases, but there are limitations:
Supporting the overlay of visualizations in an Auto Fit layout would provide more flexibility, as it automatically adapts to different screen sizes.
Overlaying visualizations can be difficult to maintain, as the interface does not provide an intuitive way to select one without moving it in a different location on the canvas. Additionally, there is no simple method to send visualizations to the background or bring them to the front.
When hovering over overlaying visualizations in Preview mode, the tooltips always refer to the top visualization, even when it is set to be hidden.
Conclusion
It’s great to see support for conditionally displaying workbook visualizations, similar to what has been available for years in Classic Analytics. While this feature has great potential, it’s far from perfect. I proposed a couple of ideas in the Oracle Analytics Cloud and Server Idea Lab:
If you believe these ideas could help improve the product, I kindly ask you to upvote them to influence the Oracle Analytics roadmap.
If you are looking into Oracle Analytics and want to find out more, please do get in touch. I can help you with a product demo, training and assist within the upgrade process.