Editing dates and date ranges

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You can use date attributes to limit your report results to a selected date range or rolling periods. If you are creating calculated elements, you can use dates in formulas and functions (see Explore functions reference).

This article contains the following sections:

Adding date attributes

Editing date ranges

Adding dates

In Explore, you can view dates broken down by years, half-years, quarters, months, weeks, weekdays, and days. You can also view a complete date in yyyy-mm-dd format with the Date attribute. In addition to dates you can view timestamps broken down by hour, minutes, and seconds or view date and time together with the Date_Time attribute.

You can add dates just like any other attribute (see Adding attributes). If you do not want to view specific dates, you can exclude them from your results.

To select or exclude dates from your results

In Report Builder, add your date attribute to any attribute location, for example, the Columns, or Rows panel.

Click the attribute you added to open the attribute properties panel.

Click the Selected panel to select specific dates to include.

Click the Exclude panel to select specific dates to exclude.

Editing date ranges

Once you add a date attribute to your report, you can specify the period of time by editing the date range options. You can edit your date ranges by clicking on a date attribute, then selecting Edit date ranges.

There are two types of date range options, Simple and Advanced. In the simple panel, you can choose from a list of named periods or use the custom option to select a unique time period. You can include these date ranges in your results, but not exclude them.

In the advanced panel, you can choose separate beginning and end dates. For each date you can select from a list of named periods, calendar dates, a rolling time period, or all available history. In a rolling period, you can select options, such as seven days in the past or a year in the future.

Note: Year-based date ranges always begin on the first of the year, not 365 days in the past or future. For example, "1 year in the past" would begin on January 1 of the current year, "2 years in the past" would begin on January 1 of the previous year, and so on.

You can use date ranges to measure period-on-period results by adding a repeat pattern. With a repeat pattern, you can compare a data point this year to the exact same point last year. For example if your date range is This year to Today, and today is September 16th, a repeat pattern of one year in the past will compare figures for this year with January 1st to September 16th of last year. Without a repeat pattern, your report would compare the figures for this year and the overall total of last year.

To add a repeat pattern

Click the Advanced panel in Edit date ranges.

Select your date range settings.

Click the Add repeat pattern button.

Select your repeat pattern options.

Click Apply

You can click the Add repeat pattern button again to add an additional repeat pattern.

If you do not have a seven day working pattern, you can use a repeat pattern to look at a single day's results.

There are three options for checking your most recent full day's results:

Yesterday will show results for the previous day.

Yesterday (working day) will show either the previous day's results if the current day is between Tuesday through Saturday or the previous Friday if the current day is a Sunday or Monday.

Yesterday (workable day) will show the previous day's results if the current day is between Tuesday and Sunday or the previous Saturday if the current day is Monday.