Filters

Introduction

In this episode we will explain what are the key attributes of a filter, this is important every time you want to create a new filter or edit an existing one.

Settings

All changes to a filter are done on the "Manage Filter" option, from here you define the filter attributes. If you are creating a new filter you need to use the "New" option, if you are modifying an existing filter you need to click on "Manage Filter"

When clicking on any of those two buttons, you will see the filter configuration window which looks a little bit like the screenshot below.

 

After changing the settings on the filter you have two options:

• Save those changes
• Run the filter without saving it

Columns

You can choose which columns to show once the filter runs, the fewer columns you display the quicker the system will respond. You can choose what columns are shown or not by selecting them on the filter. This is a basic setting you want to configure on every module.

You can add columns of related modules as well, for example, if you are in the Risk module and would like to show the related mitigating Internal Controls. Remember to "Save" your changes so they become permanent.

Conditions

You can set filter conditions, that is if you do not want to see all data in the module (a filter without conditions would do just that) then you need to use the conditions.

For example, if you would like to see all Policies, used in ISO 27001 which are currently expired you would have to do the following filter changes on the Policy module

First, you will tell eramba that only those policies which are expired are the ones you want to see: 

Then you would need to select on the left the Compliance Analysis relationships and from there tell eramba you want to see policies used in ISO alone.

When running the filter the output table will show the conditions applied and the number of results:

The filter settings window gives you conditionals for every field on the module and also allows you to search across modules by using the left panel.

This gives you the opportunity to search in literally a million different ways. If you use the custom fields and have created new fields, they will also be shown on the left panel.

Sorting

You can sort the data shown on the filter, you can do this in two ways (and one has prevalence over the other). One way is on the filter settings, in the left panel use the sorting options.

The other way is to sort once the filter has already executed on the data is displayed. Every column will have the sorting option and this takes prevalence over the filter settings.

Dates

Seldom times you will need to search across dates. For Example:

• Display all Audits in between the 1st of Jan and the 31st of Jan.

Sometimes you will need a reference schedule (One week ago, Next Month, etc.) instead of an absolute date (1st of Jan, etc.). This is very important if you plan to send this filter over email, let's say every week. Every week the filter will run so the dates must be a reference to the current date rather than fixed calendar days.

If you want to use absolute dates then simply use the date picker provided on the field.

If you want to use reference schedules then you need to disable the date picker and then select the options available. 

To use the reference you will need to use a combination of the reference date:

• +1, +10 means 1 or 10 days in the future considering "Today" the starting date. If today is 1st July and you select +10 then that means 10th of July.
• -1, -10 works the same way but in the past.

Then you can cover different periods of time when you use the condition of the field

The logic works as follows, let's assume today is the 10th of July and you select +1

• On: means 11th of July
• Not on: means any date except the 11th of July
• After: means all days after the 11th of July
• Before: this means all days between 10th of July and the 11th of July

If your selection would have been -1:

• On means 9th July
• Not On means any day except 9th July
• After: means all days after 9th July until 10th of July
• Before: means all days before the 9th of July

The diagram below shows how conditions (in green) and date references (in blue) work together and the period of time they cover in reference to the day when the filter is executed (today).

Reference days are useful when using filters because you can configure them to say for example: Give me all Exceptions expiring in the next couple of weeks. You would set as:

• Condition: "Before"
• Reference: +14

Counter Vs Labels

A cell can sometimes show "Items" or a counter of those "Items". For example, if i add a column that shows Internal Controls related to the Policies I could see those controls as "Items"

Or as "Counters", where an option will be presented that if clicked will redirect you to the Internal Control module with a list of those Internal Controls.

That setting is only possible in those cells where "Labels" (not text or numbers) are used. You can choose in which format you want to see the data while working on the filter settings:

Private Vs. Public

When you create a filter by default is a "Public", anyone in eramba that has access to the section and to see filters will have your filters listed. You can make the filter "Private" by going to "Settings" and making the filter "Private"

Display on Index

When users access a module, eramba will load one or more filters. You can choose which filters to load by default by configuring under each filter the following parameter: "Settings" > "Default Index" 

 

This feature is commonly used as it allows you to display more than one filter when loading a module. For example, if you access the Risk module you can display three filters automatically:

• Expired Risks
• Top ten Risks
• All Risks

Table Settings

Once your filter has been displayed you can wrap columns and also drag and drop and re-arrange them as you wish. These changes will be saved as you define them until you change them.

You can choose the number of items you want to see per page

You can search for any text on the current page 

You can export the table results as CSV