What is Cosmetic Formatting?

Cosmetic formatting affects the visual appearance of data in columns and hierarchy levels, views, and columns and sections on dashboard pages. You can apply cosmetic formatting, copy and paste cosmetic formatting attributes, and save a formatted analysis to use with the columns of another analysis.

You can display various dialogs that provide access to and control over various cosmetic attributes. Depending on the object that you are formatting, the dialog displays different options, such as font, cell, and border controls, background color, additional formatting options such as cell padding, and custom CSS style options for HTML.

Using a Saved Analysis to Modify the Cosmetic Appearance of Other Analyses

After you have customized the cosmetic appearance of an analysis using the Criteria tab and the Results tab and have saved it, you can import the formatting from the saved analysis and its views to new or existing analyses. Some views, such as performance tile, gauge, and graph, do not support formatting by importing. This section contains the following topics:

"Where is the Import Formatting Button?"
"Which View Types Support Imported Formatting?"
"How is Imported Formatting Applied?"
"Importing Formatting Using a Saved Analysis"

Where is the Import Formatting Button?

You can use a saved analysis to modify the cosmetic appearance of other views by clicking the Import Formatting button. This button is available on the following toolbars:

The Compound Layout toolbar — When you click this button, the formatting is applied to all applicable views in the layout. See "Applying Formatting from Containers".
The view editor toolbar — When you click this button, the formatting is applied only to the view that you are editing. See "Which View Types Support Imported Formatting?"

Which View Types Support Imported Formatting?

The following list describes the components that support the use of a saved analysis for formatting other views:

View Types — You can import formatting from the following view types:
- Legend — Imports formatting for the legend title, the caption, and the legend container. Textual content is not imported.
- Narrative — Imports only the text font color. Textual properties such as prefix, postfix, and narrative texts are not imported.
- Pivot table, table, and trellis — Imports formatting for the columns, green bar specifications, sub-totals and grand totals, and section properties.
- Static Text — Imports only the text font color. Textual content is not imported.
- Title — Imports formatting for the title, logo, subtitle, start time, and help URL.
- View Selector — Imports only the caption formatting.
Compound Layout — You can import formatting that was specified after clicking the Format Container button for the view in the Compound Layout.

How is Imported Formatting Applied?

Formatting is applied slightly differently depending on whether you are importing formatting that was applied to columns, to views, or to view containers in the Compound Layout.

Applying Formatting from Columns

This functionality works best for views when attribute, measure, or hierarchical column numbers align precisely or for a single column template that can be applied to all columns. If a single column exists in the saved analysis, then its formatting is applied to all columns in the tables, pivot tables, and trellises of the target analysis.

For multiple columns, formatting is applied positionally, from left to right for column headings and values. A column that exceeds the number in the saved analysis gets the closest column's format repeated. For example, suppose the saved analysis contains four columns formatted with these colors in this order: red, green, blue, yellow. In the target analysis, its six columns would acquire these colors in this order: red, green, blue, yellow, yellow, yellow.

Applying Formatting from Views

Formatting is applied to a view only if a view of that type exists in the target analysis. The imported formatting applies to all views of that type in the target analysis. For example, suppose that a saved analysis contains a legend to which you have customized formatting. If you import that formatting into a target analysis that contains three legends, then all three legends inherit that formatting.

Applying Formatting from Containers

In the Compound Layout, you can specify formatting properties (such as background color, borders, and padding) for view containers. When you import that container formatting using a saved analysis, the views in the target analysis inherit the exact container formatting properties as the views in the saved analysis.

The layout of the views in the two analyses need not be exactly the same for container formatting to work correctly. If the target analysis contains more views than the source analysis, then the extra views inherit the imported formatting. For example, suppose a saved analysis contains two tables that are stacked on top of each other in the Compound Layout. Suppose the target analysis contains four tables that are laid out two by two. The source analysis has only one "layout column" of two table views. The two tables in each of the first and second "layout columns" of the target analysis inherit the applied formatting.

Importing Formatting Using a Saved Analysis

To use a saved analysis to modify the cosmetic appearance of another analysis:

Display either the analysis in which you want to import formatting in the "Analysis editor: Results tab", or display the view in its editor.
Click the Import Formatting toolbar button.
In the "Select Analysis dialog", navigate to the saved analysis and click OK.