Introduction
What are ad-hoc calculations? Ad-hoc calculations are calculations that you can create and update as you work with a field on a shelf in the view. They are also known as type-in or in-line calculations.
A good example of ad-hoc calculation is in the example below computing the Profit Ratio.
(Note, the above ad-hoc calculation computes the Profit Ratio, without the need of creating a new field in the data pane)
Note, executing this assigns the functions used in the calculation as the name of the calculation, see below.
Quick way to rename ad-hoc calculations.
A quick way to rename ad-hoc calculations is by using multi-line ad-hoc calculations.
Multi-line ad-hoc calculations are created by typing the first part of your calculation, in this case the name assigned to the calculation e.g., //Profit Ratio then press SHIFT+ENTER to open a new line where you can type the calculation itself e.g., SUM([Profit])/SUM([Sales])
How do you do it?
Double-click on an empty shelf to create your ad-hoc calculation.
Use double forward slashes “//” followed by your desired name e.g., //Profit Ratio
Press SHIFT+ENTER to open a new line.
On the new line, type your calculation e.g., SUM([Profit])/SUM([Sales]), and press enter to commit the calculation.
Note, the ad-hoc calculation is automatically renamed as ‘Profit Ratio’ as you can see in the view below.
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