Using the Interrogate Tool in Tabx
Contents
The Interrogate tool is used to drill down and create comparisons in a particular dataset. Multiple configurable windows allow a user to construct tables and charts with as few clicks as possible to draw insight from the data they're looking at.
Opening and Using Windows
- Within the Interrogate tool one or more windows (a window being a chart and table pair, or just a table if the project has disabled charts) can be viewed at once. To show or hide given windows, open the sidebar by clicking the Menu button at the top left of the page, then select which windows you want to see open.
- Windows can be renamed by clicking the Edit button next to the title within each window.
- Windows can be made full-width by clicking the Expand icon in the top right of each window.
Adding Windows
Up to 5 Interrogate windows can be added to a project by each user of that project. The windows are unique to that user, and the Interrogate tool. To add a window to the Interrogate tool:
- Browse to the Interrogate tool.
- Open the sidebar by clicking the Menu button at the top left of the page.
- Click Add WIndow.
- A new window will be added to the list of available windows for you to open.
Removing Windows
Removing a window is just as easy as adding one. To remove a window from the Interrogate tool:
- Browse to the Interrogate tool.
- Open the sidebar by clicking the Menu button at the top left of the page, and make sure the window you would like to remove is open and being viewed.
- Click the Settings button at the top right of the window you wish to remove.
- Browse to the Settings tab of the Settings drop down.
- Click Remove Chart. WARNING: This operation is permanent.
- The window will fade out and be removed from your Interrogate tool.
Embedding Charts
If Charts are enabled within a project, you can construct charts to later embed in a webpage, blog post or forum. To generate an embed code, configure your chart to as needed, then click the Embed button underneath. Copy and paste the code in the text box into your webpage or blog post to see the chart - fully interactive - be drawn. The embedded charts are taken as instance of the chart generated within the Interrogate tool. Even if you change the configuration of the chart that was embedded in the Interrogate tool, the embedded chart will remain the same. This is to ensure embedded charts do not change their information when being used in webpages!
Exports
The Interrogate tool allows you to export single tables and charts. To export anything within the Interrogate tool:
- Browse to the Interrogate tool.
- Configure a window to construct the table or chart you need.
- Click either Export Table to generate an XLSX file, or Export Chart to export a .PNG file.
- XLSX Files are created using native Excel formatting. This ensures that merged cells, numbers and percentages are properly represented and ready to use within the export.
Archived Charts
The Interrogate tool allows you to store and archive chart settings for later use in Chart Windows. To archive a chart's settings within the Interrogate tool:
- Browse to the Interrogate tool.
- Click the Settings button at the top right of a window.
- Configure a window to construct the table or chart you need.
- Browse to the Options tab.
- In the Chart Archive section, enter a name for the newly stored chart settings, then press Store.
- The Store button will update with the text "Stored" on completion.
Chart settings will also be archived when the project is set up to generate an archived chart when exporting to an Excel file. Tabx will check to see if the chart being exported already exists as an archived chart when new Excel files are exported. If found, Tabx will use that archived chart's key instead of generating a new archived chart. There are no limits on the number of archived charts allowed.
Directly archived charts (stored via the settings dialogue for a given chart by a user) are unique to that user - other users cannot see them. These charts can still be shared to other users within a project by sharing that archived charts key (see below).
Archived Chart Recall
To recall an archived chart:
- Browse to the Interrogate tool.
- Click the Menu button to open the sidebar.
- In the Archived Charts section, click any green button.
- Optionally, enter an Archived Chart key in the Chart Recall Key box, and press the Recall button.
- This will add the stored chart selected as a new window in the working area.
Sharing Archived Chart Keys
Key strings for archived chart settings can be found in 3 places:
- In the Interrogate tool sidebar in the Archived Charts section
- Press the button of any stored chart to copy that key to clipboard.
- In the Interrogate tool sidebar in the Exported Chart Keys section.
- Press the button of any stored chart to copy that key to clipboard.
- Within exported table or office chart object Excel files, on the "Key" worksheets.
Keys can be shared and recalled by any user who has access permissions to the project the chart is archived in. If an archived chart is removed from that project, the key associated with it will no longer work.
Deleting Stored Charts
To remove a directly archived chart from your user within a project:
- Browse to the Interrogate tool.
- Click the Menu button to open the sidebar.
- In the Archived Charts section, press any button and confirm to delete this archived chart.
- Once removed, Archived chart settings cannot be restored.
Remove Exported Archived Charts from within the Edit Project page. See Basic Project Management for more information.
Configuring Charts and Table Windows
Any Chart / Table window can be configured by clicking the Settings button in the top right of the window. The configuration process can be viewed here.