U.S. Office of Personnel Management - Ensuring the Federal Government has an effective civilian workforce

FAQs

"How to use our tool"

How do I...

1. Choose categories (change rows and/or columns) in my report?
2. Choose measures (data cells) in my report?
3. Drill down and drill up on categories (rows and/or columns) in my report?
4. Filter the data in my report?
5. Nest categories (rows and/or columns) in my report?
6. Choose a display (crosstab/charts)?
7. Show report values (e.g. measure =  employment) as percentages?
8. Sort values in my report?
9. Suppress values in my report?
10. Export data in CSV file format (Excel)?
11. Export data in PDF format (Adobe Acrobat)?
12. Print reports?

Q1: How do I choose categories (change rows and/or columns) in my report?

Steps

1. In the dimension viewer, expand the dimensions to locate the category you want to show in the display.
2. Click the category (e.g. Gender - All), and then drag it to the row heading area or the column heading area.

Tips

• You can also right-click the category in the dimension viewer, and then click either Replace Rows or Replace Columns.
• To choose categories from the dimension line, click the dimension in the dimension line, and then click the category you want to show in the display.

Q2: How do I choose measures (data cells) in my report?

Steps to Change the Measure Used

1. In the dimension viewer, expand the Measures folder to locate the measure you want to show in the display.
2. Click the measure, and then drag it to the Measure heading area in the display.

Tip

• To use the dimension line to change the measure used, choose one of the following options:
  1. Click Measures in the dimension line, and then click the measure you want to show in the display.
  2. Click Measures in the dimension line, and then drag the measure to the Measure heading area in the display.

Steps to View All Measures

1. In the dimension viewer, right-click the Measures folder, and then click either Replace Rows or Replace Columns.

Q3: How do I drill down and drill up on categories (rows and/or columns) in my report?

Steps to Drill Down

1. To drill down a level within one category in the FedScope display, click the column heading link.

The next level categories replace the column headings in the display.

Tips

• To drill down using the dimension viewer, choose one of the following options:
  1. Right-click the next level category in the dimension viewer, and then click either Replace Rows or Replace Columns.
  2. In the dimension viewer, expand the dimension to locate the next level category in the dimension, click the next level category, and then drag it to the column heading area or the row heading area.
• To choose a category level from the dimension line, click the dimension, and then click the lower-level category you want to show in the display.
• To drill down a level across all categories in the FedScope display, right-click the column or row level selector area, and then click Down a Level.

Note: The column level selector area is located to the immediate right of the first column heading area. The row level selector area is located immediately above the first row heading area.

Steps to Drill Down Multiple Levels

1. In the dimension viewer, expand the dimensions to locate the category level you want to show in the display.
2. Click the category level, and then drag it to the column heading area or the row heading area.

Tips

• You can also right-click the category level in the dimension viewer, and then click either Replace Rows or Replace Columns.
• To drill down multiple levels from the dimension line, click the dimension, and then pause the pointer on the next category level to expose the next level of categories.  Continue to expose the lower-level categories, and then click the category level you want to show in the display.
• To drill down multiple levels in the FedScope display, click the column heading links until you reach the category level you want to show in the display.
• In crosstab displays, you can double-click a data value to drill down directly to the categories associated with the value.

Steps to Drill Up

1. In the dimension viewer, locate the category level you want to show in the display.
2. Click the category level, and then drag it to the column heading area or the row heading area.

Tips

• You can also right-click the category level in the dimension viewer, and then click either Replace Rows or Replace Columns.
• To drill up from the dimension line, click the dimension, and then click the category level you want to drill up to.
• To drill up a level in the FedScope display, right-click the column or row level selector area, and then click Up a Level.

Note: The column level selector area is located to the immediate right of the first column heading area. The row level selector area is located immediately above the first row heading area.

• To drill up to parent row and column categories, double-click the data value where the row and column intersect.

Q4: How do I filter the data in my report?

Steps

1. In the dimension viewer, locate the category you want to filter on.
2. Right-click the category, and then click Filter.

The filtered category appears bolded in the dimension line and, in the display, the values change to reflect the filtered category.

Tips

• To add a filter from the dimension line, click the dimension, and then click the category you want to filter on.
• To remove a filter, click the filtered category in the dimension line, and then click the dimension level.
• To remove all filters from all dimensions, click the Reset Dimensions button on the dimension line.

Q5: How do I nest categories (rows and/or columns) in my report?

Steps to Nest Categories

1. In the dimension viewer, locate the category you want to nest in the display.
2. Right-click the category, and then click either Nest Rows or Nest Columns.

The nested category appears in the display as sublevels within the row or column category.

Tips

• You can also click the category you want to nest in the dimension viewer, and then drag it to the row nest level area or the column nest level area.

As you drag the category over the nest level area, the area becomes highlighted.

Note: The row nest level area is located in the far right of the row heading area. The column nest level area is located at the bottom of the column heading area.

• To nest a category from the dimension line, click the dimension, locate the category you want to nest, and then drag it to the row nest level area or the column nest level area.

Steps to Remove Nested Categories

1. In the FedScope display, right-click the level selector area for the nested category, and then click Delete.

Note

• For nested categories, the level selector area is located to the immediate left of nested column categories and immediately above nested row categories.

Tip

• To use the level selector toolbar to remove a nested category, click the level selector area for the nested category. On the level selector toolbar, click the Delete button.

Q6: How do I choose a display (crosstab/charts)?

Steps

• Crosstabs

  1. Click the Crosstab flyout menu on the FedScope toolbar, and then click Crosstab or Indented Crosstab.

• Charts

  1. Click the Chart flyout menu on the FedScope toolbar, and select a Chart type (e.g. simple bar, pie, clustered bar, stacked bar, multiline, 3D bar).

Tip

• To modify a display type, on the FedScope toolbar, click the Display Options icon.

Q7: How do I show report values (e.g. measure = employment) as percentages?

Steps

1. In the FedScope display, right-click the Measure heading, and then click a percentage data format.

Tip

• You can also click the Display Options icon on the FedScope toolbar and then, in the Display Measures box, select a percentage data format.

Q8: How do I sort values in my report?

Steps

1. In the FedScope display, select the row or column in which you want to sort the values.

The row or column becomes highlighted, and the Sort icon appears in the row or column heading.

2. Click the Sort icon, and then choose the order in which you want to sort:
   • Click Sort Descending to sort the values in descending order.
   • Click Sort Ascending to sort the values in ascending order.

The values and the Sort icon change to show the type of sort action that you applied to the row or column.

Tip

• To remove the value sorting, click the Sort icon, and then click No Sort.

Q9: How do I suppress values in my report?

Steps to Apply Zero Suppression

1. On the FedScope toolbar, click the Zero Suppression icon.

All rows and columns that contain only zeros are removed, and FedScope shows "Zero suppression" at the bottom of the report page.

Steps to Apply 80/20 Suppression

1. On the FedScope toolbar, click the 80/20 Suppression icon.

FedScope shows the total of values suppressed in an additional row or column called "Other" and shows "80/20 suppression" at the bottom of the report page.  If a category labeled "Other" is not shown, all the categories in the report dimension contribute to eighty percent of the total.

Q10: How do I export data in CSV file format (Excel)?

Steps

1. Explore and format your report until you are satisfied with its current state.
2. On the FedScope toolbar, click the File flyout menu, and then click Export CSV.

You are prompted to open the file or save it to your computer.

Q11: How do I export data in PDF format (Adobe Acrobat)?

Steps

1. On the FedScope toolbar, click the File flyout menu, and then click Export PDF.
2. In the Orientation field, click either Portrait or Landscape.
3. In the Paper Size box, select the size you want.
4. If you want to show the borders for crosstab and chart frames, select the Display Frame Borders check box.
5. Click Apply.

Tips

• The settings are changed throughout the current browser session even if you don't export a PDF file.  If you don't click Apply, the settings are applied to only the current PDF export.
• To revert to the default PDF settings, click Reset.

6. Choose one of the following options:
   • To save the PDF export settings and return to the FedScope report, click Close.
   • To export the PDF file with the settings you chose, click Export.

Tip

• To return to your report in FedScope, click the Back button in your Web browser.

Q12: How do I print reports?

Steps

1. Export your report to PDF
2. On the Adobe Acrobat Reader toolbar, click the Print icon.

Note

• Do not use the Print command in your Web browser toolbar to Print FedScope reports.