Compare Data with Data Slices

The Data Slices functionality allows you to focus your Views and Boards on the data that matters. You can display various Dimensions side-by-side, such as Actual and Budget versions, and pivot and transform them to make built-out reports.

Before you begin

⚠️ Important

You need the following permissions to use Data Slices:
- OpenBlocks to see the Application’s Data Slices list

- ConfigureBlocks to create, update and delete Data Slices in that list

- ConfigureApplication and ConfigureBlocks to set up Data Slices

Use cases

Data Slices are a way to select Items from multiple Dimensions and map them to a single entity. In the following example, we want to compare "Actuals 2025" to "Forecast 2026".

• Assume you have a Metric defined on a Dimension “Version” (Actuals, Forecast) and on “Year” (2024, 2025, 2026).

• This creates four combinations:

  • Actuals 2025

  • Actuals 2026

  • Forecast 2025

  • Forecast 2026

• If you want to compare Actuals 2025 to Forecast 2026, by pivoting to change your View, you pivot both the “Year” and “Version” Dimensions, creating four combinations.

• With Data Slices, you have the ability to create a slice per combination of interest. This way you create half the number of combinations.
  

Data Slices can be used with the following existing Pigment tools:

• Scenarios

• Static and dynamic Variables

• Metrics and Tables

• Test & Deploy (see below)

• Snapshots (see below)

Set up Data Slices

Find Data Slices and configure it as follows:

1. In your Application, create a new Dimension and input the names of the slices you want to create. In a typical use case, you might create a new Dimension “Finance Version”, and input Items such as “Actuals 2025”, “Budget 2026 Optimistic”, “Forecast 1+11” to be the names of your slices.

2. Select Application Settings, the three-dot menu in the sidebar, then All settings and Data Slices.

3. Select + Set up slices.

4. In Step 1, for Slicing Dimension, select the Dimension you created in (1) above from the dropdown.

5. For the Dimensions of the data to slice field, select what you want Data slices to show. In the Finance use case, this might be “Version”, “Year” and “Scenario”. Select Next: Define slices.

6. In Step 2, the Items from the Slicing Dimension you chose in Step 1 are presented for configuration. Note the following:

   1. Use Data Source to define whether your data comes from the live version of your Application or a Snapshot. Snapshots are useful to provide baselines such as “Last year forecast”.

   2. Complete all mappings, selecting one or multiple Items or using a Variable. Under Year, you can pick a dynamic Variable such as “Current Year” or “Last FY”.

7. Add a descriptor under Description. This must explain what the Data slices are to someone building a View. It also distinguishes these Data Slices from others built from this Slicing Dimension. See the next section, Manage Data Slices, for more information.

8. Select Save when you’re done.

ℹ️ Note

Two Data Slices cannot share the same configuration. For instance, if a slice has Version and Year, there can’t be two slices with Version=Actuals and Year=2025.

Manage Data Slices

Open the Data Slice settings by following (2) of the step-through above. Your sets of Data Slices are listed, with the options to edit and delete. The edit option allows you to reconfigure mappings and change the descriptor.

You can reuse the Slicing Dimension you created in (1) of the step-through to make new Data Slices using a different choice of Dimensions. Just follow (3) onwards.

Reporting with Data Slices

You can add Data Slices to a Metric or Table for use in Views, with a maximum of one Data Slice per View.

1. Open the Metric or Table you want Data Slices to be added to.

2. Select Pivot from the top toolbar.

3. Select + by Pages, Columns or Rows. Eligible Data Slices appear available for selection.

Use Data Slices with Pigment features

Test & Deploy

Data Slices are supported in Test & Deploy environments. See Understand Test & Deploy for Pigment features for information on how the features interact.

Snapshots

By using Data Slices, you can pull data from Snapshots without the need to activate Scenarios in your Application. For this:

1. In Step 1, fill out Slicing Dimension. But leave Dimensions of the data to slice blank.

2. Attribute a specific Snapshot to each Item of the Slicing Dimension: