Make default state of table empty

[msilberberg]

I have two tables (course and description) that are cross-filtered. If I click on a course title, the course description appears in the description table. However, in the default state, the description table shows all the course descriptions; I want it empty until a course title is selected. I've tried adding a filter to the description table (include:title:is null), which does make the description table show "No data," but nothing appears when I click on a course title. I'm sure that there is a simple solution here. Thanks in advance.

Mark

[lauratilton]

Assuming you only want to select one course at a time...If you use a filter control for Course (instead of a table) you can have it mimic a table by displaying it as a Fixed-Size List rather than a dropdown. Then, you can default that filter control to something not in the course table, like "Select a Course" and make sure the filter control is set to not allow Select All. Then, your Description table will default to "no data" but will then display a description when a course is selected. Here's a quick example.

See this question from last week for a workaround I shared for showing blank instead of "no data."

[msilberberg]

That is really helpful, but creates another challenge. When the default for the filter control is set to a default, the three other filters (division, grade, and subject) that I have lose their categories so it's not possible to filter the fixed size list. Also, if I do select an item, I can't reset the filters. And there is no refresh option when the report is embedded in a web page. Thanks in advance.

[lauratilton]

Apologies, I thought I responded to this the other day! 

You can create a button that uses the Report action of Reset filters if you need a reset filter button built-in to your dashboard.

If you have other filters on the page, you'll need a different workaround (from your initial description it sounded like you just had the two tables.) Here's one solution, which will basically restrict the Description table from displaying any data unless the total number of courses selected is 1. You'll need a blend which is basically just Course and Description from your table, cross-joined with Record Count. Base your table to on the blend, but instead of using Description in the table, use a calculated field that only displays the Description when Record Count is 1, otherwise it's blank. (IF(Record Count = 1, Description, " ") Here's my example.