What is the difference between a parameter and a control chart?

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Parameters and Controls are both used to create more dynamic and interactive dashboards, but they serve different purposes.

Parameters are user-defined, changeable values that drive the logic and behavior of a BI workspace. They provide greater flexibility and customization by allowing users to dynamically modify values used across different layers, including queries, filters, calculations, and dashboard elements such as titles, captions, and URLs.

For example, parameters can be used to:

• Pass dynamic values into queries.
• Apply flexible filtering conditions.
• Adjust calculation inputs or thresholds (e.g., changing a sales target or performance benchmark).
• Create dynamic titles, captions, and URLs that automatically update based on parameter values.

Unlike controls, which primarily focus on filtering displayed data, parameters can influence how data is processed and how dashboard logic is applied. For example, a sales dashboard can use a parameter to allow users to change a sales threshold from $10,000 to $50,000, dynamically updating related calculations, indicators, or conditional formatting.

Controls, on the other hand, are interactive dashboard components that allow users to directly filter and explore displayed data. Controls act as the user interface layer for interacting with visualizations and are commonly presented as lists, ranges or combo boxes.

For example, a control can allow users to select:

• A year or month
• A region
• A product category
• A customer segment

The connected charts and visualizations will automatically update based on the selected value.