Percentage Difference from Previous Value Analytic Function

This article describes how to use the Percent Difference from Previous Value analytic function in CDP Data Visualization.

  1. Click the field on the measurement shelf, in this case, the sum(population) field on the Y Axis shelf.
  2. In the Field Properties menu, expand Analytic Functions, and select % Difference from Previous.
  3. In the Analytic Function: Percentage Difference from Previous Value modal window,
    1. In Select aggregate for this measure, leave the default Sum. The other aggregation options are Count, Minimum, Maximum, and Average. In addition, some connection types also support Approximate Distinct Count and Exact Distinct Count.
    2. Under Select entities over which to take % difference from previous value, select country. This is the grouping that applies when calculating the % difference from previous values.
    3. Under Select the sort order, you can specify the order of sorting. This order specifies what the previous row is, and the row where the value is taken. If your visual already specifies sorting order, these values appear in the modal.

      You can add additional sort parameters, by clicking the Plus icon.

      Here, edit the sort order to be: country ascending, followed by year ascending.

    4. Under Offset, specify the number of previous rows over which the function executes.
  4. Click Apply.
  5. Optional: If you examine the expression in the Enter/Edit Expression interface, it shows that the function has the following form:
    (sum([population]) - LAG(sum([population]), 1) 
    over (partition by [country] order by [country], [year])) / LAG(sum([population]), 1) 
    as 'pct diff from prev(population)'
  6. Click Refresh Visual.

    Notice the change in the appearance of the Y axis and the tooltip, from displaying the sum(population) in millions to population as a percentage difference from previous value.

    Hover over any country to view the percentage difference of population from the previous year. In the following example, the tooltip shows an increase in the population of Libya from previous year 1964 to the current year 1965 by 3.92%.