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User guide > Data Browser > Data selection and display > How to customise data selection

By default, each dataset shows a predefined view which consists of preselected positions in each dimension. You can easily check this out in the data selection panel

Understand the default data selection

It is important to understand how to know what exactly is selected by default in either the table, line, bar, or map view. 

For example in the screenshot below for the table view, the data selection is set to show all countries available under the dimension 'Geopolitical entity' in the row, meaning 46 out of 46 positions, and 10 different positions out of 49 available positions for the 'Time' dimension in the column.

The addition, visible dimensions shown under the heading 'Dimensions' are those for which the data is displayed below in the table view. In this case the data show the 'Gross domestic product at market prices', expressed in 'current prices, million euro'. Both of these dimensions offer a multiple selection, meaning you can change them to display data for a different position. To understand which dimensions are displayed, please consult our chapter on 'How to customise the layout'.

The time frequency is annual data and this is displayed below in a box to indicate that no other selection options are available in this dataset. Like this you are aware that this is a single select dimension for which only the option 'Annual' exists. 

Screenshot of the data selection panel showing by default 46 out of 46 positions for the dimension called 'Geopolitical entity' and 10 out of 49 positions for the dimension 'Time.

 Please note that in the line and bar chart as well as map view, the headings for row, column, and dimensions differ. For line and bar chart, you will see X-axis, series, and dimensions. For maps, it shows geographical area, series, and dimensions. 

There are 2 different ways how to make changes to the data selection.

If you just want to change positions for 1 or 2 dimensions, for example just select more or less countries or time periods, we recommend you proceed as following:

  • click on the drop-down button located to the right-side in the dimension display field
    Screenshot of the country dimension with the drop-down button highlighted located at the far right side in the field behind the label 46 out of 46 values displayed.  
  • select or deselect the positions you wish to display by adding or removing the tick in the small box in front of the position's name. In the example below, you see that EU28 and EU15 were deselected as they do no longer have a tick in the small box in front, while EU27 is selected
    Screenshot of the above described scenario.
     
  • for those boxes displayed under the heading 'Dimensions', you can click on another position that is preselected to display it. However, keep in mind that these might not be all available positions, in our case below only 3 are preselected while others are also available. To see all of those positions, follow the description below for 'Changing multiple dimensions'.
    Screenshot of the dimension with 3 pre-selected positions shown in the drop-down when it is expanded.
     
  • for easier command, you can also filter the displayed positions for each dimension
  • the changes you do there are effective immediately, meaning the data display is changed directly when you select or deselect a position

Change the data selection: full data selection panel

If you wish to change multiple dimensions or want to see which positions are available for each dimension, we recommend you click on the button 'Customise your dataset' located at the top right-hand side in the data selection panel:

Screenshot of the data selection panel with the button 'Customise your dataset' highlighted on the top right hand side

This will open a pop-up with the full data selection panel, which looks like this:

Screenshot of the full data selection panel displayed as a pop-up for the example dataset on GDP.
 

 Please note that the available options differ depending on the available dimensions in each dataset. While the majority of Eurostat datasets have dimensions called 'Geopolitical entity' and 'Time', other dimensions and their names will differ from the example showcased on this page. However, the way to proceed to customise the dataset follows exactly the same principle.

Available dimensions

On the left-hand side, you can see all the dimensions available in a dataset: their label, code, and the available positions. 

Our example above shows 5 different dimensions:

  • Geopolitical entity (label of the dimension), which has the corresponding dimension code [geo] and has in total 46 positions out of which 46 are currently selected
  • National accounts indicator (label) with the code [na_item] and 3 out of 39 positions selected
  • Time (label) with the code [time] and 10 out of 49 positions selected
  • Time frequency (label) with the code [freq] and 1 out of 1 dimension selected, this is a so-called single select dimension
  • Unit of measurement (label) with the code [unit] and 3 out of 27 positions selected

You can now click on those dimensions that you wish to change. On the right hand side, all available positions for this selected dimension will be displayed. A tick in the small box in front of the position name means this position is selected, an empty box means this position is currently not selected. By clicking in the box you can select or deselect a position. 

For an easier command, you can also filter the available positions for each dimension.

Settings

In the 'Settings' tab located at the end on the left-hand side, you can decide for which dimensions you wish to exclude positions that have no data. By default, the slider is set to 'No' for all dimensions. For example, if you do not want to display countries for which no data exists in the table in the dataset, then you can move the slider from its default state 'No' to 'Yes'. 

Screenshot of the settings tab with the available dimensions listed and the slider.
 

'Always all positions' versus 'static positions'

When navigating through the different dimensions, for most dimensions (except the time dimension), you will see on top 2 buttons with the labels 'Always all positions' and 'Static positions'.

Screenshot of these 2 buttons in a dimension tab.

You can see which one is the current chosen option as this is marked with a tick.

Static position means that this dataset will display exactly and only those positions that are selected below in this tab. For example, if you then save this dataset for later use, it will always display only those positions that you initially selected.

Always all positions means that the dataset will always show all available positions for this dimension. For example, if you always wish to show all available positions for the 'Geopolitical entity' this will then show all available aggregates for the EU, the euro area (EA), the EU countries, and if available countries of the European Free Trade Association as well as EU candidate countries and potential candidates. 

Customise the time dimension

In the tab for the dimension 'Time' you will find more options that just 'Always all positions' and 'Static positions'. In addition, you have the options 'Fixed time' and 'From - to'.

Screenshot of the available possibilities: always all positions, static positions, fixed time, and from to

You can see which one is the current chosen option as this is marked with a tick. For an explanation of the first 2 options, please see the explanations above.

Fixed time means that you can select a fixed number of time periods, for example the latest 10 years, quarters, or month, depending on the frequency of the data. If you then save this dataset for later use, it will always display only those 10 positions that you initially selected. This also means that if new positions, meaning a new time period, is added, the time display will adapt. For example, when you customised the dataset, you selected the last 10 available time periods which was from 2014 to 2024. If you save the dataset for later use and data for 2025 are added, the dataset will now adapt to show the newest version of the latest 10 available time periods, namely from 2015 to 2025. 

In the option 'From - to' you can specify a time range. Depending on the frequency of the data, this can for example then be from 2010 to 2024 or from January 2020 to January 2024. 

Please also see our information below on how to filter the time dimension.

Size of dataset

Once you have gone through the tabs and did your customised selection, you can see at the bottom right-hand side the size of your current selection. Please note that the limit is 750 000 cells selected. If your selection exceeds this limit, the button 'Save and go to data view' will not be active and you will not be able to click on it. In this case, please reduce the overall amount of positions you selected to comply to the size limit. 

Screenshot of the size indication showing 'Size of customised dataset: 242,190 out of 750,000 cells

Save your data selection

You have done your selection, you checked that your customised data selection does not exceed the limit, then please click on the 'Save and go to data view' button located at the bottom right-side. If you are logged in, you can also click on 'Save to my datasets', if you are not logged in, this button is inactive, like shown in the screenshot below. If you click on 'Save to my datasets', this will appear under your 'My dataset' option.

 

Select multiple positions

You can select multiple positions at once using Shift + click. First click on a position, then move to the second position. At this moment, hold the Shift key and click on the second element. All elements between the first element and the second element will be set to the state (selected or unselected) the first element is after the first click.

Mouse is free to scroll up/down as Shift key is not hold since the beginning.

Filter dimensions

For each dimension, you can apply different filters to reduce the amount of positions and make it easier to find what you are looking for.

Search by code and label

For all dimensions, except the time dimension, you can search by code or label

For example, you are interested in data for Belgium, then you can type Belgium (label) or BE (code) into this search field and Belgium will come up. 

Wildcards

In the search field, you can also use so-called wildcards. Wildcards are special filtering characters like a question mark (?) or an asterisk (*)The following are available:

  • asterisk or *: this replaced one or multiple letters. For example type in B* and the search will return all positions starting with the letter B, for example for countries Belgium, Bulgaria. 
  • question mark or ?: this replaces 1 letter only. For example, type in GD?, and the search will return all positions that have the GD and 1 additional letter, such as GDP. 

The wildcards can be used more than once or mixed in the search box to display the items. For example:

  • type in ??2? to displays all items of length 4 that have 2 on the third position
  • type in ??2* to displays all items that have 2 on the third position, no matter the length.

'All checked' versus 'Uncheck all'

We recommend to use the search by code and label in combination with the 'All checked' and 'Uncheck all' options. By default, 'All checked' is activated, meaning all positions in this dimension are selected. 

For example, if you wish to only select data for Belgium, Luxembourg, and France, you can click on 'Uncheck all' to remove all positions. In the search field, you then type Belgium or BE and when this come up in the result list, you tick the box in front of Belgium to select it. You can proceed in the same way for the other countries. 

Additional filters

Some dimensions offer additional filters. 

The 'Geopolitical entity' dimension for example offers a filter for aggregates - meaning for example group of countries, such as the EU, euro area, European Free Trade Association (EFTA) - and countries and territories, meaning for example individual EU and EFTA countries. 

Datasets with regional data will offer the possibility to filter by level of the Nomenclature of territorial units for statistics (NUTS). 

Filter the time dimension

In time dimension, it is also possible to use these filters in the search box:

Filter code Meaning Example
>=  Greater or equal than >=2020
..* Greater or equal than ..*2020
> Greater than >2020
<= Less or equal than <= 2020
*.. Less or equal than *..2020
< Less than <2020
.. Between X and Y (included) 2020..2024

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