Answer experience

Learn about ThoughtSpot’s Answer experience.

Overview

The Answer experience contains the following features:

  • Improved Formula Editor: The new formula editor has a larger editor window, allows new lines, and has a new layout with integrated help.

  • Table column summaries and headlines: Conditional and number formatting for table column summaries and headlines is now available. Column summaries are aligned with their respective columns and are part of the table, although you can configure their number and conditional formatting separately.

  • Table column summary configuration for admins: You can now enable or disable column summaries for users on the new Answer experience, from the Search & SpotIQ section of the admin console. By default, table column summaries are on.

  • Table configuration: Conditional formatting for attributes is now available for tables. Conditional formatting is now part of the Table configuration panel instead of being a separate modal. You can now set the content density and theme (outline, row, or zebra) of your table.

  • Chart configuration: Conditional formatting for chart measures is now part of the Chart configuration panel instead of being a separate modal.

  • KPI chart type: You can now create visualizations of your data’s Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Using this feature, you can track the changes in important KPIs in your data.

  • Monitor Key Performance Indicators in your data: Use the Monitor function to receive notifications when your KPI satisfies a certain threshold condition, or to schedule notifications for your KPIs on an hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly basis.

  • Conditional formatting for pivot tables: You can now perform conditional formatting on measures in pivot tables.

  • Improved sorting for pivot tables: Pivot tables now support multiple sorts at a time. When you sort by a measure, you sort rows only, not columns. This change allows you to sort the rows by a measure and the columns by an attribute. When you save a pivot table that you sorted, the existing sorting saves as well.

  • Undo, redo, or reset button: Use the in-product undo, redo, and reset buttons to reset or go back or forward one step each time you make a change in a search or saved Answer (for example, when you add a new column to the search, drill down, or sort). These buttons appear to the right of the search bar in a search or saved Answer. Note that the reset button is only available for saved Answers; it resets the Answer to its last saved state.

  • Drill down by measures: You can now drill down on a data point by a measure. In the classic Answer experience, you can only drill down on a data point by an attribute.

  • SpotIQ: Cleaner, more intuitive UI for SpotIQ analysis of Answer data points, surfacing the most useful workflows and allowing advanced customization.

  • Learning cards: These cards teach new users about ThoughtSpot, and how to gain insights from searches and Answers.

  • Number and date formatting: Charts and tables now support the number and date formatting defined at the Worksheet level, by the format pattern, for headlines and chart labels.

  • Improved logic for showing chart elements in Liveboard visualizations: For all Liveboard visualization sizes except for the smallest size, ThoughtSpot now shows axis values, labels, and legends. Legends will always appear to the right of the chart. For the smallest visualization size, ThoughtSpot now shows axis values and labels, but not legends.

  • [8.2.0.cl and later] HTML for Answer titles and descriptions: Use HTML in titles and descriptions for Answers and visualizations within Liveboards. For example, you can add a clickable link to a word or phrase in a description, or italicize part of an Answer title.

  • [8.4.0.cl and later] Answer download footer: Administrators can specify a standard footer to add to all Answer downloads. Use this functionality to add a confidentiality disclaimer, for example.

  • [9.0.0.cl and later] Show measures in pivot table rows: Choose whether to display measures in rows or columns in your pivot tables.

Limitations

Answer experience deprecations

The following features which were available previously in the classic Answer experience are no longer available in an Answer.

  • Browser back button: you can no longer use the browser back button to go back one step in a search or saved Answer. Instead, use the new in-product back button to the right of the search bar in a search or saved Answer.

  • Multiple join path resolution within the formula editor or a search: when you try to search on columns with more than one possible join path, the system no longer allows you to define the join path within the search. Similarly, when you try to create a formula with columns with more than one possible join path, the system does not allow you to define the join path. Instead, the system now prompts you to resolve this issue and avoid confusion or incorrect data by creating a Worksheet with the correct join path.

  • Send feedback: The option to send product feedback, from the more options menu more options menu icon on an Answer or search.

  • Client-side summaries for tables: We consolidated column summaries and headlines into one summary, called a headline summary. To calculate these headline summaries, ThoughtSpot executes one SQL query for each summary against the underlying database. These headline summaries are integrated with the table columns. You can pin them to Liveboards, but you must manually re-enable headline summaries on charts and tables in your Liveboards from the chart or table settings. ThoughtSpot won’t migrate them automatically, because of high query costs.

  • Granular access to Liveboards: A privilege limiting some users to Read only access on curated Liveboards. These users could view and explore; however, they could not copy, alter, download, or share the Liveboards.

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