Null Values in a Visual

Learn why null (N/A) values appear in your visual.

Why null values appear in your visual

Null values appear in your visual when:

• Data for specific dimension member does not exist.
• There is not enough information to calculate the metric.
• Dividing by zero.

If you want to hide null values from your visual, see Show or Hide Data Items.

Data for a specific dimension member does not exist

When there is no data for a specific dimension member, the solution will return a null value. For example:

• James Hayward resigned from his recruiting position in June 2017. When you look at the Breakdown of Open Requisitions grouped by Recruiter in August 2017, James Hayward will appear in the visual with an N/A value. The solution returns a null value because there is no data for James during the selected time period.
• The R&D team was dismantled for three months from May to July and reestablished in August. When looking at a Trend of Headcount grouped by Function, the solution returns a null values for R&D and the visual will not display any data points from May to July. Showing a zero headcount for May to July would be misleading and create a confusing visual because the headcount did not actually dip down to zero, but rather the team ceased to exist and there was no data for the specific dimension member.

Not enough information to calculate the metric

Some metrics depend on multiple data points and if any one of the data points is missing, the solution will return a null value. For example, if you calculate a trailing 12 month metric value and there is not 12 months of data history preceding it, the visual will show N/A.

Dividing by zero

When calculating a metric value and there is a zero value in the denominator, the solution will return a null value.

For example, we are reviewing the resignation rate across countries for Q1 2017 to see the effect of our retention initiatives.

During that period:

• Brazil had an average headcount of 400 and no employees resigned.
• Germany had no employees.

Based on the information, the visual displays a 0% resignation rate for Brazil because no employees resigned during the period and N/A resignation rate for Germany because the headcount in Germany for the period was zero.

Showing a rate of 0% would be misleading because it could be interpreted as a positive outcome for the initiative, but in reality no one could have resigned from Germany when there were no employees there to start with.