Filtering vs hiding in pivot charts

Understanding the difference between filtering, hiding, rows and results is the key to reading the status line that appears above every AddMaple pivot. This guide walks through the terminology we use in the app and shows what happens when you combine multiselect columns or weights.

Filters – drop rows before the pivot runs

What they do – filters remove respondent rows from every calculation. Once a row is filtered out it no longer contributes to totals, percentages, significance tests or exports.
Where they apply – filters live at the top of the workspace (or on the dashboard widgets) and are evaluated before the pivot is built. Learn more about filtering your data.
What you will see in the status line – X rows filtered. Those rows are excluded from both the “rows” and “results” counts and from any weighted bases.

Hiding values – suppress categories after the pivot runs

What they do – hiding is a chart-level action. You can hide individual categories from any legend. The rows still exist; we simply remove the hidden category from the output so you can focus on the remaining values.
Row-hiding vs result-hiding
- Empty-like categories (EMPTY, .) hide entire rows. If a respondent answered ONLY with an empty value, the row disappears from the visible slice. The status line will show X empty rows hidden.
- All other categories only hide the matching results. The row still counts toward the row base, but any hidden selections are removed from the results count. The status line shows X results hidden with an expandable list of the option labels.
Undo and visibility – hidden categories stay hidden until you toggle them back on from the legend.

Rows vs results

Rows

Definition: Number of respondents (records) contributing to the chart after filters and row-level hides
When they differ: Rows and results are the same when none of the pivots are multiselect and no empty-like categories are hidden

Results

Definition: Number of counted answers in the displayed columns
When they differ: Results can exceed rows when a single respondent can select multiple values (multiselect questions) or when you hide only some of a respondent's selections

Multiselect example

A respondent answers "Red" and "Blue" to a multiselect question.
Rows = 1 (the respondent).
Results = 2 (Red and Blue).
If you hide “Red”, the row still counts toward the row base, but you now have 1 result (Blue) and the status line reports 1 result hidden (Red).

Weighting and the status line

When a weight column is active we calculate a weighted version of rows and results:

Weighted results – the sum of the weights applied to every visible result.
Weighted rows – the weighted base. If the weighted base matches the unweighted row count we omit the “rows” portion for clarity.
The status line reads Weighted: X results or Weighted: X results from Y rows depending on whether the weighted and unweighted row bases match.

Reading the status line

The status line aggregates everything discussed above. For example:

Showing 1,431 results from 870 rows
61 empty rows hidden
20 results hidden
• None of the above — 20 results
Weighted: 1,520.5 results from 905.2 rows

Interpretation:

Showing… – there are 870 respondents contributing to the visible chart producing 1,431 counted answers (a multiselect scenario).
Empty rows hidden – 61 rows were present but contained only empty-like values, so they have been removed from the visible slice.
Results hidden – one of the values (“None of the above”) is hidden, removing 20 results.
Weighted line – a weight column is active, so we display the weighted bases alongside the unweighted counts.

Quick checklist

Use filters when you want to permanently narrow the respondent base for all charts. Learn more about filtering your data.
Use hide when you want to focus on specific categories within a chart without changing the overall respondent pool. Learn more about working with legends.
Remember that rows represent respondents and results represent counted answers.
With multiselect pivots results often exceed rows.
With weighting you will see a second line that reports the weighted totals.

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