Ask for some basic Dashboards 11.2.x date filter handholding please.

[FerdH4]

My date source(s) has lots of date fields and lots of date/time-combined fields.  But thus far, no one has been kind enough to create any dimensional stuff for me to make date handing super simply - like "today's" records or "MTD" records.

I don't want to use Dashboards' basic filtering options because I suspect I'll get stuck with a static, recurring output containing the same date range's transactions in the visualizations every day instead of data that is live, moving, evolving, etc.  For example, a Dashboard with a filter on date range of 2023-12-01 through today's date of 2023-12-27 will give me the same results today and tomorrow which is data through 2023-12-27.

I know exactly how to address this kind of variable date within Cognos Reporting using an expression in the Query. 

But, how can I brute-force finesse a similar kind of moving MTD date range result within a Dashboard?  For example, I'm hoping there's a way for me to make use of a system variable like "current_date".   

[FerdH4]

I need to add that I was able to find the "Create calculation..." action in the Select Source's pane/panel.  Yet, I'm still pretty much lost.

I could appreciate some bread crumbs starting at that point please.  Feel free to makeup a date data item name to compare against if we're headed into an expression. 

[bus_pass_man]

Knowing what you are using could help a bit.

If you are using a data module you can create relative time measures using the calendars provided in the samples.

If you are using OLAP there usually is relative time functionality of some sort built in.

Knowing your reporting requirements clearer could help too. 

It is easy peasy to create a filter in FM or a data module with functions such as _days_between which you could use to filter your dashboard in such a way which would be dynamic.   

[FerdH4]

Thank you bus_pass_man for the attempt to help me.

I've got a snowflake schema database...and zero access to Cognos framework manager.

I've got a bunch of transactional date fields - one for example named "Order Date" which is simply MMDDYYYY - and I'm trying to limit the data included in my Dashboard visualizations to just December's MTD data - 12/1/23 to current_date - based upon that "Order Date" value.

[FerdH4]

This isn't as automated as I'd like - such that December 2023's transactions would be automatically included - but I have an interim solution.

1.  I created a Calculation for Month of "_month (Order Date)" and for Year of "_year (Order Date)."
2.  I've dropped both of those Calculated data items into the Filter tabs at the top of the Dashboard.
3.  Hence, making it the audience's responsibility - er...choice - to select the period they want to see.

I'm still looking for the magic to automate this to include only current month's (MTD) transactions without audience's intervention.