AML Dashboard Interactions

Knowledge Checkpoint

A grasp of these concepts will help you understand this documentation better:

• FilterBlock: the control block for FilterInteraction
• DateDrillBlock: the control block for DateDrillInteraction
• PopBlock: the control block for PopInteraction
• VizBlock
• AML Dashboard

The explicit_interactions list wires blocks together, most commonly a control block driving one or more visualization blocks:

• Every active connection is listed explicitly.
• FilterInteraction, DateDrillInteraction, and PopInteraction are the interaction types you can configure here; drill-through is configured separately, via FilterBlock's settings.drillthrough.

Dashboard my_dashboard {
  // ... blocks ...

  explicit_interactions: [
    FilterInteraction { ... },
    DateDrillInteraction { ... },
    PopInteraction { ... }
  ]
}

caution

• Older dashboards may still use this legacy interactions key.
• Always write explicit_interactions: [] in your canvas dashboards, even with no interactions. Missing this key falls back to legacy interactions behavior.

FilterInteraction

FilterInteraction is a single AML keyword, but its runtime behavior depends on the types of the from and to blocks, not on the keyword itself:

from block	to block	Runtime behavior
FilterBlock	VizBlock	Filter block controls a visualization (the common case)
FilterBlock	FilterBlock	Parent-child filter: one filter block limits the suggested values of another
VizBlock	VizBlock	Cross-filtering: clicking a data point in one visualization filters another

Parameter	Description
from	Name of the block that drives this interaction (a FilterBlock or VizBlock, depending on the behavior above).
to	List of target block names (strings). Group targets sharing the same field, aggregation, and disabled; anything else needs its own FilterInteraction entry with the same from.
field	Reference to the affected field on the target block(s), using r(model.field) syntax. Optional in some cases (e.g. a cross-filter (VizBlock → VizBlock) entry doesn't take one at all), but write it explicitly whenever it applies.
aggregation	Optional aggregation override, for filtering on an aggregated value instead of the raw field. Applied only when targeting a VizBlock; ignored for parent-child and cross-filter targets.
disabled	Set to true to turn off the connection. Needs only from, to, and disabled.

explicit_interactions: [
  FilterInteraction {
    from: 'f_users_role'
    to: ['v2']
    field: r(public_users.role)
  },
  FilterInteraction {
    from: 'f_users_role'
    to: ['v3', 'v5']
    field: r(homestay_hosts.role)
  },
  FilterInteraction {
    from: 'f_users_role'
    to: ['v6']
    field: r(admin_users.role)
  },
  FilterInteraction {
    from: 'f_users_role'
    to: ['v4']
    field: r(support_agents.role)
  },
  FilterInteraction {
    from: 'f1'
    to: ['v1', 'v2', 'v3']
    field: r(model.field)
    aggregation: 'count'
  }
]

DateDrillInteraction

DateDrillInteraction connects a DateDrillBlock to one or more visualization blocks, mapping a date field in each to the viewer-selected time granularity. A given VizBlock can be targeted by only one DateDrillInteraction per dashboard.

Parameter	Description
from	Name of the DateDrillBlock that drives this interaction.
to	List of target block names (strings) that share the same field. Targets needing a different field go in a separate DateDrillInteraction entry.
field	Reference to the affected date field, using r(model.field) syntax. Required (no default).

explicit_interactions: [
  DateDrillInteraction {
    from: 'd_date_drill'
    to: ['v1', 'v2']
    field: r(orders.created_at)
  }
]

PopInteraction

PopInteraction connects a PopBlock to one or more visualization blocks, mapping a date field in each to the viewer-selected comparison period. A given VizBlock can be targeted by only one PopInteraction per dashboard.

Parameter	Description
from	Name of the PopBlock that drives this interaction.
to	List of target block names (strings) that share the same field. Targets needing a different field go in a separate PopInteraction entry.
field	Reference to the affected date field, using r(model.field) syntax. Required (no default).

explicit_interactions: [
  PopInteraction {
    from: 'p_period_comparison'
    to: ['v1']
    field: r(public_users.created_at)
  }
]

Interactions (legacy)

A quick comparison between the current and legacy syntax:

	explicit_interactions (current)	interactions (legacy)
Behavior	Nothing is connected unless listed	Same-dataset filters and charts auto-link; this list only records exceptions, mainly disabled links
Target syntax	Block name references in to	CustomMapping objects in to

How Holistics resolves having both syntaxes present in the same dashboard:

explicit_interactions	interactions	Result
Present	Present	explicit_interactions wins; interactions is ignored
Present	❌ Absent	explicit_interactions wins
❌ Absent	Present	interactions wins
❌ Absent	❌ Absent	interactions wins (pure auto-linking, no exceptions declared)

FilterInteraction

interactions: [
  FilterInteraction {
    from: 'f_users_role'
    to: [
      CustomMapping {
        block: 'v2'
        field: r(public_users.role)
      },
      CustomMapping {
        block: [
          'v3',
          'v5'
        ]
        field: r(homestay_hosts.role)
      },
      CustomMapping {
        block: 'v6'
        field: r(admin_users.role)
      },
      CustomMapping {
        block: 'v4'
        field: r(support_agents.role)
      }
    ]
  }
]

DateDrillInteraction

Dashboard sales {
  block d_date_drill: DateDrillBlock {
    label: 'Drill by'
    default: 'month'
  }

  block v1: VizBlock {
    label: 'Revenue Over Time'
    viz: LineChart { dataset: ecommerce }
  }

  block v2: VizBlock {
    label: 'Orders Over Time'
    viz: BarChart { dataset: ecommerce }
  }

  interactions: [
    DateDrillInteraction {
      from: 'd_date_drill'
      to: [
        CustomMapping {
          block: ['v1', 'v2']
          field: r(orders.created_at)
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

PopInteraction

interactions: [
  PopInteraction {
    from: 'p_period_comparison'
    to: [
      CustomMapping {
        block: 'v1'
        field: r(public_users.created_at)
      }
    ]
  }
]

CustomMapping

CustomMapping wraps a target block for FilterInteraction, DateDrillInteraction, or PopInteraction under the legacy interactions key.

Parameter	Description
block	Name of the target block (as a string), or a list of block names to apply the same mapping to multiple blocks at once.
field	Reference to the affected field, using r(model.field) syntax.