--- title: "About the Flex Grid Object – Multi-Layout Table Display in Board" slug: "about-the-flex-grid-object" description: "Learn what the Flex Grid object is in Board: a hybrid layout combining row/column structure with block flexibility and nested relationships for interactive display." tags: ["ROLAP", "Flex Grid", "Data View"] updated: 2025-10-07T14:33:50Z published: 2025-10-07T14:33:50Z canonical: "help.board.com/about-the-flex-grid-object" stale: true --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.board.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # About the Flex Grid Object > [!CAUTION] > 💡This article contains **version changes.** Spot the light bulb icon? That means you’ll find helpful details about what’s changed across versions. Read more about version changes [here](/v14/docs/before-you-begin#How-to-navigate-this-Knowledge-Base). This topic covers the Flex Grid Object and its features. The **Flex Grid Object** is a powerful reporting tool displayed as a **spreadsheet-like table** with key features like **pivoting**, **grouping, sorting, filtering**, **quick charts**, and more. The Flex Grid Object provides Planners and Developers with the ability to **leverage large data volumes**, rendering reports with more than 1 million rows. In previous versions, Planners could only interact with a Data View to display data in a table format, of which the Planner's capabilities to display data in different ways was configured by Developers and sometimes restricted. With the Flex Grid Object, **Planners have more autonomy to pivot data** in order to analyze data directly from the Flex Grid Object. In contrast to a Data View that only shows data from a top-down perspective, the Flex Grid also displays data from a bottom-up perspective, giving the end user more self-service capabilities and freedom to create a very detailed dataset where it was not as visually optimized or possible in a Data View before. This table compares the two Objects: | Data View | Flex Grid | | --- | --- | | **Aggregated analysis**, general guidelines could be: - Optimized for 1-3 dimensions reports - Less than 100K rows - Less than 30 columns | **Detailed analysis**, general guidelines could be: - 7+ dimensions reports - 1M+ rows - 30+ columns | | **Top-down** **approaches** - Display Aggregated data: KPIs, small tables, labels, simple charts - Drill down analysis - Focus on exceptions | **Bottom-up** **approaches** - Start from details and then pivot - Expand/collapse analysis - Excel-like filter and sort - Detailed information display | | **Standard/pre-built reports** - Developers’ pre-built reports for end users - Pre-built dashboards - Consolidated analysis paths | **Data Exploration reports** - Developers build open reports for end users, then end users generate independently several ad-hoc analysis - Customizable dashboards - Flexible analysis paths | | **Top-Down planning - examples of use cases**: - Target planning: By Row - Account category, Country \| By Column: Month - Long term planning: By Row - Account category, Region \| By Column: Year - Strategic Planning: By Row – KPIs , Org Hierarchy \| By Column: Year | **Bottom-up planning, examples of use cases**: - Demand planning : By Row - SKU, Customer \| By Column: Month - Revenue planning: By Row – Rev Accounts, Product, Location \| By Column: Week | ## Flex Grid Highlights The Flex Grid Object breaks data silos with unmatched performance, allowing the display of datasets for different areas of a business and unlocking unified decision making. Some of the key benefits include: - **Supports more Entities by row**. Supports more than 1 million rows and dozens of columns, allowing a bottom-up analysis not feasible in Excel. - **Better performance**. Flex Grid uses a new query method enabled by the [new Board 14 Dynamic Engine](/v1/docs/the-new-dynamic-engine), which is more powerful and allows the retrieval of large datasets. Furthermore, the new execution logic minimizes the server requests of data, allowing a smooth user experience with all Object interactions and reducing performance latency. - **Self-service pivoting**. Less focus on the prebuild or standard reporting which allows end users to achieve their reporting needs autonomously directly within the Flex Grid. Pivot functionalities allow Developers to create more open reports and dashboards for Planners so they can freely and independently achieve the type of analysis they need. - **Improved filtering and sorting**. Filtering and sorting is not configured in the Layout editor configuration as with a Data View, but within the Flex Grid itself. It is possible for a Developer to save a default display configuration of a particular sorting and filtering within the Flex Grid so the Planner does not start from the raw dataset. Additionally, manual sorting of fields is also possible. - [**Multi-filtering & Multi-sorting**](/v14/docs/interacting-with-a-flex-grid#Multi-filtering-&-multi-sorting). It is possible to sort and filter by multiple fields. The Developer can configure the restrictions to a single column or multiple columns. - ****💡Spreadsheet-like Data Entry**. Data entry capabilities [are available for the Flex Grid Object](/v14/docs/data-entry-on-a-flex-grid). Leverage spreadsheet-like functionalities for planning budgets and forecasts. The platform allows users to enter, update, and simulate data directly within an interactive grid, ensuring seamless performance even with high data volumes.** In versions 14.2.2 and earlier, Data Entry on a Flex Grid Object is not available. - **Spreadsheet-like Data Visualization**. Spreadsheet-like charts are possible directly within the Flex Grid itself. Use on-the-fly charts to visualize demand patterns and identify trends. - **Export to Excel**. You can export the exact Flex Grid configuration to an Excel workbook directly from the Object without formatting it. - **More flexible formatting**. The Flex Grid has even more formatting options than a Data View, found in the Design subpage of the Object Properties panel. - **Large calculations on-the-fly**. Leaf-level calculations can now be done on-the-fly directly in the Flex Grid. Now, the calculations are executed at dataset level when the dataset is retrieved from the engine. This is ideal for use cases which would previously require calculations and storing data using Dataflows. For example, this new Object could be useful when making currency conversions, variance analysis calculations, P*Q , etc. - **Unbalanced hierarchies**. The dataset-level execution now allows the table to calculate multiple unbalanced hierarchy aggregations; this is significant because in Data Views, only the most-nested Unbalanced Hierarchy set By Row was executed. - **Rules and Algorithms**. These on-the-fly calculations are executed at dataset-level, now allowing the users to easily display/aggregate calculated values by the available dimensions (i.e. Excel-like Pivot behavior). ## Can I use a Flex Grid for the same use cases as a Data View? Differently from the Data View, Flex Grid is best used for bottom-up approaches, detailed analysis, and data exploration. However, there are some use cases where both Objects are applicable. In these cases, knowing the differences between the two Objects is helpful to determine which one is right for your situation. The table below shows which features available in a Data View are limited in a Flex Grid and whether those limitations have been replaced with a Flex Grid-specific feature, are in the roadmap for future releases, or simply not in scope for this new Object. You can see the Flex Grid vs Data View Known Limitations and Roadmap on the following table: | **Features** | **Availability in Flex Grid** | **Equivalent Flex Grid feature** | | --- | --- | --- | | **Ranking functions and Rule Block type** | ![](https://cdn.document360.io/8d6f1ae8-0cac-4d0d-a208-6245b83df94a/Images/Documentation/failed-24.png) Not Available | ![](https://cdn.document360.io/8d6f1ae8-0cac-4d0d-a208-6245b83df94a/Images/Documentation/passed-24.png) In roadmap for future release | | **Cube types**: | | | | - ROLAP | **![](https://cdn.document360.io/8d6f1ae8-0cac-4d0d-a208-6245b83df94a/Images/Documentation/passed-24.png) 💡Available** In version 14.2.2 and earlier, this is not available. | | | - BLOB | **![](https://cdn.document360.io/8d6f1ae8-0cac-4d0d-a208-6245b83df94a/Images/Documentation/passed-24.png) 💡Available** In version 14.2.2 and earlier, this is not available. | | | **Block Settings**: | | | | - Detail by | ![](https://cdn.document360.io/8d6f1ae8-0cac-4d0d-a208-6245b83df94a/Images/Documentation/passed-24.png) Replaced | **![](https://cdn.document360.io/8d6f1ae8-0cac-4d0d-a208-6245b83df94a/Images/Documentation/passed-24.png) 💡[By Column](/v14/docs/about-data-block-settings#By-column)** In version 14.2.2 and earlier, the By Column feature is not available. | | - Data Entry | **![](https://cdn.document360.io/8d6f1ae8-0cac-4d0d-a208-6245b83df94a/Images/Documentation/passed-24.png) 💡[Available](/v14/docs/data-entry-on-a-flex-grid). However, the features Pattern Based Allocation, Cube Cells Locked by, and Totals Locked by are not available in the Flex Grid as opposed to the Data View.** In version 14.2.2 and earlier, Data Entry on a Flex Grid Object is not available. | | | - Summary algorithms | ![](https://cdn.document360.io/8d6f1ae8-0cac-4d0d-a208-6245b83df94a/Images/Documentation/passed-24.png) Replaced | ![](https://cdn.document360.io/8d6f1ae8-0cac-4d0d-a208-6245b83df94a/Images/Documentation/passed-24.png) Replaced by Total calculation algorithms | | - Hide/show zeros | ![](https://cdn.document360.io/8d6f1ae8-0cac-4d0d-a208-6245b83df94a/Images/Documentation/passed-24.png) Replaced | ![](https://cdn.document360.io/8d6f1ae8-0cac-4d0d-a208-6245b83df94a/Images/Documentation/passed-24.png) Replaced by columns' filters conditions | | - Hide/show totals | ![](https://cdn.document360.io/8d6f1ae8-0cac-4d0d-a208-6245b83df94a/Images/Documentation/passed-24.png) Replaced | ![](https://cdn.document360.io/8d6f1ae8-0cac-4d0d-a208-6245b83df94a/Images/Documentation/passed-24.png) Replaced by columns' expand/collapse option in Pivot mode | | - Aggregation | ![](https://cdn.document360.io/8d6f1ae8-0cac-4d0d-a208-6245b83df94a/Images/Documentation/failed-24.png) Not Available | | | - Nexel | ![](https://cdn.document360.io/8d6f1ae8-0cac-4d0d-a208-6245b83df94a/Images/Documentation/failed-24.png) Not Available | | | **Layout editor**: | | | | - "By Column" axis | ![](https://cdn.document360.io/8d6f1ae8-0cac-4d0d-a208-6245b83df94a/Images/Documentation/passed-24.png) Replaced | ![](https://cdn.document360.io/8d6f1ae8-0cac-4d0d-a208-6245b83df94a/Images/Documentation/passed-24.png) Replaced by Pivot mode | | - Filter & Sort | ![](https://cdn.document360.io/8d6f1ae8-0cac-4d0d-a208-6245b83df94a/Images/Documentation/passed-24.png) Replaced | ![](https://cdn.document360.io/8d6f1ae8-0cac-4d0d-a208-6245b83df94a/Images/Documentation/passed-24.png) Filters and Sorting for end-user Planners are replaced by the table filters and sorting features within the Flex Grid Filters while in via the Layout Editor are in roadmap for future releases | | - [Object settings](/v14/docs/the-flex-grid-layout#Object-settings-area) | **![](https://cdn.document360.io/8d6f1ae8-0cac-4d0d-a208-6245b83df94a/Images/Documentation/passed-24.png) 💡Available - Configure Drill and Block Display** In version 14.2.2 and earlier, this is not available. | | | - [Block Drill configurations](/v14/docs/the-flex-grid-layout#Object-settings-area) | **![](https://cdn.document360.io/8d6f1ae8-0cac-4d0d-a208-6245b83df94a/Images/Documentation/passed-24.png) 💡Available** In version 14.2.2 and earlier, this is not available. | | | **Drill Anywhere:** | | | | - [Drill-to-Entity](/v14/docs/drill-down-on-entities) | **![](https://cdn.document360.io/8d6f1ae8-0cac-4d0d-a208-6245b83df94a/Images/Documentation/passed-24.png) 💡Available** In version 14.2.2 and earlier, this is not available. | | | - [Drill-to-Screen](/v14/docs/drill-to-screen) | **![](https://cdn.document360.io/8d6f1ae8-0cac-4d0d-a208-6245b83df94a/Images/Documentation/passed-24.png) 💡Available** In version 14.2.2 and earlier, this is not available. | | | - [Drill Procedures](/v14/docs/drill-procedure) | **![](https://cdn.document360.io/8d6f1ae8-0cac-4d0d-a208-6245b83df94a/Images/Documentation/passed-24.png) 💡Available** In version 14.2.2 and earlier, this is not available. | | | **Object toolbar**: | | | | - Lock & spread | **![](https://cdn.document360.io/8d6f1ae8-0cac-4d0d-a208-6245b83df94a/Images/Documentation/passed-24.png) 💡Available for manual lock when Data Entry is enabled** In version 14.2.2 and earlier, this is not available. | | | - Search | ![](https://cdn.document360.io/8d6f1ae8-0cac-4d0d-a208-6245b83df94a/Images/Documentation/failed-24.png) Not Available | | | - Expand/collapse from the toolbar | ![](https://cdn.document360.io/8d6f1ae8-0cac-4d0d-a208-6245b83df94a/Images/Documentation/passed-24.png) Replaced | ![](https://cdn.document360.io/8d6f1ae8-0cac-4d0d-a208-6245b83df94a/Images/Documentation/passed-24.png) Replaced by expand/collapse features in the Object | > [!NOTE] > [*Object properties*](/v14/docs/formatting-a-flex-grid) *in the "Data" and "Design" sections are specific to the Flex Grid Object. Some of the options available for the Data View are not applicable to Flex Grid and vice versa.* ## Related - [The Flex Grid Layout](/the-flex-grid-layout.md) - [Format a Flex Grid](/format-a-flex-grid.md) - [Create a Flex Grid Object](/create-a-flex-grid-object.md) - [Interact with a Flex Grid](/interact-with-a-flex-grid.md)