Filtering in GraphQL

Overview

Data filtering is crucial for extracting relevant insights from your organization's data. GraphQL allows you to filter data accurately based on specific criteria, enhancing data retrieval and management efficiency.

This document offers an overview of data filtering in GraphQL, with a focus on its implementation in the SAP LeanIX GraphQL API. You'll learn how to fetch available filters and use them in your GraphQL queries.

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Note

Understanding which GraphQL operations support filtering is key to using filters effectively. You can explore available filters by navigating through the GraphiQL interface in your SAP LeanIX workspace. This interface provides a comprehensive and interactive overview of the GraphQL schema. To learn more about GraphiQL and how to navigate to it, see GraphiQL Tool.

Filters

The SAP LeanIX GraphQL API offers robust filtering capabilities to enhance your data retrieval operations. These filters are particularly useful when managing large data volumes, as they boost the accuracy and efficiency of your data management tasks.

The filtering capabilities are supported in specific operations through the filter argument associated with the corresponding API operation. This argument lets you define the criteria that data must meet to be included in the operation's results.

For example, to retrieve fact sheets with a specific technical fit, use the filter argument in your API operation. The system returns only the fact sheets that meet this criterion.

Logical Operators

Logical operators are essential tools for filtering complex data sets in GraphQL. They let you combine or modify filter conditions, enabling you to create more complex and precise data queries.

The table below provides an overview of the logical operators you can use in your GraphQL queries:

Facet Keys

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Note

This document doesn't provide a comprehensive list of all available filter options. You can view a full list of filters and facet keys in the GraphQL schema, accessible through the GraphiQL tool in your SAP LeanIX workspace. Explore filter options for each query in the Explorer section of GraphiQL and apply them interactively to your operations.

Facets are a powerful feature that enhances the precision of data filtering operations. They are the keys used to filter results in queries. These keys can be based on various attributes, such as the fact sheet type, the relation between fact sheets, and more.

Given the diverse nature of fact sheets in SAP LeanIX, facets fall into two categories:

• Global facet keys
• Facet keys specific to fact sheet types

This categorization ensures you can apply the most appropriate and relevant filters to your data.

Global Facet Keys

Global facet keys apply to all fact sheet types. These facets are based on attributes or relations common to all fact sheets, regardless of type. This consistency allows you to apply uniform filters across different fact sheet types, ensuring uniformity in your data retrieval operations. For example, lxState is a global facet that lets you filter fact sheets by a specific quality seal state.

The table below lists the available global facet filters. Each entry includes the facet key used in GraphQL queries and the corresponding filter name as it appears on the left-side filter pane in the inventory.

The following image shows filters on the left-side pane of the inventory. To learn more about filtering data in the inventory, see Searching and Filtering in the Inventory.

Facet Keys Specific to Fact Sheet Types

Facet keys specific to certain types of fact sheets rely on the specific attributes or relations of a particular fact sheet type. For instance, the dataFlowDirection facet, which indicates the data flow direction of an interface, is available only for fact sheets of the Interface type. This specificity helps narrow down results to a particular fact sheet type.

In the GraphQL Explorer, you can switch between different fact sheet types. Each type has its own unique set of facet filters, offering more granularity in data filtering. As you switch between types, the available facet filters on the sidebar change, allowing you to access and apply unique filters to your data.

Understanding the types of fact sheets you're working with and the filters they support is key to effective data filtering. By leveraging this knowledge, you can apply the most relevant and precise filters, ensuring your data management and analysis tasks are efficient and accurate.

Retrieving Facet Filters

You can retrieve the available filter options for specific fact sheet types. This feature helps you understand the available facets, their keys, the possible operators you can use with them, and the options for applying a specific filter.

The following GraphQL query retrieves the available facet filters for the Application fact sheet type:

query availableFaceFilters {
  allFactSheets(factSheetType: Application) {
    filterOptions {
      facets {
        facetKey
        possibleOperators
        operator
        results {
          name
          key
        }
        dateFilter {
          from
          to
          type
          minDate
          maxDate
        }
        relationFieldsFilterOperator
        relationFieldsFilter {
          fieldName
          values {
            key
            selected
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

The query returns a list of facets for the Application fact sheet type. Each facet includes the following attributes:

• facetKey: The facet's key.
• possibleOperators: A list of logical operators you can use with the facet.
• operator: The logical operator used with the facet.
• results: A list of available options for using the facet. Each option has a name and a key.
• dateFilter: If the filter supports date ranges, this attribute provides details and options, including the range (from and to), type, and the minimum and maximum dates (minDate and maxDate).
• relationFieldsFilterOperator: The operator used with the relational fields filter.
• relationFieldsFilter: Details of the relational fields filter, including the field name (fieldName) and a list of values. Each value has a key and a selected status.

The following example response is shortened and doesn't include all available filter options.

{
  "data": {
    "allFactSheets": {
      "filterOptions": {
        "facets": [
          {
            "facetKey": "FactSheetTypes",
            "possibleOperators": [],
            "operator": "OR",
            "results": [
              {
                "name": "Objective",
                "key": "Objective"
              },
              {
                "name": "Platform",
                "key": "Platform"
              },
              {
                "name": "Initiative",
                "key": "Initiative"
              },
              {
                "name": "BusinessCapability",
                "key": "BusinessCapability"
              },
              {
                "name": "BusinessContext",
                "key": "BusinessContext"
              },
              {
                "name": "Organization",
                "key": "Organization"
              },
              {
                "name": "Application",
                "key": "Application"
              },
              {
                "name": "Interface",
                "key": "Interface"
              },
              {
                "name": "DataObject",
                "key": "DataObject"
              },
              {
                "name": "ITComponent",
                "key": "ITComponent"
              },
              {
                "name": "Provider",
                "key": "Provider"
              },
              {
                "name": "TechnicalStack",
                "key": "TechnicalStack"
              }
            ],
            "dateFilter": null,
            "relationFieldsFilterOperator": null,
            "relationFieldsFilter": null
          },
          {
            "facetKey": "DataQuality",
            "possibleOperators": [
              "OR",
              "AND",
              "NOR"
            ],
            "operator": "OR",
            "results": [
              {
                "name": "noResponsible",
                "key": "_noResponsible_"
              },
              {
                "name": "qualitySealBroken",
                "key": "_qualitySealBroken_"
              },
              {
                "name": "noDescription",
                "key": "_noDescription_"
              },
              {
                "name": "noLifecycle",
                "key": "_noLifecycle_"
              }
            ],
            "dateFilter": null,
            "relationFieldsFilterOperator": null,
            "relationFieldsFilter": null
          },
          {
            "facetKey": "lxState",
            "possibleOperators": [
              "OR",
              "NOR"
            ],
            "operator": "OR",
            "results": [
              {
                "name": "BROKEN_QUALITY_SEAL",
                "key": "BROKEN_QUALITY_SEAL"
              },
              {
                "name": "DRAFT",
                "key": "DRAFT"
              },
              {
                "name": "REJECTED",
                "key": "REJECTED"
              },
              {
                "name": "APPROVED",
                "key": "APPROVED"
              }
            ],
            "dateFilter": null,
            "relationFieldsFilterOperator": null,
            "relationFieldsFilter": null
          },
          ...
        ]
      }
    }
  }
}

Examples

To view example queries with filters, see Filtering Fact Sheets. You can adapt these examples to suit your needs based on the data you want to fetch.

In this section, we provide an example query with multiple facet filters and explain how each filter works. We aim to filter fact sheets by these parameters:

• Fact sheet type: Application
• Technical fit: unreasonable
• Functional fit: Any value except perfect or appropriate
• Lifecycle phase: phaseIn, with the start date between 2023 and 2029

The table below lists the facet filters to use in the query and specifies the operations they perform.

Additionally, we sort items in the response in descending order by the updatedAt field using the sortings variable.

Example query:

query filterFactSheets($filter: FilterInput!, $sortings: [Sorting]) {
  allFactSheets(filter: $filter, sort: $sortings) {
    totalCount
    edges {
      node {
        id
        displayName
        type
        ... on Application {
          technicalSuitability
          functionalSuitability
          lifecycle {
            phases {
              phase
              startDate
            }
          }
          updatedAt
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Variables:

{
  "filter": {
    "facetFilters": [
      {
        "facetKey": "FactSheetTypes",
        "operator": "OR",
        "keys": [
          "Application"
        ]
      },
      {
        "facetKey": "technicalSuitability",
        "operator": "OR",
        "keys": [
          "unreasonable"
        ]
      },
      {
        "facetKey": "functionalSuitability",
        "operator": "NOR",
        "keys": [
          "perfect",
          "appropriate"
        ]
      },
      {
        "facetKey": "lifecycle",
        "operator": "OR",
        "keys": [
          "phaseIn"
        ],
        "dateFilter": {
          "type": "RANGE",
          "from": "2023-01-01",
          "to": "2029-12-31"
        }
      }
    ]
  },
  "sortings": [
    {
      "key": "updatedAt",
      "order": "desc"
    }
  ]
}

Example response:

{
  "data": {
    "allFactSheets": {
      "totalCount": 2,
      "edges": [
        {
          "node": {
            "id": "01740698-1ffa-4729-94fa-da6194ebd7cd",
            "displayName": "AC Management",
            "type": "Application",
            "technicalSuitability": "unreasonable",
            "functionalSuitability": "unreasonable",
            "lifecycle": {
              "phases": [
                {
                  "phase": "phaseIn",
                  "startDate": "2024-02-01"
                }
              ]
            },
            "updatedAt": "2024-12-12T15:07:59.227127386Z"
          }
        },
        {
          "node": {
            "id": "2e50479c-fd64-4800-b398-3f34c653994b",
            "displayName": "Adobe Creative Cloud",
            "type": "Application",
            "technicalSuitability": "unreasonable",
            "functionalSuitability": "insufficient",
            "lifecycle": {
              "phases": [
                {
                  "phase": "phaseIn",
                  "startDate": "2024-02-05"
                }
              ]
            },
            "updatedAt": "2024-12-03T15:45:04.375449793Z"
          }
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}