Explorer

Browse objects in the system, such as instruments, and then select a set of objects for analysis.

1. Overview

The Explorer lets you start with a large universe of objects — such as all instruments, all stocks in a sector, or any custom set — and progressively filter them down to exactly the subset you need. Filters are applied in sequence: items flow from the starting universe through each filter in order, with each filter narrowing the set further.

2. Getting Started

Open Explorer from the Start Menu or the Navigation Bar (left edge of the screen).
Select a starting universe from the dropdown at the top (e.g., "All Instruments").
The result table at the bottom shows all items in your starting set.
Click filter buttons in the ribbon to add filters and narrow down your selection.

3. Starting Universe

The starting universe determines which objects enter the filter chain. You can choose from several options:

All Instruments — every instrument in the system.
All Models — all model objects of a given type.
Type Selector — pick a specific type and browse all members of that type.
Custom — define a starting set with a code expression (e.g., INDU.members()).

The Filter Inactive checkbox excludes instruments that have no recent data (within the past 7 days), which is useful for removing delisted or inactive securities.

4. Filter Chain

Filters are applied sequentially from top to bottom. Each filter takes the output of the previous filter as its input and passes a subset through to the next. You can add as many filters as you like by clicking filter buttons in the ribbon.

Each filter appears as a collapsible panel where you configure its parameters. You can reorder, remove, or temporarily disable filters.

5. Available Filters

Filter	Description
Histogram	Visualize a metric's distribution as a histogram, then select bars to keep only those items.
Percentile	Keep the top or bottom N% of items ranked by a metric value.
Scatterplot	Plot items on two metrics (X and Y axes), then select a region to filter.
Category List	Filter by category values (e.g., sector, country, exchange).
Relative Position	Select items by their rank or position within the set.
Group Position	Select items by their relative position within subgroups.
Static Group	Manually select items from a checkbox list.
Dynamic Group	Define which items to include using a code expression.
Regex	Match items whose name matches a regular expression pattern.
Sample	Randomly sample N items from the current set.
Transform	Apply a custom code-based transformation to filter or restructure items.

6. Flow Map

The flow map is a vertical bar visualization on the right side of the Explorer. It shows how items flow through the filter chain:

The width of each bar represents how many items are present at that stage.
Bars narrow as items are filtered out.
The top shows the starting universe size; the bottom shows the final result count.
Click on a segment of the flow map to scroll to that filter.

The flow map makes it easy to see which filters are most restrictive and where most items are being eliminated.

7. Result Table

The result table at the bottom of the Explorer shows the items that survived all filters. You can:

Configure which columns are displayed.
Sort by clicking column headers.
Expand rows to inspect individual items in more detail.

8. Exporting Results

Export as Table — creates a new Table document containing the filtered items, where you can add metric columns for further analysis.
Copy to Clipboard — copies the result set for pasting into other applications.

9. Tips

Start broad and progressively narrow down. Adding many small filters is more flexible than one complex filter.
Use the flow map to identify which filter is eliminating the most items — this helps you understand your data.
Combine metric-based filters (Percentile, Histogram) with categorical filters (Category List) for precise selection.
Save your Explorer document to preserve the filter chain for future use.

10. See Also

Table — analyze exported results with configurable columns and metrics.
Chart — visualize selected instruments on a chart.
Date Set — similar filter-chain architecture for working with dates instead of objects.
The Hedgehog Language — expression syntax for Dynamic Group and Transform filters.