Idea Summary

Allow developers to customize which operators (=, !=, LIKE, IN, etc.) are available in the Interactive Report filter dialog.

Currently, the filter modal in Interactive Reports shows all possible operators, even if they are not relevant or appropriate for specific columns or business use cases. There is no declarative way to remove, reorder, or restrict operators, forcing developers to either train users around unnecessary options or build custom filtering UIs to work around this limitation.

Adding this feature would improve user experience, reduce confusion, and allow better control over how users filter data while maintaining the native, consistent APEX filtering experience.

Use Case

• Business users often get confused by the full list of operators, leading to incorrect filters, especially with advanced operators like matches regular expression.
• For security and data consistency, certain columns should only be filterable with specific operators (e.g., = or IN on key fields, disallowing LIKE or contains).
• For non-technical user bases, simplifying filter options reduces support requests and training needs.
• Prevents users from applying unsupported or invalid filters that may return misleading results.

Example: A shipment tracking application where Tracking Number should only be filtered using = or IN to avoid partial matches that are not meaningful.

Preferred Solution

Add a new declarative attribute to Interactive Report Column settings, such as:

Allowed Filter Operators (Multi-select list)

where developers can specify which operators should appear in the filter dialog for that column.

Additionally:

• A global IR setting could allow restriction of operators across all columns.
• Defaults to “All operators” for backward compatibility.
• Optionally allow custom labels for operators for clarity.

This keeps filtering user-friendly and aligned with APEX’s low-code principles while giving developers the flexibility needed for advanced enterprise use cases.