A parameter is a value the reader can change through a control: a number, a text, a date. Inside a calculated field it is written ${Name} and behaves like a constant, so the calculation updates every time the reader picks a new value.

Copy and paste

A target the reader sets (Decimal parameter Target):

ifelse(sum({Sales}) >= ${Target}, 'On target', 'Below target')

A what-if price increase in percent (Decimal parameter PriceIncrease):

sum({Sales}) * (1 + ${PriceIncrease} / 100)

A reference date (Datetime parameter AsOfDate):

sumIf({Sales}, {Order Date} >= truncDate('YYYY', ${AsOfDate})
              AND {Order Date} < addDateTime(1, 'DD', ${AsOfDate}))

A list of values (multivalue String parameter Regions):

ifelse(in({Region}, ${Regions}), 'Selected', 'Other')

Setting it up

  1. In the analysis, open Parameters and choose Add.
  2. Give it a name (letters and digits) and a data type: String, Number, Integer or Datetime. Set a static default, or for a Datetime a relative one such as Today.
  3. From the parameter’s menu, add a control: a text box, slider, dropdown or date picker. Without a control, readers can’t change the value; it stays at its default unless a URL or an action sets it.
  4. In a calculated field, pick the parameter from Parameter list or type ${Name}.

What a parameter does on its own

Nothing. A parameter only has an effect where something uses it: a calculated field, a filter set to Use parameters, a custom action or a title. A common mistake is to add a control and wonder why the visuals don’t change; the parameter isn’t connected to them yet.

Types

The parameter’s type must fit the formula: a Datetime parameter in a date comparison, a number in arithmetic. A String parameter compared with a number field needs a conversion, and comparisons with strings are case-sensitive, so a free-text control is fragile. Prefer a dropdown with fixed values for text parameters.

A Datetime parameter set to day granularity holds midnight. With timestamp fields, end ranges with < addDateTime(1, 'DD', ${AsOfDate}), as in the third formula, to include the whole day.

Multivalue parameters

The documentation says a calculated field cannot contain a multivalue parameter, with one exception documented in the function reference: the list argument of in and notIn, as in the last formula. Multivalue parameters can’t be Datetime and don’t support dynamic defaults.

Related guides

Checked against the Amazon Quick Sight documentation (October 2026).

References