# Reports: Smart Folder dataset pre-filtering doesn't work **URL:** \ **Category:** Bugs & Issues\ **Created:** [August 7, 2023, 5:48pm UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/reports-smart-folder-dataset-pre-filtering-doesnt-work/4916 "2023-08-07T17:48:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Matt\_Blais](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.fibery.io/matt_blais/32/1464_2.png) [@Matt\_Blais](https://community.fibery.io/u/Matt_Blais)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2023, 5:48pm UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/reports-smart-folder-dataset-pre-filtering-doesnt-work/4916/1 "2023-08-07T17:48:14Z")
When I create a Report in a Smart folder, it _seems_ like the Report dataset is being pre-filtered accordingly. But the Report still tries to load the entire (unfiltered) dataset, and fails: > ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/uploads/fibery/original/2X/2/2b90945888404e72583a0de5ef612c7fccb98e7e.png) * * * > ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/uploads/fibery/original/2X/e/e555df3f7967e78c778d76574fe042321f85b242.png) ---
**Author:** ![Chr1sG](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.fibery.io/chr1sg/32/3941_2.png) [@Chr1sG](https://community.fibery.io/u/Chr1sG)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2023, 9:12pm UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/reports-smart-folder-dataset-pre-filtering-doesnt-work/4916/2 "2023-08-07T21:12:18Z")
If the report is being context filtered (in a smart folder) you should see that during the configuration (with the usual ‘create for just this entity or all MetaUsers’) What’s the relationship between MetaUsers and Calls? ---
**Author:** ![Matt\_Blais](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.fibery.io/matt_blais/32/1464_2.png) [@Matt\_Blais](https://community.fibery.io/u/Matt_Blais)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2023, 9:32pm UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/reports-smart-folder-dataset-pre-filtering-doesnt-work/4916/3 "2023-08-07T21:32:37Z")
The relation is – One MetaUser : many Calls MetaUsers is being context-filtered by the Smart Folder. The problem is that this filtering has not taken place at/before the Report Configuration stage - and that causes the Report Configuration to bomb because there are too many Calls records (because they haven’t been filtered by the Smart Folder like they should be). I only have a couple hundred MetaUsers, but there are \>1M Calls - that’s what needs to be filtered by MetaUser. If I create a Report NOT in a smart folder, then I have the opportunity at the initial Report Configuration step to manually put a filter on Calls (which is necessary because there are \>200k Calls). However, in the Smart Folder Report it is not possible to manually filter Calls by MetaUser (see image - MetaUser is not in the Calls filter-list), I assume because this has “supposedly” already been done by the Smart Folder. But it apparently hasn’t. ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/uploads/fibery/original/2X/5/56e29944c5a9dccb4fd9fd8ccafe7324ee848da6.png) ---
**Author:** ![Chr1sG](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.fibery.io/chr1sg/32/3941_2.png) [@Chr1sG](https://community.fibery.io/u/Chr1sG)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2023, 6:13am UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/reports-smart-folder-dataset-pre-filtering-doesnt-work/4916/4 "2023-08-08T06:13:56Z")
When I create a report in a smart folder (and there exists a 1:n relationship between the smart folder db and the db which the report is to be based on) during set up I see the following: ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/uploads/fibery/original/2X/4/420f752b3cbc81e9991061c3f0a92b30ff017f14.png) and once I’m in the config stage, I see this: ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/uploads/fibery/original/2X/9/9f88e6136f3a725eb361f0b62fae2ee5ef537d50.png) The parts highlighted in yellow are only present for context-filtered reports. Your first message’s second screenshot seems to show you’re not seeing this context-filter, and it’s not obvious to me why. (in your second message screenshot, there are two dbs being used for the report, so I wouldn’t expect to see context filtering here). Perhaps you could make a video/gif of the process you’re following and I might spot something. (feel free to blur parts and/or send privately if you’re concerned about displaying sensitive data) ---
**Author:** ![Matt\_Blais](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.fibery.io/matt_blais/32/1464_2.png) [@Matt\_Blais](https://community.fibery.io/u/Matt_Blais)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2023, 3:13pm UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/reports-smart-folder-dataset-pre-filtering-doesnt-work/4916/5 "2023-08-08T15:13:39Z")
> [@Chr1sG](#): > > in your second message screenshot, there are two dbs being used for the report, so I wouldn’t expect to see context filtering here. Why not? The Smart Folder is still specifying/filtering-for one specific MetaUser, regardless of whether there are other DBs in the report. And if this were not the case, why would I no longer have the option to manually specify a MetaUser filter in the Report configuration? The exact same Report configuration, when NOT in a Smart Folder, allows me to do that. ---
**Author:** ![Chr1sG](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.fibery.io/chr1sg/32/3941_2.png) [@Chr1sG](https://community.fibery.io/u/Chr1sG)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2023, 3:29pm UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/reports-smart-folder-dataset-pre-filtering-doesnt-work/4916/6 "2023-08-08T15:29:38Z")
> [@Matt\_Blais](#): > > > [@Chr1sG](#): > > > > in your second message screenshot, there are two dbs being used for the report, so I wouldn’t expect to see context filtering here. > > Why not? The Smart Folder is still specifying/filtering-for one specific MetaUser, regardless of whether there are other DBs in the report. Well I was meaning that if you have a MetaUsers smart folder, and create a context report for each MetaUser, which includes in its source data the MetaUser database, the context is ‘filter to itself’. Fibery doesn’t support such ‘to-self’ context filtering (although I can understand why you might want it to). Having said that, I have checked, and I can have two dbs, MetaUser and Calls in the same report, and context filtering is available for Calls: ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/uploads/fibery/original/2X/f/fea709c30e90e99147930b7e41b682279913b0e8.png) I really don’t know why you don’t see the yellow context filter in your case 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Matt\_Blais](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.fibery.io/matt_blais/32/1464_2.png) [@Matt\_Blais](https://community.fibery.io/u/Matt_Blais)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2023, 4:38pm UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/reports-smart-folder-dataset-pre-filtering-doesnt-work/4916/7 "2023-08-08T16:38:52Z")
> [@Chr1sG](#): > > I can have two dbs, MetaUser and Calls in the same report, and context filtering is available for Calls: That works for me too – in an ordinary Report, but **not** in a Smart Folder that is filtering on MetaUser. * * * **I’d really like to get an answer to whether this can/will be fixed.** It is a problem because it prevents me from using Smart Folders to filter Reports, and the only other way to do this would be to manually create a separate Report for EVERY MetaUser (of which there are a couple hundred, and new ones are regularly created automatically via an integration) – not a reasonable way to have to do things with a system like Fibery ☹ It seems unlikely to me that there is any technical reason why it can’t work the way it “should”. I assume that what’s happening is that the Smart Folder filtering is being done at a later stage of Report generation, but it needs to be applied at the earliest stage (corresponding to Report Configuration source filtering). ---
**Author:** ![Chr1sG](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.fibery.io/chr1sg/32/3941_2.png) [@Chr1sG](https://community.fibery.io/u/Chr1sG)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2023, 6:09pm UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/reports-smart-folder-dataset-pre-filtering-doesnt-work/4916/8 "2023-08-08T18:09:07Z")
> [@Matt\_Blais](#): > > > [@Chr1sG](#): > > > > I can have two dbs, MetaUser and Calls in the same report, and context filtering is available for Calls: > > That works for me too – in an ordinary Report, but **not** in a Smart Folder that is filtering on MetaUser How can you get _context_ filtering in an ordinary report? Anyway, putting that aside… > [@Matt\_Blais](#): > > It seems unlikely to me that there is any technical reason why it can’t work the way it “should”. Absolutely, it should work, and _does_ work for me, so we need to figure out why it’s not working for you. Here’s what I have done and how it works for me. Is there anything different in what you’re doing? ![NNrlIPeUEb](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/uploads/fibery/original/2X/6/605005eeb785b02321cc43983cd90610b4bbaa0e.gif) ---
**Author:** ![Matt\_Blais](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.fibery.io/matt_blais/32/1464_2.png) [@Matt\_Blais](https://community.fibery.io/u/Matt_Blais)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2023, 6:56pm UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/reports-smart-folder-dataset-pre-filtering-doesnt-work/4916/9 "2023-08-08T18:56:33Z")
> [@Chr1sG](#): > > How can you get _context_ filtering in an ordinary report? I misspoke - I meant “ordinary” filtering in the Report Configuration. > [@Chr1sG](#): > > Absolutely, it should work, and _does_ work for me, so we need to figure out why it’s not working for you. > Here’s what I have done and how it works for me. Is there anything different in what you’re doing? Unless you have \> 200k Calls entities, that is the first thing that’s different. I can never make it through Report Configuration because of that (and because the context filtering isn’t being applied – if it was, there would be way fewer records to process). ---
**Author:** ![Chr1sG](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.fibery.io/chr1sg/32/3941_2.png) [@Chr1sG](https://community.fibery.io/u/Chr1sG)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2023, 8:08pm UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/reports-smart-folder-dataset-pre-filtering-doesnt-work/4916/10 "2023-08-08T20:08:00Z")
> [@Matt\_Blais](#): > > Unless you have \> 200k Calls entities, that is the first thing that’s different. I was beginning to wonder that too, so I’ve checked with the devs if there’s a catch 22 here, namely it can’t progress to showing the context filter options because of too many records, but to reduce the number of records a filter is required… ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Matt\_Blais](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.fibery.io/matt_blais/32/1464_2.png) [@Matt\_Blais](https://community.fibery.io/u/Matt_Blais)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2023, 8:22pm UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/reports-smart-folder-dataset-pre-filtering-doesnt-work/4916/11 "2023-08-08T20:22:05Z")
Smart Folder context filtering just needs to be applied before the reporting engine scans the data set. It already works this way for “ordinary” configuration-level Report filters.