Save, undo and version history

This page explains how the report editor keeps your work: what a save writes, how undo and redo move through your edits, how a save conflict is resolved, and how version history is built and restored. For the step-by-step of saving, the save states and the version dialog, see Save a report, resolve conflicts and restore versions; to build a report, see Build a report.

What a save writes

• Every save records the whole report as a new version: its pages, its visuals and its filters are written together, in one step.
• Saves run one at a time, and each save carries the version you last loaded. If the report was saved elsewhere since then, the save is refused instead of writing over the other change, and saving pauses until you choose Overwrite or Revert. The refusal reads "The report was saved by someone else since this document was loaded".
• A save that goes through is recorded as "Report version saved successfully", and the new row appears in Version history.

Save by hand or on a timer

• Choose Save now in the report header, or press Ctrl+S. Ctrl+S still saves while your cursor sits in a title field.
• Autosave offers Never (the default) and the cadences Every minute, Every 5 minutes and Every 10 minutes. Choosing a cadence turns autosave on, and the choice follows you across reports in this browser.
• There is no mode that saves on every change: a save runs when you ask for one, or on the interval you picked.

Undo and redo your edits

Undo and redo step through your edits in the open report, and they work from the keyboard:

• Ctrl+Z undoes; Ctrl+Shift+Z or Ctrl+Y redoes. On a Mac, use Cmd in place of Ctrl.
• One working history holds up to 100 steps, dropping the oldest when it is full. Changes of the same kind made in quick succession on the same tile merge into one step, so one undo can cover a run of small changes.
• An action that touches many tiles at once lands as a single step: aligning or distributing a selection is one undo.
• Undo returns you to where the change happened. It restores the page and the selection, so undoing a delete brings the tile back selected.
• Two limits: in a text field that keeps its own history, Ctrl+Z steps through your typing instead of the report; and the working history belongs to the open tab, so closing the report and opening it again starts fresh. Only saved versions outlive the tab.

When someone else saved first

• If someone saves the report after you loaded it, your save is refused and saving pauses; their version stands for now.
• Overwrite writes your edits as the newest version, and the version saved elsewhere stays in history, one below yours. Revert loads their version and drops your edits; it asks first when you still have unsaved edits to lose.
• While the conflict is open, your edits stay in the tab and nothing is written until you choose. DataMind has already retried the save on its own before showing you the conflict (a save without a version check tries a few times; a save that checks a specific version stops after one attempt), so pressing Save again cannot clear it.
• The buttons and confirmation texts are on Save a report, resolve conflicts and restore versions.

A tab that is out of date

If this tab runs an older version of the app than the one that last saved the report, saving stops with "Reload to save - this report uses a newer visual type". This is not a save conflict: there is no Overwrite and no Revert, and no retry can succeed. Reload the page to continue; edits made since the last save cannot be kept. See Troubleshooting.

When an action needs a saved report

Some actions work on the copy stored on the server rather than on the report open in your tab. While your copy has unsaved changes, those actions are refused with "Save the report first: this action rewrites the report on the server." Save the report, then run the action again.

The same rule across DataPrism editors

The rule that guards a report save guards the other DataPrism editors too: a change carries the version you loaded, and if someone saved first, your change is refused with a message that names the object.

• "This measure was changed by someone else. Reload and try again."
• "This BI table was changed by someone else. Reload and try again."
• "This relationship was changed by someone else. Reload and try again."
• "This semantic model was changed by someone else. Reload and try again."
• "This measure test was changed by someone else. Reload and try again."

Reload to see the newer version, then make your change again. Some editors also offer Overwrite to keep your version on top of theirs: see Measures, Measure tests, Relationships and the core table and Semantic models and BI tables.

When two people write to the same objects at the same moment, the message is instead "Another change to the same objects is in progress. Try again." Wait a moment and make the change again; unlike the "changed by someone else" messages, this one does not ask you to reload. For the model file workflows that carry their own version checks, see Model files and replacing a table.

Version history and restoring

• Version history opens from the report header in edit mode. It lists every saved version, newest first, and each row shows the version's number, label, author and date. The list shows the record of each save, not the report itself; select a version to look at it.
• The newest 100 versions of a report are kept.
• Restoring never rewrites history. The version you choose is written back as a new version, labelled Restored from version N with the number of the version you restored, and confirmed with "Report version restored successfully". Its visuals keep their identities, so cross-filters and slicer links inside the report still work.
• A version keeps the layout, not the numbers. Previews and restores draw with today's data, so figures can differ from what the version showed when it was saved.

Questions, answered

How far back can I undo?

Up to 100 steps back. When the history is full, the oldest step drops as new ones arrive. A single step can cover several tiles at once, so 100 steps can hold more than 100 small gestures.

Does undo survive if I close the report?

No. The working history lives in the open tab; opening the report again starts a fresh one. To go back beyond your session, restore a saved version from Version history.

Does aligning several tiles undo in one step?

Yes. Aligning or distributing a selection commits every tile's new position as one step, so a single undo brings the whole arrangement back. The tools themselves are on The report canvas and pages.

Why does the report look saved again after I undo?

When what is on screen matches the last saved version again, there is nothing left to write, so the unsaved mark clears. If you undo to a state that was never saved, the report stays marked as unsaved.

What happens if I keep editing while a save conflict is open?

Your edits stay in the tab and saving stays paused until you choose Overwrite or Revert. You can keep working; the write happens once you decide.

Do all editors use the same "changed by someone else" message?

Yes. Measures, BI tables, relationships, semantic models and measure tests all refuse a stale change the same way, and the message names the object that changed. Reload to see the newer version, then repeat your change.

What does "Another change to the same objects is in progress. Try again." mean?

Another change to the same objects was in progress when you saved, so yours did not go through. Wait a moment and make the change again; unlike the "changed by someone else" refusal, this one does not ask you to reload.

Can I see who saved a version?

Yes. Each row of Version history shows the version's number, who saved it, when, and its label.

What does the label on a version mean?

Most versions come from plain saves and show no label. A label marks a version written by an action rather than by hand, such as a restore, which reads Restored from version N, where N is the number of the version you restored.