| Oracle® Business Activity Monitoring Active Studio User's Guide 10g (10.1.3.1.0) Part Number B28990-01 |
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| Oracle® Business Activity Monitoring Active Studio User's Guide 10g (10.1.3.1.0) Part Number B28990-01 |
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View PDF |
This chapter contains information about using prompts and parameters.
This chapter contains the following topics:
Parameters are similar to variables that represent substituted values. Prompts are dialogs displayed before the report opens so that the user can specify a parameter value. You can create prompts that display when a user views a report. The user must specify a value in the prompt dialog which is used to limit or customize the view of data in the report. You can also create parameters that contain values. Parameters are not displayed to the user when the report is run.
You must apply prompts and parameters in a report by using them in filters. You can create prompts and parameters from the Report Properties dialog or when you are creating a filter. The Prompts and Parameters page in the Report Properties dialog provides a central way to manage, edit, and delete both prompts and parameters for the entire report.
You cannot create alerts on reports that contain prompts or parameters. You cannot maintain alerts on reports if you add prompts or parameters to the report. The alerts become invalid and cannot be launched.
You can create parameters in the Change Report Properties dialog or in a filter when you specify a value. Creating parameters in the Change Report Properties dialog does not make them active in the report until they are used in a filter. Parameters do not prompt the user to specify a value. The report designer specifies the value for a parameter.
To create a new parameter:
In a report that you are editing, click Change Report Properties.
The Report Properties dialog displays.
Click New.
The Prompt and Parameter Creation and Edit dialog displays.
Enter a name for the parameter.
Select a data type for the value from the Parameter Type list.
Enter a description for the parameter. This only displays when the parameter is edited.
Click Use one of the values below (parameter).
Select a value to use in the parameter or enter a new value in the empty field.
Click OK.
The parameter is created.
Custom parameters are special parameters for Action Buttons that are available to every report in your Oracle Business Activity Monitoring installation. To create custom parameters you must edit the Custom Parameters data object in the Architect web application.
To create a Custom Parameter:
Open the Architect web application and select Data Objects from the list.
Select the Custom Parameters data object located in the Data Objects/System/Custom Parameters folder.
Click Contents.
Click Edit Contents.
Click Add.
Enter a name for the Custom Parameter. This name will appear in the list of prompts and parameters available for Action Buttons.
Enter the value for the Custom Parameter.
Enter a short description for the Custom Parameter.
Click Save.
You can create prompts that require the user to type in a value in a text field or to select one or more values from a list.
You can create prompts in the Change Report Properties dialog or in a filter when you specify a value. Creating prompts in the Change Report Properties dialog does not make them active in the report until they are used in a filter.
To create a new prompt:
Click Change Report Properties.
The Report Properties dialog displays.
Click New.
The Prompt and Parameter Creation and Edit dialog displays.
Enter a name for the prompt.
Select a data type for the value from the Parameter Type list.
Enter a description for the prompt. This does not display in the prompt message to the user.
Select Prompt the user to specify a value.
Click Next.
The User Input Type page of the dialog displays.
Select a user input type.
Type in creates a field that the user must type the value in
Choose from a list of field values creates a list of choices that the user must select from
Enter text that displays on the prompt message in the Prompt message text field. This text will appear next to the list in the view if you choose Choose from a list of field values in the previous step.
Click Next.
Configure the Input Definition.
If you selected the Type in user input type in the previous screen:
Select a default value that can be a value that you supply, ALL, or NULL.
Select User can leave value blank to allow this option.
When using a Type in prompt, the user can type the following to indicate all, null, or blank values:
_ALL_ returns all values.
_NULL_ returns null values.
_BLANK_ returns blank values.
Click Next.
If you selected the Choose from a list of field values user input type in the previous screen:
Select the data object from which to get the values.
Click Change to select a data object. The fields in that data object will populate the Field list.
Select a field from the Field list. The values in that field will populate the Values list
Select Choose values if you want to exclude some of the values from the list. Then select the values that you want to appear in the prompt.
Select a value and click Default Value to designate a starting value when the report is opened. A blue arrow will appear next to the default value.
Select ALL, NULL, or BLANK to add any of these values to the list.
Select User can leave value unselected or User can select multiple values to enable these options.
Click Next.
The Summary page of the dialog displays.
Review your selections and click Preview to view the prompt you created.
The Prompts dialog you created displays.
Click OK to close the Prompts dialog.
Click OK to close the Prompt and Parameter Creation and Edit dialog.
The prompt is listed in the Prompts and Parameters list. When this report is viewed, the prompt dialog displays and waits for user input before the report displays, unless a default value was selected.
This section contains the following topics:
You can work with prompts and parameters from the Report Properties dialog. Prompts and parameters created and edited from this dialog belong to all the views in the report. They must be applied in a filter at the view level to become active. Managing prompts and parameters from the Report Properties dialog means that you can make changes one time that might affect views in multiple areas.
To create prompts and parameters:
In a report that you are creating or editing, click Change Report Properties.
The Report Properties dialog displays. The Prompts and Parameters tab is selected.
Click New.
The Prompt and Parameter dialog displays.
To create a prompt, see "Creating Prompts".
To create a parameter, see "Creating Parameters".
After prompts and parameters are created, they are listed in by name in the Report Properties dialog. The data type and default values display next to the prompt or parameter name. You can change the order that prompts display by arranging them in the list. The Arrange buttons and Preview buttons are disabled for parameters because they are not viewed by end users.
To arrange the prompt order:
Select a prompt in the Report Properties dialog.
Click the Arrange arrows to move the prompt up or down in the list.
To preview a prompt:
Select a prompt in the Report Properties dialog.
Click Preview.
The prompt dialog displays.
To edit a prompt or parameter:
Select the prompt or parameter to edit.
Click Edit.
The Prompt and Parameter Creation and Edit dialog displays containing the specified fields.
Make changes as necessary and click OK.
All filters in the report using this prompt or parameter value are updated.
To delete a prompt or parameter:
Select the prompt or parameter to delete.
Click Delete.
The prompt or parameter is deleted. Any filters in the report using this prompt or parameter are also removed from the view.
You can create prompts that are dependent on input from other prompts by cascading them.
To cascade prompts:
Select a prompt and click Cascade.
Enter the prompt message text if you need to give instructions for the prompt.
Select the prompts in the cascade by selecting the checkboxes.
Arrange the prompts in the dependency order using the arrow buttons.
Make sure that the order of cascading is relevant, that is, the first prompt should be a superset of the next one, and the next one should be the subset of the one before. Otherwise, the prompts will not work as expected if they are ordered incorrectly.
Click OK. The prompts will show their relationship in the Prompts and Parameters tab.
Click OK to close the Report Properties Dialog.
You can specify values for prompts and parameters in the URL displaying a report. This can be used in a separate browser such as a web page in a portal site or as a link in an email. You can view the report and click Copy Shortcut to copy the URL for the report. Then you can add, remove, or change the values for the prompts and parameters.
The syntax includes:
http://<host>:<http_port>/oraclebam/<buildnumber>/ActiveViewer/default.aspx?State=Start&Event=Initialize&NoWindow=True&ReportDef=<reportnumber>&Buttons=False
The URL to call the report and display it in Active Viewer. Copy this from the dialog displayed when you click Copy Shortcut.
&ReportParameters=(PromptorParameterName=(PromptorParameterValue);)
The section required to define the value for one prompt or parameter. You can customize this by providing other values for prompts or parameters.
You can define values for more than one prompt or parameter in any combination separated by semicolons. Prompts included in the report that do not have a value defined in the URL display to the user for input.
The following example shows the syntax used for a report containing a prompt and a parameter:
http://host/oraclebam/3091/ActiveViewer/default.aspx?State=Start&Event=Initialize& NoWindow=True&ReportDef=1364&Buttons=False&ReportParameters=(BrandPrompt=(Fuji); StateParam=(California);)
To set a prompt or parameter to all, null, or blank, you must use the following syntax to represent the values:
_ALL_ returns all values.
_NULL_ returns null values.
_BLANK_ returns blank values.
This section contains the following topics:
Changing a view by making a selection in another view is called Driving. Driving enables you to use a selection in one view to drive a prompt or parameter in another view. For example you might use a column in a List view to drive a Bar Chart view showing a graphical view of a subset of the data in the list.
To drive a view it must have a prompt or parameter used in a filter. Also, drilling must not be enabled for driving to work. Drilling will override driving.
The view that drives the other views, the Driver, does not need to contain a prompt or parameter, but there is some configuration involved.
Driving is available in all List and Crosstab views.
To configure driving:
Create a parameter or prompt and use it in a filter in the target chart.
Edit the Driver view.
Click the Properties button in the View Editor. To open the View Editor, double-click the view you are editing, or click Edit view in the View Tasks/Options list.
Select the Driving tab.
Select the prompt or parameter you created in step 1 for any column of data you want to use to drive views that are using that prompt or parameter in a filter.
To enable driving on more than one value select the Turn Multi-select On checkbox.
Multi-select enables you to select multiple values in a column. Multi-select only works if you have a prompt that enables multiple values configured in the view it drives.
Click Apply or OK.
The following is an example of driving a chart from a list view. This example uses the Call Center data object.
Step 1: Create a report with Streaming List and 3D Bar Chart views
In Active Studio, select the Home, My Reports, or Shared Reports tab.
Click Create a New Report.
Select a tiled report template with two view areas.
In the top view area select the Streaming List view.
The View Editor opens.
In the View Editor, open the Samples folder and select the Call Center data object.
Click Next.
In the Data Fields selection screen, select all of the fields, and click Next.
Click Finish.
In the bottom view area select the 3D Bar Chart view.
The View Editor opens.
In the View Editor, open the Samples folder and select the Call Center data object.
Click Next.
Select Description in the Group By list.
Select Quantity in the Chart Values list.
Verify that Sum is selected in the Summary Function list.
Click Next and click Finish.
Step 2: Create a filter with a prompt in the 3D Bar Chart view
In the report, select the 3D Bar Chart view, and click Edit view in the View Tasks/Options list.
The View Editor opens.
Select the Filter tab.
Click add new entry.
Select Salesperson from the field list.
Select is equal to from the Comparison list.
Select Value.
Click Options and select *New Parameter/Prompt.
The Prompt and Parameter Creation and Edit dialog opens.
Enter Salesperson in the Name field and click Next.
Enter Select a salesperson in the Prompt message text box and click Next.
Select Salesperson from the Field list.
Select the ALL checkbox.
Select ALL in the Values list and click Default Value.
An arrow appears next to the ALL value in the list.
Select User can select multiple values and click Next.
Click OK.
The Prompt and Parameter Creation and Edit dialog closes and the prompt expression appears in the Value field.
Click add entry in the Filter tab.
Click OK in the View Editor.
The Prompts dialog opens.
Click OK.
The 3D Bar Chart shows the quantity of each product description sold by all of the salespersons in the data object.
Step 3: Configure Driving in the Streaming List view
In the report, select the Streaming List view, and click Edit view in the View Tasks/Options list.
The View Editor opens.
Click the Properties icon in the View Editor.
Select the Driving tab.
In the Map Fields to Prompts/Parameters list, select Salesperson in the list next to Salesperson.
Click OK.
The View Editor closes.
Step 4: Save the report and test the driving
Click Save Report in the Actions list.
The Save a Report dialog opens.
Select a name and location for the report and click OK.
Click View in the Actions list.
The prompt dialog opens.
Click OK.
When the report is loaded, select Sue from the Salesperson column in the Streaming List view.
The text color in the selected row changes so that you can see which Salesperson was selected. The bars in the Bar Chart view change to display the quantity of each product description sold by Sue.
Step 5: Configure Multi-select
Multi-select enables you to select more than one row in a list to drive the chart. Multi-select only works if you configured the prompt to allow the user select multiple values as described in "Step 2: Create a filter with a prompt in the 3D Bar Chart view".
Edit the Streaming List view.
Select the Driving tab in the View Editor.
Select Turn Multi-select On and click OK.
Save the report and view it.
When the report is loaded, select Sue from the Salesperson column in the Streaming List view.
The text color in the selected row changes so that you can see which Salesperson was selected.
Select Mary from the Salesperson column in the Streaming List view.
The text in Sue's row stays colored, and the text in Mary's row is colored also. The 3D Bar Chart shows the quantity of each product description sold by both Sue and Mary.
Select Mary again from the Salesperson column in the Streaming List view. The text color change is reversed, and the 3D Bar Chart shows Sue's sales only.
