9 Working with Conditions

This chapter describes conditions and explains how you work with them. It contains the following topics:

What Are Conditions?

Conditions are objects that return a single Boolean value based on the evaluation of an analysis or of a Key Performance Indicator (KPI).

What a condition evaluates depends on whether it is based on an analysis or on a KPI, as follows:

  • For an analysis, it evaluates the row count of the analysis.

  • For a KPI, it evaluates the status of the KPI.

For example, a condition might evaluate whether the results of an analysis return a number of rows greater than 0:

  • If the analysis returns at least one row, then the condition evaluates to true.

  • If the analysis does not return any rows, then the condition evaluates to false.

For What Do I Use Conditions?

You use conditions to determine whether:

  • Agents deliver their content and execute their actions

  • Actions links (which when clicked run actions) are displayed in dashboard pages

  • Sections and their content are displayed in dashboard pages

For example, a sales manager wants to deliver a Monthly Sales Report to his direct reports only when sales drop below $2 million. You might create a condition that is based on an analysis that shows sales that are below $2 million and add it to an agent whose delivery content is the Monthly Sales Report. When the condition evaluates to true (that is, the analysis contains rows where sales are below $2 million), the agent is triggered to deliver the Monthly Sales Report.

You can also use a different kind of condition to determine whether action links are enabled in analyses. For information, see "About Conditionally Enabling Actions Added to Analyses".

What Are the Elements of a Condition?

A condition consists of the following elements:

  • An analysis or KPI.

  • The criteria to use when evaluating the condition:

    • For an analysis, the criteria is a row count and an operator to apply to the row count; for example, the row count equals 100.

    • For a KPI, the criteria is a KPI status, for example, the KPI status is OK.

  • Values for any prompted filters that are associated with the analysis or values for KPI dimensions that were set to Set in watchlist in the KPI.

What Are Named Conditions?

A named condition is a condition that you define and then save by name in the Oracle BI Presentation Catalog so that you can reuse it in agents and dashboard pages.

You create a named condition when you create a new condition from the:

  • New menu in the global header by selecting Condition under Analysis and Interactive Reporting

  • Home page by clicking the More link under Analysis and Interactive Reporting in the Create area and selecting Condition

You also create a named condition from the "Agent editor: Condition tab" when you save an inline condition to the catalog. For information on inline conditions, see "What Are Inline Conditions?"

What Are Inline Conditions?

An inline condition is a condition that you define at the point of use and do not save by name in the catalog. Instead it is saved as part of the dashboard page or agent.

An inline condition is automatically deleted when the dashboard page or agent that contains it is deleted. This simplifies catalog management for conditions that make sense only within particular Oracle BI content.

You can create an inline condition when you:

Who Creates Conditions?

Generally:

  • Administrators create the named conditions for an organization, which are then used by content designers (providing they have the appropriate permissions to the conditions or the folders in which the conditions are saved) as they create dashboards and agents.

    The ability to create or edit named conditions is controlled by the Create Conditions privilege, which is managed by the administrator.

  • Content designers create inline conditions.

For information about privileges, see "Managing Presentation Services Privileges" in Oracle Fusion Middleware Security Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition.

For information about permissions, see Chapter 13, "Managing Objects in the Oracle BI Presentation Catalog."

Creating Named Conditions

You can create named conditions that you can reuse in agents and dashboard pages. See "What Are Named Conditions?"

To create a named condition:

  1. In the global header, click New and then select Condition.

    The "New Condition dialog" is displayed.

  2. Complete the New Condition dialog. For more information, see "Specifying the Settings for Conditions".

Using Conditions to Determine Whether Agents Deliver Their Content or Execute Their Actions

You can use conditions to determine whether agents deliver their content or execute their actions. For information on agents, see Chapter 8, "Delivering Content."

To use a condition to determine whether an agent delivers its content or executes its actions:

  1. Edit the agent.

  2. Click the "Agent editor: Condition tab".

  3. Select the Use a condition box.

  4. If you want to:

    1. Create a new condition, click Create to display the "Create Condition dialog" and then complete the dialog.

      For information on completing the dialog, see "Specifying the Settings for Conditions".

    2. Select an existing condition, click Browse to display the "Select Condition dialog" and then complete the dialog.

    3. Save the agent.

Using Conditions to Determine Whether Action Links Are Displayed in Dashboard Pages

You can use conditions to determine whether action links are displayed in dashboard pages. For information on adding actions links to dashboard pages, see "About Adding Actions to Dashboard Pages".

To use a condition to determine whether an action link is displayed in a dashboard page:

  1. Edit the dashboard. For information, see "Editing Dashboards".

  2. Click the tab of the page that contains the action link to display conditionally.

  3. Hover over the action link object in the Page Layout area to display the action link object's toolbar and click the Properties button, or, if the action link is in an action link menu:

    1. Hover over the action link menu object in the Page Layout area to display the action link menu object's toolbar and click the Properties button.

      The "Action Link Menu Properties dialog" is displayed.

    2. Select the action link to conditionalize and click the Edit button.

    The "Action Link Properties dialog" is displayed.

  4. In the Show component, click the Conditionally box.

    The Condition component is displayed.

  5. If you want to:

    1. Create a new condition, click the New Condition button to display the "New Condition dialog" and then complete the dialog.

      For information on completing the dialog, see "Specifying the Settings for Conditions".

    2. Select an existing condition, click the Select Condition button to display the "Select Condition dialog" and then complete the dialog.

  6. Click OK in the Action Link Properties dialog.

  7. If the action link is in an action link menu, then click OK in the Action Link Menu Properties dialog.

  8. Save the dashboard.

Using Conditions to Determine Whether Sections Are Displayed in Dashboard Pages

You can use conditions to determine whether sections are displayed in dashboard pages. For information on adding sections to dashboards, see "Adding Content to Dashboards".

To use a condition to determine whether a section is displayed in a dashboard page:

  1. Edit the dashboard. For information, see "Editing Dashboards".

  2. Click the tab of the page that contains the section to display conditionally.

  3. Hover over the section in the Page Layout area to display the section's toolbar, click the Properties button for the section, and select Condition. The "Section Condition dialog" is displayed.

  4. If you want to:

    1. Create a new condition, click the New Condition button to display the "Create Condition dialog" and then complete the dialog.

      For information on completing the dialog, see "Specifying the Settings for Conditions".

    2. Select an existing condition, click the Select Condition button to display the "Select Condition dialog" and then complete the dialog.

  5. Click OK in the Section Condition dialog.

  6. Save the dashboard.

Specifying the Settings for Conditions

You must specify the settings for a condition in either the New Condition, Create Condition, or Edit Condition dialog, when you create or edit a condition as described in the following sections:

To specify the settings for a condition in the New Condition dialog, Create Condition dialog, or Edit Condition dialog:

  1. In the Create condition based on box, select whether the condition is to be based on an Analysis or KPI.

  2. For:

    • (optional) An analysis, edit any prompted filters, as desired.

    • A KPI, specify the values for any KPI dimensions.

    Note:

    If you specify values for any prompted filters, then these values cannot be overridden at the point of use.
  3. Specify the evaluation criteria as follows:

    • For an analysis, in the Condition true if number or rows area:

      • In the Operator box, select the operator to apply to the row count.

      • In the Row Count box or boxes, specify the row count to be evaluated.

    • For a KPI, in the Condition true if KPI box, select the KPI status.

  4. (optional) Click Test Condition to test the condition.

  5. If you want to save the condition as:

    • An inline condition, click OK.

    • A named condition, click Save As to display the "Save As dialog", where you can save the condition by name to the catalog.

      Note:

      If a condition is based on an analysis or KPI that is private, you cannot save it in the /Shared Folders folder.

Editing Named Conditions

To edit a named condition:

  1. Navigate to the condition in the catalog.

  2. Click the Edit link to display the "Edit Condition dialog".

  3. Make the desired changes.

    For more information on completing the Edit Condition dialog, see "Specifying the Settings for Conditions".

Editing, Customizing, Testing, Saving, and Disabling Conditions Used in Agents

You can:

  • Edit inline conditions

  • Customize named conditions by editing prompted filters

  • Test conditions to see whether the conditions evaluate to true or false

  • Save inline conditions to the catalog as named conditions

  • Remove conditions

To edit, customize, test, save, or remove a condition used in an agent:

  1. Edit the agent.

  2. Click the "Agent editor: Condition tab".

  3. To:

    • Edit an inline condition, click Edit Condition to display the "Edit Condition dialog", and make the desired changes. For more information on completing the Edit Condition dialog, see "Specifying the Settings for Conditions".

    • To customize the prompted filters of a named condition, click Customize to display the "Customize Condition dialog", and make the desired customizations.

    • To test a condition, click Test. The evaluation results are displayed.

    • To save an inline condition to the catalog as a named condition, click Save To Catalog to display the "Save As dialog".

    • To disable a condition, click Do not use a condition (always deliver content and run actions).

  4. Save the agent.

Editing, Testing, Saving, and Removing Conditions Used in Action Links in Dashboard Pages

You can perform the following tasks on conditions that are used in action links in dashboard pages:

  • Edit conditions

  • Test conditions to see whether the conditions evaluate to true or false

  • Save inline conditions to the catalog as named conditions and save named conditions to the catalog by other names

  • Remove conditions

To edit, test, save, or remove a condition used in an action link in a dashboard page:

  1. Edit the dashboard page that contains the action link.

  2. Hover over the action link object in the Page Layout area to display the action link object's toolbar and click the Properties button, or, if the action link is in an action link menu:

    1. Hover over the action link menu object in the Page Layout area to display the action link menu object's toolbar and click the Properties button.

      The "Action Link Menu Properties dialog" is displayed.

    2. Select the action link that contains the condition and click the Edit button.

    The "Action Link Properties dialog" is displayed.

  3. Click the More button to the right of the Condition field and then:

    • To edit a condition, select Edit Condition to display the "Edit Condition dialog" and make the desired changes. For more information on completing the Edit Condition dialog, see "Specifying the Settings for Conditions".

    • To test a condition, select Test Condition. The evaluation results are displayed.

    • To save an inline condition to the catalog as a named condition, select Save Condition As to display the "Save As dialog".

    • To remove a condition, select Remove Condition.

  4. Click OK in the Action Link Properties dialog.

  5. If the action link is in an action link menu, then click OK in the Action Link Menu Properties dialog.

  6. Save the dashboard.

Editing, Testing, Saving, and Removing Conditions Used in Sections in Dashboard Pages

You can perform the following tasks on conditions that are used in sections in dashboard pages:

  • Edit conditions

  • Test conditions to see whether the conditions evaluate to true or false

  • Save inline conditions to the catalog as named conditions and save named conditions to the catalog by other names

  • Remove conditions

To edit, test, save, or remove a condition used in a section in a dashboard page:

  1. Edit the dashboard page that contains the section.

  2. Hover over the section in the Page Layout area to display the section's toolbar, click the Properties button for the section, and select Condition. The "Section Condition dialog" is displayed.

  3. Click the More button to the right of the Condition field and then:

    • To edit a condition, select Edit Condition to display the "Edit Condition dialog" and make the desired changes. For more information on completing the Edit Condition dialog, see "Specifying the Settings for Conditions".

    • To test a condition, select Test Condition. The evaluation results are displayed.

    • To save an inline condition to the catalog as a named condition, select Save Condition As to display the "Save As dialog".

    • To remove a condition, select Remove Condition.

  4. Save the dashboard.