Defining Prompts for a Batch

Prompts are requests for members in the report or book. If reports or books in a batch have prompts, the end user can select the members in the Batch Editor.

When users save the Batch, the Respond to Prompts dialog displays any/all prompts/variables contained in the artifacts within the Batch.

Identical Prompts and Variables

Since SAP BW variables are defined on a data source and not in a Grid in a Report, the same variable can be used for all Grids in a Report, Book or Batch containing Reports and/or Books, whereas a prompt is explicitly defined on a row/column/page of a Grid. When users are prompted for a member/value to be used for a variable, they can optionally select to use the same member/value for all references to the data source which contains the Variable. A response to prompts can also be applied with a single response to all references or specified for each member/values for each Grid, Report or Book.

When a variable exists and there is more then one reference to the data source, or when the same prompt exists in more then one grid, the Respond to Prompts dialog box shows a drop-down list where users choose whether they want to respond to prompts at the Grid, Report/Book or Batch level. The selections shown in the drop-down list depend on whether the Respond to Prompts dialog is shown while running a Report, or Book or from within the Batch editor. The drop-down list only appears when a selection is needed. For example, if running a Report with a single grid against a SAP data source with a variable, a drop-down selection is not needed to be shown. Similarly, if a Report, Book or Batch contains only a single Prompt, or the Prompts are different (different dimensions, default members, or choices list), the drop-down selection will not appear.

When a variable exists and there is more then one reference to the data source, or when the same prompt exists in more then one grid, the Respond to Prompts dialog box shows a drop-down list where users choose whether they want to respond to prompts at the Grid, Report/Book or Batch level. The selections shown in the drop-down list depend on whether the Respond to Prompts dialog is shown while running a Report, or Book or from within the Batch editor. The drop-down list only appears when a selection is needed. Similarly, if a Report, Book or Batch contains only a single Prompt, or the Prompts are different (different dimensions, default members, or choices list), the drop-down selection will not appear.

When running a Report, the drop-down selections are:

When running a Book, the drop-down selections are:

When editing a Batch, the drop-down selections is: Respond to Prompts at the Batch Level, then (Default), then Respond to Prompts at the Report/Book Level, and then Respond to Prompts at the Grid Level.

The selections are only shown when necessary. The selection are not shown if there are multiple references to a variable or prompt.

If the user wants, they can respond to a prompt once, and the same value will be used for both responses, or they can select “Respond to Prompt at Grid Level” in the drop-down, press Apply and enter different values for each prompt listed.

The Source column shows what artifact the prompt is on. When identical prompts are found and only a single prompt response is presented, the Source column will show an asterisk (*) to indicate that the prompt response will apply to all prompts of that type.

The ability to select the level at which to respond to prompts is only available EPM Workspace. In Oracle Hyperion Financial Reporting Studio, Fusion Edition, the Respond to Prompts dialog box always show all member selection prompts and a single reference to each variable.