A prompt is a question the system presents to a user when a report is executed. How the user answers the question determines what data is displayed on the report when it is returned from your data source. A report designer can include one or more prompts in any report. Answering a prompted report differently each time it is executed is one way to ensure that a report is executed against your data source and displays the most recent data. This is because different prompt answers usually require different data than what is stored in the report’s cache.
All users, except those with Read-only permissions, can use prompts. Only users with Administrator or Manager permissions can create prompts.
Prompts are an effective tool to:
Allow each user who executes the report to request individualized sets of data from the data source when the prompt is answered and the report run. Effectively, each user creates a filter for the report.
Allow a user to create a smaller number of reports overall, using more inclusive objects, rather than having to create numerous, more specific reports that are individualized to each analyst.
Allow a user to ensure that the objects on a report are the latest available objects in the project. This is possible using a search object in a prompt. When a user launches a prompt by running a report, the search object retrieves the latest objects that fit the search criteria the report designer defined. Thus, no matter when the prompt was created, each time a user executes the report, the user chooses prompt answers from a list of the most up-to-date objects available in the project, including objects that may not have existed when the prompt was created.
Allow users to keep the objects on their saved reports up-to-date. Users can save a prompted report so that the objects within the prompt remain connected to the original objects within the project that they were originally based on when the prompt was created. If objects are modified or deleted in the project, the report can reflect those changes the next time the prompted report is run.
The pieces that make up a prompt, control how a prompt appears and how it functions. These components include the following:
Answer requirement: Use this component to determine whether users are required to answer the prompt or an answer is optional. If an answer is required, a report cannot be executed until an answer is provided.
Default prompt answers: Use this component to include a pre-selected answer for the prompt, which the user can then accept, replace with a different answer, or accept and add more answers.
Title and description: Use this component to provide a useful name and description for the prompt, which can significantly impact whether a user finds prompts to be simple or complex .
Style: Use this component to determine the appearance of the prompt and the layout of how users select answers for the prompt.
Consider the user needs and the purpose of the report as well as the objects on it when deciding on these options. To apply a schedule to a prompted report, the decisions made about answer requirements and default answers will affect how the report is filtered when it is automatically executed on schedule.
Prompts can be divided into the following groups, based on what is required to answer them:
select items from a list - define the data on the report. For those with a wider knowledge of prompt design, these types of prompts include attribute element list prompts and object prompts. See Answering a prompt by selecting answers from a list.
enter specific values or text to search for, such as a specific date, a number, or a word. For those with a wider knowledge of prompt design, these types of prompts are called value prompts, and include date prompts, numeric prompts, text prompts, long prompts, and Big Decimal prompts. See Answering a prompt by typing a specific value.
form a more complex statement of the data - defining a statement is creating a filter for the report. This group of prompts can be divided into two subsets:
A prompt is similar to a filter because a prompt determines the specific data to be displayed on a report. The difference is that a filter is created for a report to provide a single, specific definition for the report. A filtered report displays the same set of data to every user who executes that report.
In contrast, a prompt dynamically modifies the contents of a report based on the user's answers when the user executes the report. With prompts, users can determine the objects (attributes, attribute elements, metrics, and so on) that they want to be part of, or excluded from, the report query that is sent to the data source. Therefore, a prompt can be seen as a way for each user to create a filter for a given report.
Filtering data based on a related set of attributes: Hierarchy prompt
Filtering data based on an attribute form: Attribute element list prompts
Filtering data based on an attribute: Attribute qualification prompts
Filtering data based on a metric: Metric qualification prompts
Filtering data based on metrics, attributes, or other objects: Object prompts
Filtering data based on a single value or string: Value prompts
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