Understanding Variable Criteria

You insert PS/nVision variables into the layout to display heading information that might change from report to report, or between report runs. For example, you could use a variable to automatically insert the report ID you specify in the Report Request dialog box, so you do not restrict this layout to a single purpose. Remember that your layout may be used with a scope that changes its contents, which could make a hard-coded title misleading.

You can define variable criteria at the cell level only—one variable per cell—and the variable must be the only element in that cell.

Note:

Besides using PS/nVision variables in your layouts, you can use some of these variables in the Instance Controls section of the PeopleSoft nVision Report Request dialog box.

When inserting a variable into a cell, you select it from the Variable tab of the PeopleSoft nVision Layout Definition dialog box. Because there are many different variables to select from, the dialog box displays them by category. Tables describing the variables in each category follow.

Note:

When you select a variable, you select its three-letter code. However, when a variable is used in a layout or report request, its code must be enclosed within percent signs (for example, %RID%). The following tables omit the percent signs.

Report Request Variables

The Report Request dialog box defines most of the values that are returned by using the variables in the following table.

Variable	Returned Value	Sample Value	Remarks
DTS	Detail or Summary (nPlosion enabled or disabled)	S	Defined in the Report Request dialog box: S= Summary (nPlosion disabled)D= Detail (nPlosion enabled).
ICT	Instance Counter	1	Starts at 1 and is increased by increments of 1 for each additional instance.
IDN	Instance Directory Name	C:\USER\NVISION\INSTANCE	Full path. The Directory Template field defines the full path in the Report Request dialog box.
IFN	Instance Output File Name	<Various>.XLS	The File Template field defines the path in the Report Request dialog box. The .XLS extension is included.
LAN	Language Template	ENG	Defined in the Report Request dialog box.
LYN	Layout Name	<Various>	Defined in the Report Request dialog box. (Does not include the .XNV extension.)
OPC	User Class	ALLPANLS	Provided by the PeopleSoft security tables.
OPL	User Language	ENG	Provided by the PeopleSoft security tables.
OPR	User ID	WPS004	Provided by the PeopleSoft security tables.
RID	Report Name	<Various>	Defined in the Report Request dialog box.
RBK	Report Book Name	N/A	N/A
RTT	Report Title	<Various>	Defined in the Report Request dialog box.

Date and Time Period Variables

This table lists the values that enable you to label layouts where different accounting periods are reported in each instance.

Variable	Name	Sample Value	Remarks
APA	Period Abbreviation	DEC	N/A
APN	Period Name	December	N/A
ASD	As of Reporting Date	2003-12-31	Defined in the Report Request dialog box.
AST	As of Tree Date	2004-01-01	Defined in the Report Request dialog box.
FY2	Year (YY)	04	N/A
FY4	Year (YYYY)	2004	N/A
PED	End Date of Current Period	2004-12-31	N/A
PER	Accounting Period	12	N/A

Scope-Related Variables

The following table lists the values that enable you to label layouts for which you have defined a report scope. A scope is used to define multiple instances of a report based on different field values. For example, you could produce an instance of an expense report for each department, or an operations summary for each business unit.

Variable	Name	Sample Value	Remarks
BUV	Business Unit Name	M04	Defined in the Report Request dialog box.
BUN	Business Unit Description	US1 Manufacturing	N/A
SCN	Scope Name	DEPARTMENT	N/A
SCD	Scope Description	Sales Departments	N/A
SFN	Scope Field Name	DEPTID	N/A
SFV	Scope Field Value	FINDEVELOP	N/A
SFD	Scope Field Description	Financial Development	N/A
STN	Scope Tree Name	FUNCROLLUP	N/A
STD	Scope Tree Description	Functional Organization	N/A
SLN	Scope Tree Level Name	DIVISION	N/A
SLD	Scope Tree Level Description	Instances for each division	N/A
DES	Scope Descriptive Field	FINDEVELOP	A user-defined variable that retrieves descriptive information from a field in either the detail value table or the tree node table.