Use Slicing to Edit Records

One of the methods you can use to edit fields enabled for inline editing is to drag a record from a report to a slice node that is defined by the same field. By default, you cannot edit any fields using drag-and-drop that aren't used in the slice tree.

As an example, if a report is sliced by incident status, you can drag an unsolved incident to a slice node grouping solved incidents to change the incident’s status to Solved.

Note: You can’t customize slice drag-and-drop options when running a report. The options must be configured when editing the report on the report designer.

By customizing slice drag-and-drop options, you change the drag-and-drop behavior to edit fields in a record that aren't used in the slice tree. For example, you can associate several tasks with an incident by dragging the tasks from the report output to the slice node that includes the incident you want them associated with.

This feature is also useful when working with custom objects and attributes with record associations. For instance, if you use a custom attribute in incident workspaces to create associations with parent incidents, you can drag incidents listed on a report and drop them on a slice node that contains the parent incident you want them associated with.

1. Open the report you want to edit on the report designer.
2. Click Inline Editing on the Home tab to ensure inline editing is enabled.
3. Click Slice.
   The Slice window opens.
4. Click the Slice Items By drop-down list and select the column you want to use to slice the report output.
   The column you slice by is used to create groups of records. It does not necessarily store the values that are changed when dropping values from other records. The column that stores the values that are changed will be selected below.
5. Click Drag and Drop Options.
   The Drag and Drop Options window opens.
6. Select Enable Drag and Drop.
   This check box is selected by default; however, it's disabled if the slice column is enabled for inline editing.

   Note: If you select multiple columns to slice by on the Slice window, you can select the On Drop Apply Edit to Only this Column in the Slice Tree check box to prevent values in the dragged records from being changed automatically. This check box is cleared by default, which results in the records dragged to the slice tree having their values changed to match that in the other slice columns. For example, if you have a second slice on Status and drag an unresolved incident to a slice that groups incidents with a Solved status, the incident you drag will have its status set to Solved. This check box has no impact if only one column is used in the slice.
7. Click the Source Column drop-down list and select the column with the values you want to use in the destination column.
8. Click the Destination Column drop-down list and select the column you want to populate using the values from the source column.

   The options displayed in the drop-down list depend on the selected source column since the columns must have the same data type (such as text, currency, or integer).

9. Click OK.
10. Click OK to close the Slice window.
11. Click Save.

Results:

When you run the report, you will drag records you want to change to the slice tree. Those records will have their record associations changed to match that of the record included in the slice you drag them to.