Prompting in Dashboards and Analyses

Inline and Dashboard Prompts

The two differences between inline prompts and dashboard prompts is where they are stored and their run-time behavior.

A prompt that is created at the analysis level is called an inline prompt because the prompt is embedded in the analysis and is not stored in the Oracle BI Presentation Catalog and, therefore, cannot be added to other analyses. Inline prompts allow the end users to specify the data values that determine the content of the analysis. An inline prompt can be a column prompt, variable prompt, image prompt, or currency prompt. When you create an inline prompt, you select the columns and operators for the prompt and specify how the prompt is displayed to the users and how the users select the values. The user's choices determine the content of the analyses that are embedded in the dashboard. An inline prompt is an initial prompt, meaning that it only displays when the analysis is rendered. After the user selects the prompt value, the prompt fields disappear from the analysis and the only way for the user to select different prompt values is to re-run the analysis.

A prompt that is created at the dashboard level is called a dashboard prompt because the prompt is created outside of a specific dashboard and is stored in the catalog as an object, which can then be added to any dashboard or dashboard page that contains the columns that are specified in the prompt. Dashboard prompts allow the end users to specify the data values that determine the content of all of the analyses and scorecard objects contained on the dashboard.A dashboard prompt can be a column prompt, variable prompt, image prompt, or currency prompt. Dashboard prompts are reusable, because you can create one prompt and use it many times. When the prompt object is updated and saved, those updates are immediately displayed in all dashboards where the prompt is used. A dashboard prompt is a specific kind of filter that, when created, saved, and applied to a dashboard or dashboard pages, can filter all or some of the analyses and scorecard objects that are embedded in a dashboard or analyses and scorecard objects that are embedded on the same dashboard page. A dashboard prompt is interactive and is always displayed on the dashboard page so that the user can prompt for different values without having to re-run the dashboard. Users can create and save dashboard prompts to either a private folder or to a shared folder.

Note that for a dashboard using a column that was renamed in the Business Model, the existing dashboard prompts based on the renamed column do not work with newly created analyses. The workaround for this issue is to use Catalog Manager to rename the column in the catalog.

For more information about creating a column prompt, see "Creating a Column Prompt".

Column Prompts

This topic describes column prompts; however, Oracle BI also enables you, as the content designer, to create currency prompts, image prompts, and variable prompts. For more information about these types of prompts, see "Other Prompt Types".

A column prompt is the most common and flexible prompt type. A column prompt enables you to build very specific value prompts to either stand alone on the dashboard or analysis or to expand or refine existing dashboard and analysis filters. Column prompts can be created for hierarchical, measure, or attribute columns at the analysis or dashboard level.

You can create intelligent prompts that are specialized for the user's business needs and roles so that the user can quickly and accurately find the appropriate data that is needed to make a key business decision.

How do Column Prompts and Selection Steps Interact?

Selection steps allow the user to provide or refine the data from attribute columns and measures columns and to provide a kind of filter for hierarchical columns. Note that selection steps are applied after data aggregation. When you create selection steps for a column, you have the option of overriding one step of the selection with a dashboard or analysis column prompt. All selection steps before and after the override step are processed as specified, and the override step is processed using the user-specified data values that are collected by the column prompt. Column prompts that are created for hierarchical columns allow you to include only the Choice List input option.

For more information about selection steps, see Filters and Selection Steps and Working with Selections of Data. For more information about creating a prompt that works with selections, see "Overriding a Selection Step With a Column Prompt".

Other Prompt Types

In addition to column prompts, you can create currency prompts, image prompts, and variable prompts. The following list contains information about these prompt types.

For information about column prompts, see "Column Prompts".

Variable Prompt — A variable prompt enables the user to select a value that is specified in the variable prompt to display on the dashboard. A variable prompt is not dependent upon a column, but can still use a column. For example, you can use variable prompts to allow the user to specify existing data to perform sales projections. For example, you can create a variable prompt called Sales Projections and specify the variable prompt values as 10, 20, and 30 percent. Then you create an analysis that contains the Region and Dollars columns. Within the Dollars column formula, you select the multiply operator and insert the Sales Projection variable. When users run this analysis, they can select a percentage by which to recalculate the Dollars column. For more information about creating a variable prompt, see "Creating a Variable Prompt".

Types of User Input Options Available for Use With a Column or Variable Prompt

At design time, you must specify the prompt's user interface component. This component enables the user to enter a prompt value at runtime. You can select from several user input options. The Radio Button option enables the user to specify only one prompt value. The Check Boxes, Choice List, List Box, and Text Field options allow the user to select either one or multiple prompt values. The Slider option enables the user to select multiple values by specifying a range of values, or all values that are lesser than or greater than a specified value (for example, include everything equal to 200 and greater). Note that the input option types that are available depend upon the column type that you are working with. The following sections provide information about each input option.

Check Boxes

The Check Boxes input option provides the user with a visible list of all prompt values where a small, selectable box displays before each value item. This input option is suitable for a prompt that contains a smaller set of data. Note that the List Box input option is suitable for a prompt that contains a larger set of data. This user input type automatically enables the user to select one or more prompt values. To select a specific prompt value, the user scans the list and clicks the box that corresponds to a particular item.

Choice List

The Choice List input option provides the user with a collapsed list of all prompt values. This option is useful for a long list of values where you want to provide the user with the ability to search for a specific value. You can set up this user input type to accept only one prompt value or multiple prompt values.

This input option provides a field and list that, when the user clicks the down-arrow button, expands and contains a list of all prompt values. To select a specific prompt value from the expanded list, the user scrolls through the list (or searches the list) and clicks the box that corresponds to a particular value. If you are using this input option with hierarchical columns, then a search dialog is displayed where the user can search for the prompt values.

The number of choices that display in the Choice List is determined by the MaxDropDownValues configuration setting. The administrator can modify the setting. For information about this configuration setting, see "Manually Changing Presentation Settings" in Oracle Fusion Middleware System Administrator's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition.

List Box

The List Box input option provides the user with a visible list of all prompt values. This input option is suitable for a prompt that contains a large set of data. Note that the Check Boxes input option is suitable for a prompt that contains a smaller set of data. You can set up this user input type to allow the user to select only one prompt value or multiple prompt values by using Ctrl+ click or Shift+ click.

To select a specific prompt value, the user scans the list and selects the prompt value name (for example, Chicago), similar to how a user would click a hyperlink. The List Box option is very similar to the Check Boxes option, but the List Box option does not include a box before each value item.

Radio Buttons

The Radio Buttons input option provides the user with a visible list of all prompt values where a Radio Button is displayed before each prompt value. This option type is useful for short lists of values where the user is to select only one prompt value. To select a prompt value, the user scans the list and selects the radio button that corresponds to a particular item.

Slider

This option is not available for Variable Prompts. Note that the Prompt Width option, which sets the prompt's field size, and the "Wrap Label to Fit" Prompts page setting option cannot be specified for or applied to this user input type.

You can use the Slider input option for numeric data values only. Depending upon the operator that you select, this option enables the user to select multiple values by specifying a range of values, or all values that are lesser than, greater than, or equal to a specified value. You select the Slider option to provide the user with a number line representation of the range of prompt values. The number line displays the prompt values in a range, for example 10,000 to 20,000. To select a prompt value, the user can either click a value on the number line or click and drag the thumb to select the desired value. A spinner box is also provided with up and down-arrow buttons that the user can click to select the desired value. If you selected the Slider option and the is between operator for the prompt, then the user can click and drag two thumbs to select the desired range of values for the prompt. Two spinner boxes are provided where you can either type or use the up and down-arrow buttons to specify a range of values.

Text Field

The Text Field input option provides the users with a field into which they can type a specific prompt value. You cannot use this option for multiple prompt values. Only the field and the field label display for this option. This option is useful in instances where the user knows the prompt value and does not have to search for it, or for prompts with numeric values. Note that the prompt value that you enter must match the column's value. For example, if a column's data values include EASTERN REGION (in all capital letters), then the user must type EASTERN REGION into the text field. Numeric values cannot contain commas. If your repository is configured for double columns, and you are creating a prompt on a display column and specify Text Field, then filtering occurs on display values, not on code values.

Dashboard Prompt and Analysis Prompt Interaction

You can combine and wire prompts in various ways to create dashboards and reports that allow users to quickly and easily request precise, meaningful data. Combining and wiring prompts enables you to specify how dashboard prompts interact with analysis prompts. Note that currency prompts and variable prompts cannot be combined or wired.

For example, you can create analysis A that contains information about the amount of product that is sold by region and to the Region column add the Is protected option and then add a Region prompt. You can then create analysis B that contains information about sales person by region and analysis C that contains information about city by region. You then create and save a dashboard prompt for Region. When you create a dashboard and add analyses A, B, and C and the Region dashboard prompt and run the dashboard, the dashboard prompt input drives only what is displayed in analyses B and C. In this scenario, analysis A does not use the Region value that is specified in the dashboard prompt because you set analysis A's Region column filter value to Is protected. Therefore, the only way that analysis A accepts a prompt value is if the user specifies a prompt value in Region A's prompt fields.

Methods of Combining and Wiring Oracle BI EE Analysis and Dashboard Prompts
Name	Location
Auto wiring	Oracle BI Enterprise Edition's auto wiring functionality assumes that you intended to create a functioning prompt for the column and, therefore, activates and applies the prompt. Oracle BI EE applies the auto wiring method when you create an analysis and add a column prompt or image prompt. This auto wiring method does not require the is prompted filter operator. Any unprotected filter can be used. Note that setting the filter operator to is prompted provides a more precise level of control between prompts and filters than the auto wiring method. For more information, see the "Filter value is set to *Prompt User" row in this table.
Constrained Prompts	Use this method with several columns in a prompt to constrain the user's prompt choice based on subsequent choices. Constrained prompts can be set up on the "Prompt options dialog" to specify which prompt narrows the choices. For example, if one column filters on region and the next column filters on city, then the city column can be constrained to show only cities in the selected region.
Filter operator is set to is prompted	Use this method to build complex prompts that interact with filters. When you use this method, you have full control over how the dashboard prompts, inline prompts, and filters are applied to the embedded analysis.
Selection Steps Override with Prompts Option	Use this method to use an analysis or dashboard column prompt to provide the data choices for a specific member selection step on a hierarchical or attribute column. Since you cannot use filters with hierarchical columns, selection steps are the only way that you can use prompts with hierarchical columns. Only one selection step per column selection step set can be overridden with a prompt. All selection steps before and after the overridden step are processed as specified.
Protected versus Unprotected filters	Use this method to determine whether the dashboard prompt can supply the inline prompt's value when the corresponding column's filter value is set to something other than Is prompted. The unprotected and protected filter settings can be used when a dashboard prompt and inline prompt reside on the same dashboard and both prompts were created for the same column. When the column's filter value is unprotected, the dashboard prompt value determines the analysis' results. If the filter value is set to something other than Is prompted (for example, Is equal to/is in) and the filter is set to protected filter, then the dashboard prompt cannot determine the report results.

Order Prompts with Default Values are Applied

Because prompting enables you to build flexible dashboards and analyses, it is important to understand how Oracle BI initiates a complex dashboard's prompts.

The following list presents the order in which, at runtime, Oracle BI applies prompts with default values:

Hidden prompts whose scope is the dashboard page.
Hidden prompts whose scope is the whole dashboard.
Prompts whose scope is the dashboard page. The precedence order of dashboard page prompts is unspecified.
Prompts whose scope is the whole dashboard.
Prompts, either inline or named, whose scope is the analysis.

Prompts Auto-Complete

Oracle BI provides auto-complete functionality for prompts, which suggests and highlights matching prompt values as the user types in the prompt selection field.

Auto-complete is only available for the Choice List prompt type when the prompt designer selected the "Enable User to Type Value" option in the New Prompt dialog. Note that auto-complete is not available for hierarchical prompts.

The auto-complete functionality has been configured to be case-insensitive.

The matching level determines how Oracle BI matches the column's values to what the user types. The matching level has been set to Match All.

Match All — As the user types, Oracle BI EE suggests the column values that contain any letter that the user is typing. For example, auto-complete is case-insensitive and the matching level is Match All and the user types "l," then Oracle BI suggests "LCD 36X Standard," "LCD HD Television," "7 Megapixel Digital Camera," and "Plasma HD Television."

The auto-complete functionality highlights matching values when the user accesses the Select Values dialog to search for a prompt value. However, the matching level is not determined by the preference set by the administrator. Instead, the user selects the matching level in the "Select Values dialog."

The dashboard designer can exclude the auto-complete functionality from dashboards, and user can turn auto-complete off by using the My Account dialog. Note the following relationships between auto-complete settings:

System Setting — The administrator modifies the system configuration file to enable the auto-complete functionality for Oracle BI. When this functionality is turned on, all users can access the auto-complete prompts functionality. If this functionality is turned off, then all auto-complete fields are disabled on the Oracle BI user interface. Auto-complete is enabled.
Dashboard Setting — If auto-complete is enabled for Oracle BI, then the dashboard designer can remove the auto-complete functionality from individual dashboards by setting the Prompts Auto-Complete field to Off in the Dashboard Properties dialog. However, the auto-complete prompts functionality will be available for other dashboards where the Prompts Auto-Complete setting is set to User Preference.
User Preference Setting — If auto-complete is enabled for Oracle BI and for individual dashboards, users can disable the auto-complete prompts functionality for their accounts by setting the Prompts Auto-Complete field in the My Account dialog: Preferences tab to Off. Setting this option to Off overrides the system and dashboard settings, and no auto-complete functionality will appear for the user.

Creating a Column Prompt

This procedure does not include information about selection steps or hierarchical columns. For information about column prompts and selection steps, see "Overriding a Selection Step With a Column Prompt".