8.6.6 Managing Interactive Grid Column Attributes

Edit column attributes to control the display, features, and behavior of interactive grid columns.

Note:

Some settings are configured at runtime by the report developer and saved as part of the primary or alternate report (for example, column display order, the columns the report is sorted on, and column widths. To learn more about save options, see "Saving Interactive Grid Reports."

• Editing Common Grid Column Attributes
  
• Enabling Hide, Sort, Control Breaks, and Aggregates
  
• Defining a Column as a List of Values for Filtering
  
• Creating a Column Link in an Interactive Grid
  

See Also:

"Editing Pages in Page Designer"

8.6.6.1 Editing Common Grid Column Attributes

Edit grid columns attributes to change the column heading, determine how a column renders, specify if users can edit a column value, and control how users can manipulate a column.

To edit interactive grid Column attributes:

1. View the page in Page Designer:
   1. On the Workspace home page, click the App Builder icon.
   2. Select an application.
   3. Select a page.
   Page Designer appears.
2. In the Rendering tab, locate the region and expand the Columns node.
   The columns appear in the Rendering tab.
3. Select a column to edit.

   The Property Editor displays the attributes.

   Note:

   To view help for an attribute, select the attribute in the Property Editor and click the Help tab in the central pane.

4. Edit the appropriate attributes.
5. To edit the column heading:
   1. Find Heading.
   2. Heading - Enter the report column heading text.
   3. Alignment - Select the heading alignment. Note that your alignment selection must be supported by the selected report template..
   4. Alternative Label - Enter the alternative label to use in dialogs and in the Single Row View. Use an alternative label when the heading contains extra formatting, such as HTML tags, which do not display properly.
6. To control how column values display and for editable grids how the column value is edited:
   1. Find Identification.
   2. Type - Select how the column is rendered.

      Different settings are available depending on the selected Type. For example, for an editable grid, select the Type Display Only to make a column uneditable. Choose the Type Hidden for primary key columns that should not be seen or other columns that are only used in templates such as icon or detail view, link targets, or columns of type HTML Expression.

7. To control how users can manipulate a column:
   1. Find Enable Users To.
   2. Sort/Control Break/Aggregate - Select whether end users can use this column in sorts, control breaks, and aggregates. Select On or Off.

   Tip:

   Enabling these operations can cause performance issues, especially on large data sets or where appropriate column indexes are not available.

8. To save your changes click Save. To save and run the page, click Save and Run Page.

8.6.6.2 Enabling Hide, Sort, Control Breaks, and Aggregates

You can configure the Column attributes under Enable Users To to control whether end users can hide, sort, or use a column in control breaks and aggregates.

To enable hide, sort, control breaks, and aggregates:

1. View the page in Page Designer:
   1. On the Workspace home page, click the App Builder icon.
   2. Select an application.
   3. Select a page.
   Page Designer appears.
2. In the Rendering tab, locate the region and expand the Columns node.
   The columns appear in the Rendering tab.
3. Select a column to edit.

   The Property Editor displays the attributes for that column. Attributes are organized in groups.

4. To find a group or attribute:

   • Search for the group or attribute - Enter keywords in the Filter Properties field. The Property Editor displays the group or attributes. To return to the default display, delete the keywords.

   • Use Go to Group - Click Go to Group and select the group. To return the default display, click Go to Group again and select Expand All.

5. In the Property Editor, find Enable Users To. Specify Yes or No for the following:
   1. Sort - Specify whether end users can use this column in sorts.
   2. Control Break/Aggregate - Specify whether end users can use the column in control breaks and aggregates.
   3. Hide - Specify whether end users can hide this column.
   Be aware that enabling these operations can lead to performance issues, especially on large data sets or where appropriate column indexes are not available.
6. To save your changes click Save.
7. To save and run the page, click Save and Run Page.

8.6.6.3 Defining a Column as a List of Values for Filtering

You can define an interactive grid column as a list of values to improve the speed of built-in filter tools.

To define a report column as a list of values:

1. View the page in Page Designer:
   1. On the Workspace home page, click the App Builder icon.
   2. Select an application.
   3. Select a page.
   Page Designer appears.
2. In the Rendering tab, locate the region and expand the Columns node.
   The columns appear in the Rendering tab.
3. Select a column to edit.
   The Property Editor displays the attributes for that column. Attributes are organized in groups.
4. In the Property Editor, find the Column Filter group. Specify the following:
   1. Enabled - Specify whether end users can filter this column. Select On or Off.
   2. LOV Type - Select how to derive the list of values for the filter when a user clicks on the column header or in filter dialogs. Options include:

      • None - Disable any values being displayed in the filter. This option is appropriate on large columns, generally with most values being over 50 characters, or when a list would not be very usable for selecting a specific record. Instead the end user can just type in a partial value and then view the results.

      • Distinct Column - Distinct column values are displayed for VARCHAR2 and NUMBER columns. DATE and TIMESTAMP columns utilize the built-in predefined date ranges.

      • SQL Query - Values are derived from the SQL query definition.

      • Shared Component - Values are derived from an existing list of values.

      • Static Values - Values are derived from a static list of values.

      • PL/SQL Function Body returning SQL Query- Values are derived from the PL/SQL function body that returns a SQL Query.

      • Use List of Values - Values are derived from list of values.

5. To save your changes click Save. To save and run the page, click Save and Run Page.

8.6.6.4 Creating a Column Link in an Interactive Grid

Use Column Attributes to create a link from a report to another page in your application or to a URL.

To create a column link to another page:

1. View the page in Page Designer:
   1. On the Workspace home page, click the App Builder icon.
   2. Select an application.
   3. Select a page.
   Page Designer appears.
2. In the Rendering tab, locate the region and expand the Columns node.
3. Select the desired column.

   The Column attributes appear in the Property Editor. Attributes are organized in groups.

   Tip:

   To find a group or attribute, enter keywords in the Filter Properties field. The Property Editor displays the group or attributes. Or, click Go to Group and select the group.

4. Find Identification. From Type, select Link.
5. Find Link and click No Link Defined.

   The Link Builder - Target dialog appears. The Target Type you select determines the steps that follow.

6. To create a link to another page, in the Link Builder - Target dialog:
   1. Type - Select Page in this application.
   2. Page - Specify the target page number.
   3. Set Items - Select a Name and Value to specify session state for an item.
   4. Clear/Reset, Clear Cache - Specify the page numbers on which to clear cache. To specify multiple pages, enter a comma-delimited list of page numbers.
   5. Clear/Reset, Action - Select one of the following:

      • None - No clear or reset action when page loads.

      • Clear Regions - Clears all region settings on the page.

      • Reset Regions - Resets all regions on the page back to the default state, including sort orders, hidden columns and so on.

      • Reset Pagination - This option enables backwards compatibility.

   6. Advanced, Request - Specify the request to be used.
   7. Click OK.
7. To create a link to another page in another application, in the Link Builder - Target dialog:
   1. Type - Select Page in a different application.
   2. Application - Select the application.
   3. Page - Specify the target page number.
   4. Set Items - Select a Name and Value to specify session state for an item.
   5. Clear/Reset, Clear Cache - Specify the page numbers on which to clear cache. To specify multiple pages, enter a comma-delimited list of page numbers.
   6. Clear/Reset, Action - Select one of the following:

      • None - No clear or reset action when page loads.

      • Clear Regions - Clears all region settings on the page.

      • Reset Regions - Resets all regions on the page, including sort orders, hidden columns and so on, back to default state.

      • Reset Pagination - This option is for backwards compatibility.

   7. Advanced, Request - Specify the request to be used.
   8. Click OK.
8. To create a link to a URL, in the Link Builder - Target dialog:
   1. Type - Select URL.
   2. URL - Enter the URL address.
   3. Click OK.
9. To save your changes click Save. To save and run the page, click Save and Run Page.