Designing Characteristic Types
The parameter tab on the report definition page uses Characteristic Type to define the report parameters. For each report parameter that you plan to use, you must define a characteristic type.
You do not need a unique characteristic type for each report parameter. For example, if Start Date and End Date are parameters your report, only one Report Date characteristic type needs to be defined. This characteristic type would be used on both date parameters.
Each characteristic type to be used as a report parameter must indicate a characteristic entity of Report.
To illustrate the characteristic type definitions, let's look at the sample report Tax Payables Analysis. It needs the following parameters: From Date, To Date, GL Account Type Characteristic Type and Account Type value.
To support the required parameters, the following characteristic types are needed.
Char Type | Description | Type | Valid Values | Char Entities |
---|---|---|---|---|
CI_DATE | Date Parameter | Ad-hoc | (Uses validation algorithm to validate proper date entry) | Report |
CI_CHTYP | Characteristic Type | FK Reference | CHAR_TYP | Report |
CI_GLTY | GL Account Type | Pre-defined | A- Asset, E- Expense, LM- Liability/miscellaneous, LT- Liability/taxes, R-Revenue | Distribution Code, Report |
Highlights for some of the above settings:
- We have defined a characteristic type for defining a characteristic type. This is to allow the user to indicate which Char Type on the Distribution Code is used for the GL account type. This is an FK reference type of characteristic.
- The GL account type characteristic type is referenced on both the Distribution Code entity and the report entity.