About Parameter Value Propagation

Within a Workflow or Report Set, you can set up automatic Parameter value propagation so that a Parameter contained in a Program instance in the Workflow or Report Set can receive its value automatically from another Parameter in the same Workflow or Report Set; either the output Parameter of another Program, or a Parameter created directly in the Workflow, Report Set, or Report Set Entry especially for this purpose.

Value propagation has two benefits:

• Consistency. Value propagation ensures a consistent value among the Parameters you specify. For example, many Programs in a Report Set may have an input Parameter for the Study value. If the whole Report Set concerns only one study, you can set up value propagation from a special Value Propagation Parameter you define at the top Report Set level for this purpose, and all the study Parameters in the Report Set.

• Ease of Submission. Value propagation makes it much easier to submit a Report Set or Workflow for submission because all Parameters defined as getting their value from another Parameter cannot be modified, and the person submitting the job is not required to enter a value for them.

You can set up value propagation in the definition of either the source or the target Parameter. If you want the value of a single Parameter to be propagated to multiple other Parameters, it is more efficient to set it up from the source Parameter.

The rules for defining value propagation are slightly different in Workflows and Report Sets.

Value Propagation in Workflows: Because a Workflow has a set execution order, you must always propagate Parameter values from Parameters whose value is entered or generated earlier during Workflow execution to Parameters that require a value later in Workflow execution. That is, the source Parameter must be either defined at the top level of the Workflow or be an input Parameter of a Program executed before the Programs containing the target Parameters to which its value is propagated.

Value Propagation in Report Sets: In Report Sets, the rules for value propagation are different depending on whether the source Parameter is defined directly in the Report Set/Report Set Entry, or is an output Parameter of a Program in a Report Set Entry:

• Propagating values from Report Set or Report Set Entry Parameters. If you define a Parameter directly at the top level of the Report Set or in any Report Set Entry especially for the purpose of propagating its value to other Parameters in the Report Set or Report Set Entry, you must define the Parameter at the same level or a higher level from the Report Set Entries that contain the target Parameters.

• Propagating values from Program output Parameters. Oracle LSH can adjust the execution order of a Report Set to accommodate the Parameter value propagation you define from the output Parameter of one Program to the input Parameter of another Program. You can define value propagation from a Program Parameter in a Report Set Entry that is displayed below a target Program Parameter's Report Set Entry. However, the system does not allow circular value propagation.

Note:

If you plan to use a triggered submission for a Workflow or Report Set, you must ensure that each Parameter contained in the Workflow or Report Set receives its value from a Parameter at the top level of the Workflow or Report Set or from an output Parameter generated by a Program within the Workflow or Report Set. For information on triggered submission, see Using Message-Triggered Submission from External Systems.