display report prompts in WebI

system · December 21, 2004, 6:15pm

Hello all… I am working on creating WebI reports using v6.5.1.

It seems the only way to include the prompt value(s) is to create a WebI variable using the UserResponse function. I’ve tried this:

=UserResponse(“Begin Date”)

which seems to “validate” OK but I CANNOT get this to display on my report. I’ve inserted a blank cell (from the Templates menu), and tried to populate that blank cell with my new variable. WebI acts like it’s “working”, but the value of the prompt never actually “appears” in my cell. FYI - in order to use this function, I had to create a “PDC” named Begin Date in my Universe file; I don’t see any way to access prompts created as part of a WebI report.

So, I’m at a loss. Can anyone shed some light on how to include prompt values on WebI reports?
Thank you!

CNV_Ben (BOB member since 2002-08-15)

system · December 21, 2004, 7:46pm

I am using the 6.5.1 Java Panel and it works for me. Below is my syntax. I copied the exact prompt text from the Filter Editor window.

=UserResponse(“Company Equal to:”)

Paul Carletta (BOB member since 2003-12-18)

system · December 21, 2004, 8:36pm

So Paul, how did you get the text from your formula or variable into a cell on the report? Did you have to insert a blank cell, or were you able to just “drag” the formula onto the report or???

CNV_Ben (BOB member since 2002-08-15)

system · December 21, 2004, 8:47pm

And, still another question: When I am able to get this to work, the format of my object (UserResponse) comes out as mm/d/yyyy hh:mm:ss.

Is there a way to “force” the format to mm/dd/yyyy (meaning, 2-character month, 2-digit day, 4-digit year)?

CNV_Ben (BOB member since 2002-08-15)

system · December 21, 2004, 9:28pm

I just dragged the new variable onto the report to show the results.

I believe the UserResponse function automatically converts results to string format. You may need to use ToDate to change it back and format it.

Paul Carletta (BOB member since 2003-12-18)

system · December 21, 2004, 9:37pm

Ok, now I see how to just drag the resulting formula onto the report. reviously, I was inserting a “free-standing cell”, and then trying to populate that cell with my UserResponse formula, which did NOT work.

I tried using ToDate around my new variable(s), but I keep getting data type errors. So, I have yet to figure that out.

And, I notice that my report layout looks good on page 1, but on all subsequent pages the report “block” is jammed right up to the top border, so it sits directly underneath the report title, and obscures the prompt values I’ve taken such pains to create. AARRGGHHHH…

Finally, I noticed a TINY little right-facing arrow near the top-right of the report page. When I “open” the arrow, it displays the prompts used to refresh a report. Double AARRGGGHHHH!

Thanks for your help Paul, as well as any additional help you can offer!
Ben

CNV_Ben (BOB member since 2002-08-15)

system · December 21, 2004, 10:48pm

UserResponse always returns a character string. If you use the ToDate function at the report level, you can convert your UserResponse from a character string to a date.

You can then use FormatDate function to then change the format and include it with other character strings.

Steve Krandel (BOB member since 2002-06-25)

system · December 30, 2004, 6:28pm

After working on this further I’ve discovered that:

=UserResponse(“Begin Date (mm/dd/yyyy)”)
----> returns 12/1/2004 12:00:00 AM

=ToDate(UserResponse(“Begin Date (mm/dd/yyyy)”);“M/d/yyyy hh:mm:ss a”)
—> returns a DATE data-type when I use it in a report.

So, the key is to correctly format ToDate, which on my server is “M/d/yyyy hh:mm:ss a”. Once I figured this out, FormatDate works like a charm!

CNV_Ben (BOB member since 2002-08-15)

system · June 23, 2005, 7:31am

I have the same problem as Ben.

I had four prompts for the user to choose the values he is needing and want to show them again in the report.

After creating the variables i.e.:

= "Text: " + UserResponse(DataProvider([Variable]);“Prompt:”)

it doesn’t show the choosen values in the report, only the word “Text:”

I dragged the variable to the cell and insert the variable via editor also.

Any solutions?

Edit: It was my own error. I had made the WebI-report out of an BO-report and renamed the prompts in WebI but used the old values from the BO-formulas.

Jeff20 (BOB member since 2005-06-03)

system · June 23, 2005, 7:53am

Hi Ben,

Two Points.

For you placement issue can you not position the table to the header cell using the Table Page Layout Tab?
For you date issue Could you post the formula that you currently have?

irish_stan (BOB member since 2003-05-13)

system · July 8, 2005, 8:42pm

If I get multiple values from UserReponse such as ‘10/10/2004 12:00:00 AM’, ‘10/17/2004 12:00:00 AM’ etc., How do I convert each of them to Data in ‘mm/dd/yyyy’ formats and use them in display (display as ‘10/10/2004’, ‘10/17/2004’ etc.,)

Also is there a way in Universe configured to read from SQL Server to format the Date Object to display iin ‘mm/dd/yyyy’ format instead of ‘mm/dd/yyyy hh:mm:ss AM/PM’, which always shows ‘mm/dd/yyyy 12:00:00 AM’…ridiculous for users. Any ideas? (Object format did not work!)

venkyone (BOB member since 2005-05-02)

system · January 9, 2006, 7:04am

Hi Guys,

I too face the same problem whileam using UserResponse with FormatDate.
If I useFormatDate without using the Userresponse it is working fine.

FormatDate([GBD Feedsheet].[ReportDate];“dd-Mmm-yyyy”)

But I wanted to dispaly Userresponsedate for that I did the following Code.But It still giving the #Error.

ToDate(UserResponse([GBD Feedsheet];“ReportDate”);“dd-Mmm-yyyy”)

Awaiting for your sugessions.

Naveen V (BOB member since 2005-01-27)