I got a new, but simple requirement for our repository WebI reports (XIr2 SP2);
Could a WebI report display Last Modified by: Administrator or Last Saved by: Administrator in a report footer?
The reason for the request is that if a user takes a repository report and then makes a modification to it, its conceivable that a user could be representing a modified report as a repository report when it has been modified from the repository version. Any other thought or insights to preventing possible mis-representation of a repository WebI report is welcome.
You most definitely can place the sort of info you’re describing in the report footer of a Webi or Deski report but it may not address your concerns.
If you have a footer in the report like ‘Last Modified By: Administrator’ this will be included in the user’s amended report unless you have a practice that requires them to change it. The problem is that you can’t enforce this
If you could educate your user community that they need to update the footer content whenever they amend a repository report then I think you’ll be on to a winner
Thank you for the reply. I should have noted that I was looking for a dynamic way to do this with something like a function; similar to how CurrentUser() or DocumentAuthor() work. These two functions though don’t address the issue I have, as CurrentUser() will always display the current user of the report, and DoucumentAuthor() displays the original creator of the report no matter who may have modified it. I’m working to see if a user who may take a Public (repository report) who then edits (and then saves) it can be captured or displayed in a report footer as an indication that this is no longer a report placed in the public folder (repository) by an administrator. So far I know that the properties of the report will capture this but it seems that it’s not available as a function at the report level.
We have a fairly lightweight way we handle this here on XIR2: we have a large number of standardized (canned) reports (all Webi) that are scheduled to be refreshed at set intervals. Each report has a set of Division graphics in the header along with a “Wax Seal” graphic. The Wax Seal has it’s Security Access Level set to “Restricted” in Designer. This access level is granted to the report writers and the System User.
If an individual saves off the report to “Favorites” and makes any modification to the report, when the report is refreshed, the Wax Seal image is replaced by it’s HTML text reference beacuse the current user does not have access rights to the image object (really ugly - stands out).
The caveat here is that the report must be refreshed for the image to be removed. Like I say, it’s lightweight but it’s quick.
Thank you for the reply, I think that’s very clever and I may be able to use it too! I will be giving your suggestion a try for sure, meanwhile I owe you a very big Thank You
Exactly this kind of function is demanded by a customer. Are there any new ideas?
I presume to solve this problem it is necessary to look into the SDK and write a own function…but this is work for real developers.
Might it be possible to ask directly at Business Objects for this function in a coming release?
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