BusinessObjects Board

Optional Prompts - Universe level

Hi,

I am using 3.1 version of Business Objects.
A new feature allows you to create optional prompts at reporting level.
However I am really struggling to create optional prompts at Universe level for example the syntax at reporting level uses

@prompt('Enter value(s) for Fac Account:','A','Financial Account\Fac Account',Multi,Free,Not_Persistent,,User:0,optional)

however when trying to create the same in the universe it errors.
Can anyone help with this, it will be greatly appreciated

:hb:


wlloyd (BOB member since 2008-10-14)

Did you mean to have a functionality for selecting some ā€˜Fac Accountā€™ or ā€˜allā€™ (All will work as optional)

then try searching in the forums for Prompt with all valuesā€¦surely you will find it.
Like one is here

Thanks,


Rana :india: (BOB member since 2008-07-08)

You can set the prompt an optional one in the query. Did you try it?

I believe, with XI 3.x a report writer can create optional prompts now, but not in designer.


Jansi :india: (BOB member since 2008-05-12)

Its true what Jansi said, optional prompts feature exists only in webI query panel only while creating prompts and cannot be implemented in a universe

.


haider :es: (BOB member since 2005-07-18)

Hi,
Thanks for the responsesā€¦

I have this working at report level, however i wanted this to be an universal prompt as we need this prompt for many reports.

Looks like i will have to settle for the first suggestion using ā€œALLā€.

Just seems daft giving you the function at report level and not universe

:nonod:


wlloyd (BOB member since 2008-10-14)

Thatā€™s true. But we should be happy that at least we have that option at report level. :slight_smile:


Jansi :india: (BOB member since 2008-05-12)

Did you know you can attach conditions to classes now? I have duplicated classes and shown the relevant restricted class to a group of usersā€¦


jemstar :ireland: (BOB member since 2006-03-30)

How is attaching classes going to help me with optional prompts at universe level,
Not sure what you are getting at Please explain?


wlloyd (BOB member since 2008-10-14)

It may not be ideal, but have one class with prompts attached and a duplicated class without the prompts attached. With security you can show and hide the appropriate classes from various user groupsā€¦

A little imperfect I knowā€¦


jemstar :ireland: (BOB member since 2006-03-30)

Hi,

Please check the following link if that suits your needs for optional parameters.

Regards
Sandeep :wave:


sandeep.manocha :us: (BOB member since 2009-06-17)

The same thing (if in shortened form) is in the Designer FAQ:


Dave Rathbun :us: (BOB member since 2002-06-06)

Hi Dave,

I have studied and tried that exercise which you have mentioned. In that excersie I am being able to see the cascading prompts, but data is not filtered as per the values i selected. Report filters the data based on only last parameter, apper like only lsat parameter is being part of SQL generated.

How I can achieve and put all the prompt values in where caluse of SQL or you can say How can I achieve the results based on my selection.

Thanks
Sandeep Manocha (New to Business Objects) :crazy_face:


sandeep.manocha :us: (BOB member since 2009-06-17)

That is how it works, unfortunately: A cascading prompt will not translate into a cascading condition.
Your last value selected in the cascading prompt will have to be globally unique (think: primary key). For example the final selection of ā€œRomeā€ as a city will not work, as there are many cities by the name of Rome worldwide.


Andreas :de: (BOB member since 2002-06-20)

As Andreas says, thatā€™s the way it works. The ā€œcascadeā€ function conditions are only applied to the list of values selections, they do not appear in the final SQL. If you do not have a unique value as a final selection (as Andreas mentioned, ā€œRomeā€ as a city is hardly unique) then you will not get the query results you desire.

One alternative that I have used is to concatenate the selections through the cascade. So my initial selection would be Country, followed by Country + State, and finally Country + State + City. In that way the selection becomes USA + Texas + Rome or Italy + Central Italy + Rome which would be unique.


Dave Rathbun :us: (BOB member since 2002-06-06)

Thanks Andreas/Dave,

Please advise how to implement this, is this should be at database level or do need to concatinate at BO level. How to concatenate the user entered prompt values ?

Thanks
Sandeep :o


sandeep.manocha :us: (BOB member since 2009-06-17)

You make the objects in the universe, and build your cascading LOV off of the concatenated objects. I covered how to do this - including how to get ā€œALLā€ as an option - in the ā€œNinjaā€ series of presentations that I did at a conference several years back. I donā€™t remember if it was Part 1 or Part 2 but both are available from my blog, which is linked in my signature.


Dave Rathbun :us: (BOB member since 2002-06-06)

Hi, everybody.
Do you have any news about this feature (optional prompt into universe)?


count (BOB member since 2009-06-04)

This is not yet available in the universe yet. But you can always select ā€˜ALLā€™ in the prompt if you want to make it optional.

P.S: Welcome to B:bob:B!


Jansi :india: (BOB member since 2008-05-12)