Hi,
When looking at all available objects in my report, I can see some formulas. I cannot, however, seem to be able to figure out where in the report they are being used or referenced.
Is there an easy way to do this?
Thanks.
SchmitzP (BOB member since 2007-09-17)
As far as I know, when you try to delete the formulas by Data -> Variables-> Formulas -> Select a formula -> Remove. If you get a confirmation message that you’ve used it in the report and still want to delete it, then you can know that it is used. 
That’s the only way I know.
Jansi 
(BOB member since 2008-05-12)
Thanks for your reply.
My issue is the following. I need to redetermine the order in which queries execute in my reports. Long story, but basically, the query in question was the first to be added, and shouldn’t be executed first. VBA is not an option, so only thing left to do is add them in the proper order. Rather than recreating, I added a new data provider based on the original quuery, then renamed the original, and named the new one the original name.
I went and manually renamed all formulas etc to reference the new name, rather than the old, but obviously missed one.
I removed the data provider, and thus, the formula is gone. Instead of doing all my work all over again (which took HOURS), I’d rather track down where the formula is used, and then add it again in the proper spot.
I just tried your suggestion, but am NOT getting error messages, even when removing all my formulas.
SchmitzP (BOB member since 2007-09-17)
See if this utility helps you. This will list out the report level variables and you can find out which one is not updated with the new data provider name.
Jansi (BOB member since 2008-05-12)
Thanks for that.
The formula I am missing was not listed by the tool. Is that an indication it is not used in the report, but rather might be a leftover from development?
I think I might just take a risk and assume that is the case. I have gone through the report as god as I can, by using the map and checking every fricking field as well as all the tables and their pivot-boys and appearance hide conditions, and I did not come across the formula in question.
Frankly, though, I’m rather amazed it is impossible to get a builtin check of where declared formulas are used, or to list which objects are not used and therefore obsolete. Then again, I’m not the biggest fan of BO, precisely because of stuff like this. Chalk up one more reason to recommend my client to change reporting tools altogether.
SchmitzP (BOB member since 2007-09-17)
Sometimes that would mess up even more. Do you know MicroStrategy? If you have objects modification access right, you can modify the definition of attributes and measures from within the report itself, which could lead to a great collapse in all the reports that use that particular object, if accidental.
P.S: Create a new basic report simulating the same issue you talk about and use the tool and see the output. (whether it lists out everything or just those used in the report only or whether this tool deals only with the variables and not the formulas.)
Jansi (BOB member since 2008-05-12)
I’m familiar with MS, yes, but never really used it. I’m a MS type of guy, and generally, my issues with BO are that what seems blatantly obvious or simple from a programming perspective becomes next to impossible (or just horribly complicated and performance degrading) when using BO.
Then again, my client has a tendency to insist we use BO for really advanced reports, with all kinds of business logic built into the report, rather than the data layer of their environment.
BO seems quite fine if you just need some real basic reports, but it seriously lacks as soon as you’re forced to use more complex layout and logic. I’ve encountered many occassions where one would expect logic to work, BO just plain doesn’t let you.
(example: Applying a filter to a table. If you need to compare two variables, it requires two filters, rather than a single one where you’d write something like the following:
= = ‘Online’ AND = ‘Yes’
)
Back on-topic, i’ll just risk it. We have stringent test procedures for a reason, so if it really is used, testing should find that. I’ll also try and ask the functional users of the report who were responsible for specifying requirements to begin with if they know anything about it. This report is something that was developed way before my time).
SchmitzP (BOB member since 2007-09-17)