So do you see it? If I enter a valid value for Employee.employee_id then my optional prompt clause will return those employees. The keyword that is pre-configured in this prompt is: * (the asterisk character). Here is the key to the whole thing and it looks like this:Įmployee.employee_id = a value (* to bypass filter)','A','',MONO,FREE)
In order to create an optional prompt you will need to create a clause that has the ability to evaluate true based on a valid parameter value or a submitted keyword that you have configured for the prompt. I don’t really want to get into a tutorial on logic, but it is important that you understand a bit about it. SQL WHERE clauses function much like most logical programming they evaluate to “True” or “False”. This allows you to use the input from the user without replicating all of the rest of the syntax in the Using is preferable where possible because it will avoid having to make changes to an in too many locations (when changes are inevitably needed). This because the unique identifier of the is the text displayed to the end user, you know the first string following the Another way to reuse a prompt in the SQL of a report is to use the function with the exact same prompt text string. HOWEVER, the prompt values are all consolidated under a single text string. So you could place it in various parts of your report’s WHERE clause and each would be executed and evaluated. The interesting thing is that this translation can occur for each instance of the in the report’s SQL. Sometimes this translation is frustrating (dates date types for example). are translated into SQL by BO with the values submitted to them. Products.product_num IN Product Number(s)','A',MULTI,FREE) Multiple Applications Using me take one step back and discuss the BO syntax briefly. Anyway yo get the technical discussion started here is an example of basic business objects syntax: This is where the magic starts, because “OR” logic is the drive behind optional prompt conditions. This means that you can include AND and OR logic, for starters. Therefore, much of what you can do with the WHERE clause in SQL can be replicated in Designer’s condition objects. Conditions become part of the WHERE clause of a report’s SQL. Anyway, back to Designer, are placed in condition objects (the little filters). I suppose you could hard-code one in the SQL of a WebI report, but if you are doing that then I don’t think you are ready for the next level. Of course, if we are discussing then we are discussing work done in Business Objects’ Designer. Prompt Conditions – Fancy Lines in a SQL WHERE Clause
Sure we catch on quickly, however, we often need to review the business objects syntax available online or refer to a previously created After we get comfortable with the and the available options such as custom list of values, constrained/free, mono/multi, and default/purge values ( link to article), many of us are ready to take our to the next level. For most of us the function syntax can be a bit confusing at first.