VA Report Example: Use a Text object to link to a VA Report with passed values

I received a customer’s requirement to enable users to link to a VA Report using a Text object while passing values selected in visualizations to the target report. This is a straightforward solution if you were to configure the link action from the object, but requires two additional steps to configure when linking from a Text object.

Set prompt bar values of target report

Let’s take a look at the link configuration that will use the values from both the report and page prompt areas and a selected bar chart value then pass it to the target report’s prompt bar controls.

This is what I call “act like a human” link configuration. Selecting the link option Set prompt bar values of target report is when the link will use the passed values from the source report and “act like a human” to select values in the target report’s prompt controls, if there are corresponding control objects for the incoming values. It will not filter it, but select the value.

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Configure the Text object with Report Link

The first key step to be able to pass values to a linked report, is that the Text object must be tied to the data source. This can be accomplished by using the Data Roles pane to include a measure or parameter or by using one of the interactive data fields, like Table Modified Time.

The second key step, in order to pass selected values from objects in the source report, is that you must also configure a filter action from the object to the Text object. This way the Text object and the configured link has the data source and values to pass to the target report.

Now I can configure the Report link by navigating to the target report, providing the text, and target page. In this example, I selected the Set prompt bar values of target report. In my example, the source and target reports use the same data source.

If your source and target reports use different data sources, then you would see the Data Mappings and you would be able to add as many column mappings as required.

Not Selected - Set prompt bar values of target report

Now we will look at the link configuration where the Set prompt bar values of target report is NOT selected. This behavior will pass any selected source report values to the target report as a filter for the ENTIRE report. It will filter prompt controls and all objects on the report.

When designing a complex target report, it’s best to add all of the expected incoming filters as controls. Once you are ready to configure the report link, you can remove those control objects and save your report. Here is what the complex target report looks like without any filters applied.

Since I added the lattice roles to the line chart, we can see that without the filters it is hard to read. Also, the treemap does not resolve since I have the year and month added as data tip values; therefore, there are conflicting mappings without the filters applied.

Configure the Text object with Report Link

The same two key steps must be followed: tie the data source to the Text object and configure object filter actions to pass selected values.

In order to tie the data source to the Text object, I will include the Table Modified Time.

The second key step, is to configure filter actions from the objects to the Text object. In this example, both the bar chart and the crosstab objects will be passing selected values to the Text object.

Now I can configure the Report link by navigating to the target report, providing the text, and target page. In this example, I did not selected the Set prompt bar values of target report. This means the ENTIRE target report will be filtered by the passed values. In my example, the source and target reports use the same data source.

Demonstration

Here is a demonstration of each report link type.

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Conclusion

Configuring a report link using a Text object while passing selected values is possible but requires two key steps:

The Text object must be tied to the data source. This can be accomplished by using the Data Roles pane to include a measure or parameter or by using one of the interactive data fields, like Interactive Filters or Table Modified Time.
To be able to pass selected values from objects in the source report you must also configure a filter action from the object to the Text object. This way the Text object and the configured link has the data source and values to pass to the target report.

For additional information on configuring Visual Analytics Report links see the SAS Documentation Working with Report Data: Working with Report Actions and Links.

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