Prompts and Prompt Values

[UCFAngel]

I have three questions about a particular report I'm creating in WRS 3.1. The report has two tabs. The first tab displays the statistics by Student Classification and the second displays the statistics by Student College. The report prompts the user for a series of filters/parameters before the report is run.

1. How can we have the prompts automatically reset to default each time the report is run without having to click the "Reset to Defaults" button at the bottom? Since there are many (6) prompts, the user has to scroll before they even see the button. Is there any way we can put a message at the top of the prompt page to let the user know to scroll down to reset?

2. Is there a way to carry the values the user selects from one tab to the other? Now, if the user clicks on the second tab in the report he/she is prompted again for the same filters.

3. My report contains a text object where I display the prompted values. Some of the parameters allow multiple selections. When they are displayed in the text object above the table, there is only a space between them. Is there a way to insert a comma (or some other character) between them? For example, if the user selects Accounting, Finance, and Marketing as the department filter for the report about the College of Business then the text above the table displays the following:

Departments: Accounting Finance Marketing

I would prefer it to say Departments: Accounting, Finance, Marketing

[Jenn2]

UCF Angel,
I'm going to try to answer each of these questions.

1. When you say "reset to default," do you mean reset to default within the same session? If its within the session, we have no way to reset to default. I can image that this is frustrating. I know in v3.1, we have no way for users to add a message but we have been working on adding comments (or messages) in subsequent releases. Does anyone know a way to add a message under the covers of the report?

2. In v3.1, there is no way to carry values of the prompts across sections. Report linking is available in v3.1 but only allows you to link to another report or the same report but not link to a section within the report. In v4.2, you can link to a report section so this may be the way to solve this. If you link to a report section, you can carry the prompts to that next section.

3. This has been brought to our attention a long time ago but I am not sure if this was ever filed as a defect or not. Can you tell me how often this is a problem for you? Every report? Most reports? A few reports?
Does anyone know of a work around?

Hope this helps. Happy Thanksgiving!

[UCFAngel]

Thank you for the information. We are in the process of upgrading to 4.2 but that won't be fully functional in our environment until next year.

1. The report is set to automatically refresh so when a user goes to the IDP and selects the link for the report he/she is prompted for the parameters, so each session. The parameters are not being set to the defaults - it appears to be saving the parameters from the last time the report was saved. The user has to click the reset defaults at the bottom of the page to get them back to the defaults or change each one.

3. This is a problem on many reports that we want to carry the "breadcrumbs" for user selections using the prompt values in a text object above the table or chart output instead of selecting to display filter information under the Filter Information section on the Format tab of the Report Properties.

[deleted_user]

Hi UCF Angel,

I think I also encountered your item number 1 issue. Can you try taking out the filter first, then save your report without the filter. Then, in edit mode, add the filter and save it again... I think that should do the trick. Check it by changing the default value of the parameter and see if it will be reflected in the prompt.

You just have to add the filter last, and save it in edit mode. I tested different procedure of saving the report to reflect the default value and that procedure is the one that worked for me 🙂

Murf

[UCFAngel]

Thank you so much Murf! That solved the problem! I did have to re-enter the prompt values in the text object for the titles but that was a small price to pay. Thanks again!

[deleted_user]

that's great news! 🙂

[Jenn2]

Also, if you ever get updated to v4.2, here is the link to the SAS notes about how to hyperlink from section to section so you don't have to keep revisiting the prompts. It has a bunch of screen shots to explain the process.

http://support.sas.com/kb/37459

[UCFAngel]

I get a "cannot display the webpage" error when I click on the link provided for linking sections.

[Jenn2]

If you are in v4.2 and get this error, let me know or please submit this problem to tech support (I'll get the link to you in the next post). In v3.1, you cannot link sections.

[UCFAngel]

Thank you for the resources. I am still using 3.1 WRS but wanted to look at the document to be ready when we convert. I'll wait until the link is re-posted. I will take a look at the resources and see if I can get any answers.

[Jenn2]

Here is the information I posted from Nov 6 called "Greeting and Purpose of SAS Web Report Studio Forum" which has a bunch of resources. I bolded the link to post a defect to Tech Support.



Hello Everyone!
We are pleased to finally launch this new public SAS Web Report Studio forum. The purpose of this forum is to establish a community of users that can share information about SAS Web Report Studio such that this forum becomes a valuable resource to users. In addition to this forum, the following resources may also be useful:

1. http://sascommunity.org
2. blogs on the tech support site (http://support.sas.com/community/rss/)
3. tech support: (http://support.sas.com/techsup/)
4. SAS publications for WRS references: (http://www.sas.com/apps/pubscat/welcome.jsp)

Please keep in mind that this forum is not a replacement for tech support. If you have severe problems with Web Report Studio or have questions that require immediate responses, please contact SAS tech support immediately (http://support.sas.com/ctx/supportform).

We hope this becomes a rewarding tool for everyone across all ability levels.
Thank you for being a part of this community.
Jenn2

[Jenn2]

Good! Let me know if I can help you anymore.

[Madelyn_SAS]

For your item 3, version 4.2 does include commas between the prompt values when they are inserted into Text objects.

[UCFAngel]

Thank you! We hope to have the new version up and running soon and I am looking forward to the additional functionality.