Create a Level Prompt to Define the Calculation Level for a Metric

Beginning in Strategy One (October 2025), you can create a level prompt in Workstation.

A level prompt allows the user to select, during report execution, the level of calculation (or dimensionality) for a metric. For example, a report shows sales totals by time and allows the user to choose whether the totals are calculated for the year, the month, the week, and so on.

Click here for an expanded example.

Regional managers want to calculate the percentage contribution of employees to the total revenue for the region, while call center managers only want to see it at the call center level. Rather than creating two separate but very similar reports to satisfy these needs, create a level prompt to allow users to select region or call center.

The prompt definition is shown below. The level can be either Region or Call Center and the default answer is the report level.

Create a metric that sums the Revenue fact and uses the level prompt, as shown below. The metric is named Revenue Prompted for Geo Level.

Add the metric to a report containing Region, Call Center, Employee, and Revenue. Create a contribution metric within the report that divides the prompted metric by the Revenue metric. When a user runs the report, the prompt displays.

The user selects Call Center. The Revenue Prompted for Geo Level metric calculates the revenue at the call center level, as you can verify from the call center totals displayed on the report. The % Contribution metric calculates a different value for each employee, because it divides the prompted metric by the employee's Revenue value. For the call center totals, the % Contribution metric is 100%.

When a regional manager selects Region, the metric values change. The Revenue Prompted for Geo Level metric calculates the revenue at the region level, as you can verify from the region totals displayed on the report. The % Contribution metric calculates a different value for each employee, because it divides the prompted metric by the employee's Revenue value. For the region total, the % Contribution metric is 100%.

For background information on level metrics, see Level Metrics: Changing the Level of Calculation for Metrics. For a more complete example of a level prompt, see the Advanced Reporting Guide.

When the definition of multiple metrics would differ only in level, it is useful to create a level prompt to avoid having to create multiple metrics.

You can define a default prompt level, which displays when the prompt is executed. This allows users to complete report execution more quickly, since they do not need to answer the prompt, but can simply run the report using the default level. Users can select the default or specify their own level. A default prompt level is particularly useful if a large percentage of your users will select the same level for this prompt. By default, the default level is the report level, with standard filtering and standard grouping. You can remove or edit this level, and add more levels.

When you create a level prompt, you can decide whether users can select from a specified list of objects, or you can define a specific search that presents an up-to-date set of objects for users to choose from. Including a search object in the level prompt, rather than specifying the exact object names, allows users to select from new objects that might not have been part of the project when you first created the prompt.

An object prompt allows prompting only on the target, while a level prompt allows prompting on all components of the metric—target, filtering, and grouping. For definitions of these components, see Level Metrics: Changing the Level of Calculation for Metrics.

Create a Level Prompt

If you want users to answer the prompt by selecting from the results of a search object, create the search object before creating the prompt.

Open the Workstation window.
From the File menu, select New Prompt.
If you are connected to multiple environments or projects, select the environment and project to create the prompt in.
From the Select the Type of Prompt to Begin drop-down list, select Prompt for Level.
In the Level box, search for and add attributes, hierarchies, and search objects that contain attributes or hierarchies. These are the options for users to select as the calculation level of the metric.
- You can also drag and drop objects from the Object Browser.
- Search objects cannot be combined with other types of objects.
- You can include all attributes and hierarchies in the project. Click the Level box and select List All Attributes and Hierarchies.
For more information on the calculation level and level metrics in general, see Level Metrics: Changing the Level of Calculation for Metrics.

Edit the predefined text for the Prompt title and instructions by clicking the text. Type a new Prompt Title and Instructions in the boxes.
To set a minimum and/or maximum, require a prompt answer, and enable personal answers, click None next to Answer restrictions.
- To set the minimum number of objects that can be selected by the user, select the Minimum Objects check box and type the value in the box. You can specify a minimum even if you do not specify a maximum.
- To set the maximum number of objects that can be selected by the user, select the Maximum Objects check box and type the value in the box. You can specify a maximum even if you do not specify a minimum.
- To require users to answer the prompt before running the report, select the Prompt Answer Required check box.
- To determine whether users can save and reuse their prompt answers, select the Allow Personal Answers check box. Choose how many prompt answers they can save for the prompt:
  - Single Save and reuse only one prompt answer.
  - Multiple Save and reuse multiple prompt answers.
A default prompt level can allow users to complete report execution more quickly, since they do not need to answer the prompt but can simply run the report using the default level. The levels that you define here display when the prompt is executed. The user can select the default or specify his own level. A default prompt level is particularly useful if a large percentage of your users will select the same level for this prompt.

By default, the default level is the report level, with standard filtering and standard grouping. This means that the metric calculates at the level of the attributes on the report on which the metric is placed. Keeping the report level allows the metric calculation to adapt to the report. You can remove or edit this level, and add more levels. For more information on the report level specifically, see Report Level: Interaction with the Context of Reports.
1. Click Report Level next to Default Answer.
2. You can remove the Report Level as the default by clearing its check box. If the report level is removed, only the level explicitly set on the metric affects the metric calculation, regardless of what the report contains. For more details, see Removing the Report Level.
3. To add a level as a default, select its check box.
4. To change the filtering of a level, select an option from the level's Filtering drop-down list. The level must be selected as a default.
  Filtering governs how the report filter interacts with the metric calculation. For descriptions of the options, see Filtering: Interaction with Report Filters.
5. To change the grouping of a level, select an option from the level's Aggregation drop-down list. The level must be selected as a default.
  Grouping determines how the metric aggregates. For descriptions of the options, see Filtering: Interaction with Report Filters.
6. To return to the report level as the default, with standard filtering and aggregation, click Reset.
7. You can define advanced options related to metric filter and metric calculation interaction. Expand Advanced Options. For details on the settings, see Filtering: Interaction with Report Filters.
Click Save in the upper left.
Use the Level Prompt
Add your level prompt to a metric. Then, use that metric in your dashboard, document, or report.
- To add the level prompt to a metric, in the Metric Editor, create the metric with operators, functions, and objects. In the Formula pane on the left, type the following after the metric formula: ?{LevelPrompt}, replacing LevelPrompt with the name of your level prompt. For example, you create a level prompt named PromptForLevel and add it to revenue metric. The full formula is Sum(Revenue)?{PromptForLevel}, as shown below: