Attribute Element List Qualification

The elements of a business attribute are the unique values for that attribute. For example, 2006 and 2007 are elements of the Year attribute, while New York and London are elements of the City attribute. On a report, attributes are chosen to build the report, but once the report is executed, the attribute's elements are displayed in the rows or columns.

The filter type called an attribute element list qualification qualifies (or filters) report data based on a list of attribute elements belonging to an attribute. For example, the attribute Customer has elements which are individual customer names. For a report containing the attributes Region, Customer, and Income Range, you can use an attribute element list qualification on the attribute Customer to obtain income data for only those customers you specify in your filter. For a more detailed example, see the Building Query Objects and Queries, for Designers chapter of the Basic Reporting Help.

For steps to create a stand-alone attribute element list qualification filter, see To filter data based on business attribute elements.

Allowing user input into the filter: Prompted attribute element list qualification

You can allow a user to modify a filter, by including a prompt in the filter definition. You can use an existing prompt or create an prompt embedded in the filter. Prompts in attribute element list qualifications can allow a user to select attribute elements from a list. For example, a filter on the Region attribute contains an element prompt, which lists all the regions when the report is run.

Steps to create an embedded prompt are included in To filter data based on business attribute elements below.

You can also use an existing prompt as the filter's complete definition, as described in To use a prompt to filter data based on business attribute elements.

To filter data based on business attribute elements

1. Click Create on any page, and select New Filter.
2. In the pane on the left, navigate to the attribute that has the elements by which you want to filter a report's data.

3. Right-click the attribute and select Add to Filter.

   If DHTML is disabled, select the attribute and click Add > to add the attribute to the Filter panel.

4. Click Select.

5. From the In List drop-down list, select one of the following:

   • To define what attribute elements the filter should include data for, select In List.
   • To define what attribute elements the filter should exclude data for, select Not In List.

6. You can create the list of elements which the filter will use to filter data, or you can create a prompt to display a list of elements for the user to choose from. Do one of the following:

   • To create the list of elements which the filter will use to filter data, select an element in the Available area, and then click the right arrow to move the element to the Selected area. Press CTRL to select multiple elements. If the Available list contains a large number of elements, use the Search for field to locate the elements that you want to select.

     You can search for objects:

     • Beginning with specific letters, by typing those letters followed by an asterisk (*). For example, to find regions beginning with south, type south* in the Search for field and click the filter button. South, Southeast, and Southwest are displayed.
     • Ending with specific letters, by typing an asterisk (*) and those letters. For example, to find regions ending with west, type *west in the Search for field and click the filter button. Northwest and Southwest are displayed.
     • With a specific name, by typing the name in quotes (" "). For example, to find the South region, type "South" in the Search for field and click the filter button. South is displayed, but not Southeast or Southwest.
     • Beginning with specific letters and ending with specific letters, by typing the first letters, then an asterisk (*), then the last letters. For example, to find regions beginning with S and ending with th, type s*th in the Search for field and click the filter button. South is displayed.
     • Containing specific letters, by typing the characters separated by the percent sign (%). For example, to find regions that contain both S and th, type s%th in the Search for field and click the filter button. South, Southeast, and Southwest are displayed.
     • Based on an attribute form, by typing the name of the attribute form in brackets [] followed by a colon and the value to search for. For example, to find customers with the first name Maxwell, type [First Name]:Maxwell in the Search for field and click the filter button. Maxwell Perez is displayed, but not Delores Maxwell.
   • To create a prompt to display a list of elements for the user to choose from, click Create Element Prompt. A prompt is created that lists all the elements of the selected attribute when the report is run. To modify the prompt, click the Elements link (for example, if you are creating a prompt on the Region attribute, the link is named Elements of Region). The Prompt page opens. You can select the elements to display; change the prompt's title, description, and display style; restrict the number of prompt answers; and determine whether prompt answers can be saved and reused. For steps, see Attribute Element List Prompt.
7. Click the Apply icon .
8. Click Save .
9. Navigate to the folder where you want to save the filter. Enter a name and description for the filter in the Name and Description fields, and click OK.
10. Click Close.

The filter you created can now be added to a report. For steps, see Adding a stand-alone filter to a report.

To use a prompt to filter data based on business attribute elements

1. Create the prompt to be used as the filter definition. For steps, see Attribute Element List Prompt or Hierarchy Qualification Prompt.

   • An Attribute Element List prompt allows users to choose from a list of attribute elements.
   • A Hierarchy Qualification Prompt allows users to create their own filter using attributes and attribute elements from a specific hierarchy, all hierarchies in the project, or specific hierarchies returned by a search.

2. On the home page, click New Filter .

   If you are on a folder page, you can click Create on the icon bar on the left, and then click New Filter.

3. In the pane on the left, navigate to the prompt to use as the filter definition.
4. Click Save .
5. Navigate to the folder where you want to save the filter. Type a Name and Description for the filter, and click OK.

The filter you created can now be added to a report. For steps, see How to Add a Stand-Alone Filter to a Report.

Related Topics

Attribute Form Qualification

Attribute-to-Attribute Qualification

How to Filter Data Based on Dates

Metric Set Qualification

Metric-to-Metric Qualification

Shortcut-to-a-Report Qualification

Shortcut-to-a-Filter Qualification