Attribute Form Qualification

Attribute forms are additional descriptive information about a business attribute. Most attributes only have the forms ID and Description. But an attribute can have many other forms. For example, the attribute Customer has the forms First Name, Last Name, Address, Email Address, and so on. A form is a descriptive category for any data your organization saves about any of its attributes.

Attribute form qualifications allow you to filter report data based on an attribute form. For example, to return data for only those employees whose last names start with the letter B, you can create an attribute form qualification defined with the Last Name form of the Employee attribute, the operator Begins With, and the letter B as the value. For a more detailed explanation of this example, see the Building Query Objects and Queries, for Designers chapter of the Basic Reporting Help.

For steps to create a stand-alone attribute form qualification filter, see To filter data based on business attribute forms.

Allowing User Input Into the Filter: Prompted Attribute Form 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 form qualifications can allow a user to:

• Type the value to compare an attribute form to. For example, a filter on the Region attribute's description form can contain a value prompt. When the report is run, the user types a region's name to answer the prompt.
• Create the qualification, by selecting the attribute forms to qualify on, the operator, and the value to compare to. For example, a filter on the Region attribute can contain a qualification prompt. When the report is run, the user can select the description form, the Equals operator, and a region name to answer the prompt.

Steps to use an existing prompt or create an embedded prompt are included in To filter data based on business attribute forms 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 forms.

To filter data based on business attribute forms

1. Click Create on any page, and select New Filter. .
2. In the pane on the left, navigate to the attribute whose form you want to filter a report's data by.
3. Right-click the attribute and select Add to Filter.
4. If DHTML is disabled, select the attribute and click Add > to add the attribute to the Filter panel.
5. Click Qualify.

6. You can create the qualification, or create a prompt that allows the user to create the qualification. Do one of the following:

   • To create the qualification, perform the following steps:

     1. From the first drop-down menu, select the form you want to filter data based on.
     2. From the next drop-down menu, select the operator that describes how you want to filter data, such as Begins With or Less Than.

     3. In the last field, define the value that will be compared against the data in your data source. You can type the value, use an existing prompt, or create a prompt that asks a user for the value, as described below:

        • Type the value in the last field. Depending on the operator that you selected from the previous drop-down menu, you may need to type multiple values. For example, the operator Between requires two values.
        • For a date attribute form, you can compare the form to a dynamic date, which is a fixed offset of the current date, such as one month ago. For steps to define a dynamic date, see Dynamic Date Editor.
        • To use an existing prompt, drag and drop a value prompt from the pane on the left to the last field. The value prompt can be a text prompt or a date prompt.
        • To create a value prompt, click Create Value Prompt. To modify the prompt that is automatically created, click the Value link (for example, if you are creating a prompt on the Region attribute, the link is named Region Value). The Prompt page opens. You can 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 Value Prompt.

   • To create a prompt that allows the user to create the qualification by selecting the attribute forms to qualify on, the operator, and the value or attribute elements to compare to, perform the following steps:

     1. Click Create Qualification Prompt . A prompt is created that lists all the selected attribute's forms when the report is run, and allows either a qualification or selection expression.
     2. To modify the prompt, click the Qualification link (for example, if you are creating a prompt on the Region attribute, the link is named Qualification on Region). The Prompt page opens. You can add attributes; select the attribute forms to display; change the prompt's title, description, layout, and display style; restrict the number of prompt answers; determine whether prompt answers can be saved and reused; and define the qualification. For steps, see Attribute Qualification Prompt.
7. Click the Apply icon .
8. Click Save .
9. Navigate to the folder where you want to save the filter. Type a Name and Description for the filter, and click OK.
10. The filter you created can now be added to a report. For steps, see How to Add a Stand-Alone Filter to a Report.

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

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

   • An Attribute Qualification prompt allows users to create their own filter by selecting elements from a specific attribute, or by selecting an attribute and then selecting the 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.
6. The filter you created can now be added to a report. For steps, see Adding a stand-alone filter to a report.