Displaying reports in documents: Grid/Graphs

Before you begin

You should be familiar with reports, particularly the concepts of report objects vs. objects on the report grid.

In a document, you can display a report by adding a Grid/Graph to the document. A Grid/Graph acts as a standard MicroStrategy report. A Grid/Graph can be directly associated with one dataset report. The data from the report is used to populate the Grid/Graph.

You can use MicroStrategy Web to create a Grid/Graph that contains objects from multiple dataset reports. For steps and information on how the datasets are joined, see the Document Creation Help.

You can use a Grid/Graph as a type of summary for a group or the entire document, because data displayed there is aggregated to the level in which the Grid/Graph is placed. For example, your document is grouped by Region and you place a Grid/Graph in the Region header. In the Northeast Region header, the Grid/Graph aggregates and displays data for just the Northeast.

A Grid/Graph can be placed anywhere in a document except in the Detail section. Since controls in the Detail section are repeated once per row of the dataset, the Grid/Graph would be repeated on each row.

Methods to add a Grid/Graph to a document

• If the document already contains the dataset report that will populate the Grid/Graph with data, then do one of the following:

  • Create a Grid/Graph that includes all the objects of the report, whether they appear on the report grid or in the Report Objects pane.

  • Create a Grid/Graph that includes only those objects displayed on the report grid.

  • In both of these cases, the report's formatting is used. Procedures for both are included in Steps to add a Grid/Graph below.

    If the report formatting changes or objects are added to or deleted from the report, the Grid/Graph in the document does not change. To link the Grid/Graph to the report, create the Grid/Graph as a shortcut (see below).

• If the document does not contain the dataset report, then you can add a dataset and a Grid/Graph simultaneously. You can select whether the Grid/Graph copies the report's formatting or uses the default Grid/Graph formatting. If the report's formatting is used, then only the objects on the report grid are displayed in the Grid/Graph.

• You can create an empty Grid/Graph, or placeholder, which you then populate with data from a dataset report. The placeholder can display as a grid or as a graph, and you can select the type of graph to display. For instructions to add placeholders and datasets, see Adding Grid/Graph placeholders to documents and Adding datasets to Grid/Graph placeholders.

  You can use Grid/Graph placeholders to create document templates with formatted Grid/Graphs that do not contain any data.

• You can create a Grid/Graph as a shortcut. A shortcut is linked to the dataset report itself, which means that any changes (such as formatting) made to the dataset report are passed to the Grid/Graph in the document. However, you cannot edit a Grid/Graph shortcut. For information on what you can do with shortcuts, including formatting and unlinking, and detailed instructions, see Adding Grid/Graphs as shortcuts linked to reports.

Grid/Graphs and automatic target maintenance for selectors

Selectors allow a user to display different metrics or different elements of attributes, custom groups, or consolidations in a Grid/Graph (the target of the selector). Targets can be automatically maintained in a layout. This means that when you add a Grid/Graph, the Grid/Graph is the target of all selectors in the same panel or document section as the Grid/Graph. For a detailed description of how targets are automatically maintained for selectors, including instructions to enable and disable the functionality, see Automatically maintaining targets for selectors.

Prerequisites

• This procedure assumes that the document contains the dataset report that will populate the Grid/Graph with data. If it does not, you can add a new dataset and a Grid/Graph to the document at the same time. Use the procedure in Adding datasets and Grid/Graphs simultaneously instead of following the instructions below.

• If the dataset is an Intelligent Cube, you must create the Grid/Graph placeholder and then add objects to the Grid/Graph.

To add a Grid/Graph

1. Open a document in the Document Editor. (How?)

2. Do one of the following:

   • To create a Grid/Graph using all the items in a dataset:

   • Drag and drop the dataset report's name from the Datasets pane to the desired section.

   • To create a Grid/Graph with several dataset objects on it:

   • Select the objects in the Datasets pane by using SHIFT+click.

   • Drag and drop them in the desired section while pressing the SHIFT key.
     By default, metrics are placed in the columns and everything else is placed in the rows.

   • To create a Grid/Graph thatcontains only those objects displayed on the report grid (versus those in Report Objects but not on the report grid):

   • Hold down the SHIFT key while dragging and dropping the dataset report's name from the Datasets pane to the section where you want the Grid/Graph. For more information and steps, see Using subset reports as datasets.

     The Grid/Graph is formatted like the report is formatted. If the formatting style of the report changes, the formatting style of the Grid/Graph does not change. If you want the formatting to change in this instance, use a shortcut instead. See Adding Grid/Graphs as shortcuts: Linking a Grid/Graph to its dataset for instructions and a description of how shortcuts are linked to their datasets.

     You can place a Grid/Graph anywhere in a document except in the Detail section. Since controls in the Detail section are repeated once per row of the dataset, the Grid/Graph would be repeated on each row.

3. The Grid/Graph is displayed as a grid or as a graph, depending on how the report is displayed. To change how it is displayed, do one of the following:

   • To display it as a grid (a standard MicroStrategy grid report with rows and columns of attributes and metrics), in the Property List: Appearance section, select Grid from the View mode drop-down list.

   • To display it as a graph (which displays the data visually as in a standard MicroStrategy graph report), in the Property List: Appearance section, select Graph from the View mode drop-down list.

   • To display it as both a grid and graph simultaneously, in the Property List: Appearance section, select Grid and Graph from the View mode drop-down list.

4. Once the Grid/Graph has been added to the document, you can:

   • Add additional objects to the Grid/Graph.

   • Enable quick switch between graph view and grid view.

   • Display a title bar, which allows MicroStrategy Web users to minimize and maximize the Grid/Graph. It also helps identify the Grid/Graph in all views.

   • Resize it.

   • Create a view filter to filter the data that is displayed in the Grid/Graph.

   • Change the dataset, which provides the data displayed on the Grid/Graph.

   • Enable drilling on the data in the Grid/Graph.

5. You can format different parts of the Grid/Graph--the container (the object that displays the actual report grid or graph), the report grid or graph itself, and the title bar.

   • Format the container of the Grid/Graph to change settings such as name, position, size, borders, and background of the object displaying the report grid or graph.

   • Edit the Grid/Graph, to change settings on the report grid or graph, such as row and column formatting, graph style, and sorting.

   • Format the title bar to affect how the title bar is displayed, such as the font, background, and border.

For more details and examples, see the Grid/Graphschapter of the Document Creation Help.