MicroStrategy ONE

Defining hyperlinks in documents

A hyperlink connects a text field or an image to a web page (the target). When the document is viewed as a PDF or in MicroStrategy Web, a user can click the control to navigate to the target, which opens in a new window. If you prefer, you can define the hyperlink so that the target opens in the same window as the document in MicroStrategy Web, effectively replacing it. In MicroStrategy Developer, the target always opens in a new window. Hyperlinks are functional in Express Mode, Interactive Mode, and Editable Mode in MicroStrategy Web, as well as in PDF View in MicroStrategy Developer.

Links (created in the Link Editor) also connect text fields and images to web pages. However, links do not work in PDF View. For examples of links to web pages, and instructions to create them, see Linking to a web page from a document.

For example, you can define a hyperlink on a logo in the Document Header. When a user clicks the logo, your home page is displayed. In PDF view, with the cursor over the logo, the link displays as pop-up text to show the URL.

The pop-up text does not display in MicroStrategy Web, but you can add a tooltip to display the URL or any other information. The tooltip also displays as pop-up text, but only in MicroStrategy Web. For more information, see Creating pop-up tooltips in controls.

Dynamic data fields in hyperlinks

You can insert dynamic data fields in the hyperlink. These data fields are interpreted when the document is run. This way, you can create URLs that are dynamic according to the data in the dataset. For example, if you have an intranet website with pages for each region, add a data field for the region name. Set the hyperlink to include the Region attribute, recall that data fields must be typed within braces (that is, { }) and must match either the name of an object in a dataset or its alias. Users viewing the PDF can then click the link and view the intranet page for that region. In the Northeast region on the document it could display as "Region: Northeast" and link to that URL, and for Mid-Atlantic, it could display as "Region: Mid-Atlantic" and link to that URL.

For document samples, see the Linking from Documents chapter of the Document Creation Help.

To define a hyperlink

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

  2. Add the control to use as a hyperlink:

  3. Select the control that you just added.

  4. In Property List: Is Hyperlink, select True from the drop-down list. For text fields, the control is underlined automatically.

    If the Property List pane is not displayed, click Property List at the bottom of the panel on the left. If the panel is not displayed at all, select Property List from the View menu.

  5. In Property List:Link, type the destination URL. Notice that http:// is automatically filled in, although you can delete it if necessary.

    You can include dataset values, such as Region or Category. Data fields must be typed within braces (that is, { }) and must match either the name of an object in a dataset or its alias. In the hyperlink, enter the data fields as shown in the following samples, which use fictitious links:

    • http://www.microstrategy.com/{[Customer Region]}

    • http://www.microstrategy.com&Cat={Category}

  6. In Property List: Open in new window, select whether the target of the hyperlink opens in the same window as the current document or in a new window. By default, it opens in a new window.

    This setting affects HTML View only.

You can also use the Properties dialog box to set up the hyperlink. The General tab contains the Is Hyperlink check box, the Hyperlink destination, and the Open in new window setting.

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