Components of a link

When you create a link, you specify the following components:

• The name of the link. By default, the first link is named Link1, the second Link2, and so on, but you can change the names. Since the name of the link appears in both MicroStrategy Developer and MicroStrategy Web, it should be descriptive and informative to help users identify the target of the link.

• The target of the link. The target is the report or document that is executed when a user clicks the link.

• The prompts to be answered and how to apply prompt answers, if the target contains prompts. A list of the prompts in the target is provided. For each prompt, select a prompt answer method. For example, a prompt can use the existing prompt answers from the source, can be run so that the user must answer it, or can be answered with the object selected in the source. Other prompt answer methods exist; for a full listing, with descriptions, see Specifying how prompts are answered in the target.

The list of prompts contains an option named Any other prompt, which controls any prompts that are not in the target when the link is created. These can be either:

• Prompts added to the target after the link is created

• Prompts that are created as the result of an answer to one of the original prompts in the target, such as a prompt-in-prompt answer

  • For more information about the Any other prompt option, see Specifying prompt answers for any other prompts not listed.

If you create multiple links for the same object, you specify the default link, which is used when a user clicks the object. To choose any of the other links, the user must right-click the object. See Specifying the default link when multiple links are available for details on how the other links are displayed.

All links for a particular object can open the target in the same window as the source (replacing the source) or in a new window. This applies to MicroStrategy Web only; links open in a new window in MicroStrategy Developer regardless of this setting. By default, the target opens in the same window as the source, effectively replacing it. You can instead choose to open the target in a new window, which allows both the source and the target to be visible simultaneously.

Related Topics

• About links

• Creating links

• Comparing links in reports and links in documents

• Specifying how prompts are answered in the target

• Specifying the default link when multiple links are available

• Copying links to other objects in the report

For examples of links in reports, see the Linking Reports and Documents chapter in the Advanced Reporting Help. For examples of links in documents, see the Linking from Documents chapter in the Document Creation Help.