Filtering based on metrics, attributes, or other objects: Object prompts

Before You Begin

This topic assumes that you are familiar with the concepts in About prompts.

Object prompts provide users the ability to add additional objects to a report. You can let users select from almost any object available in MicroStrategy, such as attributes, metrics, custom groups, and so on. The objects the user selects in the prompt are placed on the report. This essentially allows users to create their own reports, although you use the object prompt to control what objects they can choose to include on their reports.

For example, you can create a prompt that allows users to choose from a list of existing stand-alone filters to apply to the report. Or, you can create a prompt that displays the Day, Month, Quarter, and Year attributes to users, so the user can specify the granularity of the report. Object prompts enable you to provide versatile reports to users.

The Customer Distribution Trend report contains two object prompts. (This report is from the Customer Analysis Module of the MicroStrategy Business Intelligence Analytics Modules.) The report's display is shown below:

Report with Customer Income Range & Education, and metrics by quarter

The first prompt, called Demographics List, contains a set of attributes that users select one or more answers from. Answer choices include the attributes Customer Income Range, Customer Age Range, and Customer Gender. The second prompt, called Psychographic List, contains another set of attributes users can choose from. Its answer choices include the attributes Customer Education, Customer Household Count, Customer Housing Type, Customer Marital Status, and so on.

By separating the user's choices into two object prompts, the designer is able to group the attributes according to user analysis needs. In this case, a user can focus on customer demographics and customer psychographics separately when the user is considering what data to see in the resulting report. Additionally, data for various combinations of demographics and psychographics can be compared by running the report again and answering the prompts differently.

To create an object prompt, you create a list of objects from which the user can select. You can either select the objects manually or use a search object. For example, you can create a list of Day, Month, Quarter, and Year, so that a user can specify the granularity of the report. Or, you can include a search object in the prompt. The search object returns a list of objects, such as all metrics that contain a specific fact.

One prompt can contain different types of objects, such as both metrics and attributes, or attributes and custom groups. This reduces the number of prompts that are needed for a report. However, if you use metrics and another type of object, when the prompt is used in a report:

If a metric is the first object in the list, all non-metric objects are removed.
If a non-metric is the first object in the list, all metrics are removed.

This ensures that, for example, both attributes and metrics are not included on the rows of a report. Alternatively, you can create one object prompt for the metrics and another for the other types of objects.

Object prompts can be used in many places, including the following:

Object prompt containing attributes: On the grid or page-by of a report, in a metric, in an advanced qualification of a filter or custom group, and as the output level of a set qualification of a filter or custom group.
Object prompt containing metrics: On the grid or page-by of a report, in a metric, and in a set qualification of a filter or custom group.
Object prompt containing filters: In a filter, metric, or custom group.

For a table of where to use all prompts, see Adding a prompt to a report, metric, filter, or custom group.

To create an object prompt

If you are in the process of creating a prompted filter, begin at step 3 of this procedure. This step places you at the correct page when the wizard is accessed from the Filter Editor to create a prompted filter.

Open the Prompt Generation Wizard. How?
On the Welcome page, select Object prompt, then click Next. The Object Prompt page opens.

You can only use objects of one type in an object prompt. For example, you can include metrics or attributes in a single object prompt, but not both. To prompt for multiple object types in the same report, you must create an object prompt for each object type.
To create the list of objects from which the user can select, do one of the following:
- To choose specific objects, complete the following steps:
  1. Select Use a pre-defined list of objects.
  2. Click Add. The Select Objects dialog box opens.
  3. Select the objects from the Available objects list and click > to move them to the Selected objects list.
    
    You can choose multiple objects by pressing CTRL or Shift while selecting the objects.
  4. Click OK to return to the Prompt Generation Wizard.
  5. You can add more objects by clicking Modify, which opens the Select Objects dialog box so you can select additional objects.
  6. To remove the selected object, click Remove.
  7. To delete all the objects in the list, click Clear.
  8. To change the order that the objects are displayed in the prompt, select the object to move and click theUporDownarrow.
- To use a set of objects from a search object, select Use the results of a search object. A search object searches for and displays specific project objects when the user executes the report. This allows you to prompt the user with the most up-to-date objects in the project.
- To display the object path (folder hierarchy) when using a search, select Display using folder structure, which is useful when the same object with the same name is saved in multiple folders. Do one of the following:
- To use an existing search, click ... (the browse button). Navigate to the search object, select it, and click OK to return to the Prompt Generation Wizard.
- To create a new search, click New. The Search for Objects dialog box opens. Enter your search criteria and save the search. Then browse to and select your new search object or specify the name of the search object. (For more detailed instructions to create a new search object, see Search for Objects dialog box.)
Click Next. The General Information page opens.
Type a Title, which is used as the default object name when you save the prompt, although you can change it. The title is also displayed to users when the prompt is run during report execution.
- To display a blank title, type a space in the Title field. If you leave Title blank, a default name, such as Region for an attribute prompt on Region, is displayed when the prompt is run.
Type text in the Instructions field, which is displayed when the prompt is run during report execution.
- To display blank instructions, type a space in the Instructions field. If you leave Instructions blank, default instructions, such as Qualify on Region for an attribute prompt on Region, are displayed when the prompt is run.
To determine how the prompt appears when it is executed in MicroStrategy Web, click Modify. The Web Options dialog box opens. This dialog box displays options for prompt style and style properties. For instructions, see Defining how a prompt is displayed in MicroStrategy Web.
To determine whether personal answers can be saved for this prompt, select one of the following options from the Personal answers allowed drop-down list:
- None: No personal answers can be saved. Every time a user sees the prompt, he must answer it manually (if it is required) or ignore it.
- One: Only one personal answer can be saved for this prompt. When the prompt is used again (on this report or a different one), the personal answer is displayed. A user can keep the personal answer, or add or delete selections. He can save his changes as a new personal answer, but only one personal answer can be saved for the prompt.
- Multiple: Multiple personal answers can be named and saved, to allow different answers for the same prompt. When the prompt is used again (on this report or a different one), the personal answers are available. The user can select one of them, or answer the prompt manually.
To require that the user select a minimum number of objects, select the Minimum objects check box. Enter the minimum.
To restrict the number of objects that a user can select, select the Maximum objects check box. Enter the maximum.
To require that the user answer the prompt at run time, select the Promptanswerrequired check box.

If you select Prompt answer required without providing default answers, the report cannot execute on a schedule. For information on how required prompt answers, default answers, and schedules interact, see Prompts in scheduled reports.
Click Next. The Default Prompt Answer Selection page opens.
- A default answer can allow users to complete report execution more quickly, since they do not need to answer the prompt but can simply run the report using the default answer. The user can select the default, or create his own qualification. For considerations when determining a default answer, see Default prompt answers. You do not need to specify a default answer if you do not want a default answer to appear for users.
If you do not want to define default prompt answers, click Finish. The Save As dialog box opens.
To define default prompt answers:
1. Click Add. The Select Objects dialog box opens.
2. Select the object(s) from the Available objects list and click > to move them to the Selected objects list.
3. Click OK to return to the Prompt Generation Wizard.
4. You can add more default prompt answers by clicking Modify, which opens the Select Objects dialog box so you can select additional objects.
5. To delete the selected default prompt answer, click Remove.
6. To delete all the default prompt answers, click Clear.
7. To rearrange the display order, select the object to move and click the Up or Down arrow.
8. Click Finish. The Save As dialog box opens.
Select the folder in which to save the new prompt, enter a name, and click Save to return to MicroStrategy Developer

If you are creating a prompted filter, you are returned to the Filter Editor after you click Finish. You do not save the prompt as a separate object. To return to the previous procedure, click About metric set qualifications or Steps to create a value prompt qualification.

After you create the prompt, you can add it to a report.

You can now add your new prompt directly to a report (on the report grid or page-by for attribute or metric prompts, and in the report filter for filter prompts), or indirectly by adding the prompt to a metric, filter, or custom group.

For instructions, see:

For a table showing how to add each prompt type to objects, see Reports: Adding a prompt to a report, metric, filter, or custom group.

Filtering based on metrics, attributes, or other objects: Object prompts

Before You Begin

To create an object prompt

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