Asking for user input into a metric's definition

You can allow the user who executes the report that contains the metric, to decide for himself certain aspects of the metric's formula. This lets each individual user define the report results he sees. To do this, you include a prompt in the metric's definition. You can make use of prompts in any metric where you want to let each user impact the formula of the metric, by having the user enter a specific number that makes sense for that user.

For example, if you create a tax metric that calculates tax numbers on sales, you can let each user who executes the report enter the sales tax for his own state. Thus, the report's results will reflect the information each user wants to see.

To add a prompt to your metric's definition, use the following high-level steps:

1. Decide what prompt type you need for your metric. Prompt types that you can use in a metric definition are listed in the table in Reports: Adding prompts to a report, metric, or filter.
2. Follow the steps in this chapter to create that prompt; for the appropriate procedure, see Creating a prompt.
3. Then follow the steps in this chapter to add the prompt to your metric's definition; see Reports: Adding prompts to a report, metric, or filter.