Mandatory variables are variables that are required in a procedure. If a mandatory variable is not satisfied, the procedure will not run. To satisfy a mandatory variable, you create selection (Where) criteria for it. Mandatory variables are identified in the field lists with one of the following icons.

• - This icon represents a mandatory variable that is not satisfied (selection criteria has not been created).
• - This icon represents a mandatory variable that is satisfied (selection criteria has been created).

Use the Filter tool to create selection (Where) criteria for mandatory variables. Once a mandatory variable is satisfied, the icon changes.

You can use the variable itself or one of its DEFINE fields to create the selection criteria. The DEFINE fields are variable Caption and variable Name. Name is the technical name and Caption is the user-friendly name (description) for the variable. If you use the variable itself, it uses Caption and Name (concatenated with trailing blanks).

If you do not create selection criteria for a mandatory variable, you will not be able to get data values for other Where and/or When statements. Therefore, all mandatory variable selection criteria should be created first.

Note: When you create selection criteria for mandatory variables, this criteria is propagated to all other selection (Where) criteria statements and When statements you create. This means that when you retrieve values for other Where or When statements, the values that are returned are only those values that meet the selection criteria for the mandatory variable.

For more information on variables, see Viewing the Field Lists.