Linking Graphs to Other Resources

In this section:

How to:

To drill down to a more detailed level of information in a graph, you can link a procedure (FOCEXEC) or a URL to one or more values in your graph. When you run your graph, the selected values become hyperlinks that invoke the underlying procedure or URL.

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Procedure: How to Link a Graph to Other Resources
  1. Click the Field selection tab in the Graph Assistant.
  2. Select a field from the Field value(s) plotted on Y axis list.
  3. If hidden, click Show field options or Display in Developer Studio.
  4. Click Drill down from the Display subtab.

    The Drill Down dialog box opens.

  5. Select either the Execute Procedure (FOCEXEC) or the Execute URL option button.

    You can select the No action option button to disable a drill-down link.

  6. If you are linking your graph to a:
    • URL, type the URL in the URL text box. If you do not want the URL to appear when a user moves the mouse over a link in the graph, you can enter different text in the Alternate Comment for Hyperlink text box.
    • Procedure, select the procedure from the hierarchy.
  7. Use the Add button to add any parameters. For details, see Creating Parameters.
  8. Click OK.
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Creating Parameters

How to:

Parameters enable you to specify criteria and conditions for the associated (down) report. By defining parameters, you can control the amount and type of information to retrieve when you click a hyperlink.

Note: To avoid conflicts, do not name variables beginning with Date, IBI, or WF, as variables beginning with these values are reserved for Information Builders use.

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Procedure: How to Create Parameters in the Developer Studio Environment
  1. Click the Selection criteria tab.
  2. Click the New button.

    The Expression Builder dialog box opens.

    For details, see Writing Expressions With Graphical Tools in the Creating Reports With Report Painter manual.

  3. Create an expression that compares the parameter against a field that appears in both the main procedure and the drill-down procedure.
  4. Click OK.

To add the ability to call the drill-down procedure and pass parameters from the graph:

  1. From the Field Selection tab, select the object (Y-axis field) that you would like to drill down on.
  2. Click Drill Down from the Display subtab.
  3. Select the Execute Procedure (FOCEXEC) or URL option button.
  4. Click the Add button in the Drill Down dialog box.

    The Drill Down Parameter dialog box opens.

  5. Type the name of the parameter you created in the drill-down procedure in the Parameter name entry field. When passing parameters to a drill-down procedure, you must use local variables (&variables). Global variables (&&variables) cannot be used as drill-down parameters. Also, when entering your parameter name it is not necessary to type an ampersand (&) before the parameter name. This will create a global variable that cannot be used as a drill-down parameter. When you pass the parameter to the drill-down procedure, you must set a value for it in the Drill Down Parameter dialog box. If you select:

    Field
    The parameter will be set to the corresponding value of the object the user drills down on in the specified field.
    Constant value
    The parameter is set to the specified value.

    Note: If the drill-down report contains a -DEFAULT statement that sets a default value to the same variable passed from the main report, the variable value in the -DEFAULT statement will overwrite the variable value passed from the main report. Therefore, the output in the drill-down report will not reflect the value passed from the main report. Instead, the output will reflect the default value passed from the -DEFAULT statement.

  6. After a value has been supplied, click OK to close the Drill Down dialog box. The parameter is added to the With parameters list box.
  7. Repeat the steps to add any other necessary parameters.
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Procedure: How to Create a Parameter in the Main and Drill Down Procedures in the Managed Reporting Environment
  1. Click the Selection criteria tab.
  2. Create an expression (WHERE statement) that defines a parameter. For details on creating WHERE statements, see Selection Criteria Tab in Graph Assistant of the Managed Reporting Environment .
  3. Select the Field selections tab.
  4. Select the Sort by field that you want to drill down on, for example, Product.
  5. Click Drill down. The WebFOCUS Drill Down dialog box opens.
  6. Click Execute Procedure (FOCEXEC) or Execute URL.

    The following image shows a sample drill down dialog box with Execute Procedure (FOCEXEC) option selected.

    Drill down execute procedure

  7. Click Add. The Drill Down Parameter dialog box opens as shown in the following image.

    Drill down parameter name

  8. Enter the name of the parameter you created in the drill-down procedure in the Parameter Name text box, for example, Coffee.

    Note: When passing parameters to a drill-down procedure, you must use local variables (&variables). Global variables (&&variables) cannot be used as drill-down parameters. Also, it is not necessary to type an ampersand (&) before the parameter name. This will create a global variable that cannot be used as a drill-down parameter.

  9. When you pass the parameter to the drill-down procedure, you must set a value for it in the Drill Down Parameter Dialog box. If you select:
    • Field, the parameter will be set to the corresponding value of the object the user drills down on in the specified field.
    • Constant value, the parameter is set to the specified value.

    Note: If the drill-down report contains a -DEFAULTS statement that sets a default value to the same variable passed from the main report, the variable value passed down overwrites the -DEFAULTS statement in the target procedure.

  10. Once a value has been supplied, click OK to return to the Drill Down Dialog box. The parameter is added to the With Parameters list box as shown in the following image.

    Drill down With Parameters list

WebFOCUS