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This topic provides an overview of Active Technologies and discusses security and active cache processing. It includes additional information about the features of the product that will help you use it. It is intended for administrators and developers who are responsible for creating active reports, charts, and dashboards.
This topic also describes the features of an Active Technologies report, which is a report that is enabled to use the full capabilities of Active Technologies. An Active Technologies report is also called an active report.
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An active report is a report that is designed for offline analysis. When using an active report, you can:
Performance may vary across browsers due to browser-specific memory limitations. For very large reports, Internet Explorer® may produce an error. For more information, refer to the Microsoft® website.
When working with an active report, you can:
Some active report functionality is drag and drop based, and thus not supported with iPhone.
The following image shows an HTML active report. The shortcut menu is open for the Sale Unit(s) column, with the Calculate Avg operator selected.
The following image shows the options that are available at the cell level for a report in active report format. Included are the options that reflect Auto Drill, Multi Drill, and Auto Linking functionality. For more information, see Customizing Content.
You can password protect an active report. This feature restricts users from viewing the report by requiring them to enter a password before opening the report. The data is encrypted using the 256-bit Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) specification. The password is used as the key for decrypting and encrypting the data. Therefore, the password is not stored in the report, and you do not need a connection to go back to the server for password verification.
The HTML page that you receive contains both the JavaScript and the data for the report so that you can interact with the data in a disconnected mode. Internet Explorer detects the JavaScript and issues a warning. If you look at the Internet Explorer warning, it mentions explicitly the detection of active content, which is the JavaScript. The same warning appears when pop-ups are blocked in the browser.
Because all post-retrieval processing is performed in the memory of the web browser, an active report has a processing limit of approximately 5,000 records or 100 pages of output.
Active Technologies stores an active report as an HTML file. The HTML file created by Active Technologies contains both the report data and the JavaScript code that enables you to interact with the data in disconnected mode.
An active report is designed for distribution to users who need to perform offline analysis and interactive functions without connection to a server.
You can save an active report from your web browser to another location. You can also send an active report to another person by email, as an HTML attachment. However, when you distribute an active report, you must keep in mind how it will be viewed.
For example, when you send an active report as an HTML attachment to email, many client email programs on a mobile device can block the JavaScript in the attachment. A third-party tool, such as the Mobile Faves App for a mobile device, may be used to correctly view the attachment.
If you try to view an active report in a web browser, and JavaScript is blocked or disabled on your web browser, you will receive a message reminding you that JavaScript must be enabled on the browser. If you are using a mobile device, the message directs you to use the Mobile Faves App. If the Mobile Faves App is not installed, you can download it from the App Store® for iOS devices or from the Google Play™ store for Android™ devices. In the message, App Store and Google Play store are hyperlinks to the Mobile Faves App.
The message is displayed on the Desktop or on a supported mobile device when JavaScript is disabled in a web browser used to open an online or offline active report. It is also displayed on the Preview pane or window of an application used to preview the content of an offline active report.
The following image shows JavaScript disabled in Google Chrome™.
The following apply to browser support.
The following apply to Active Technologies reports.
SET ACRSVRBTITL = ON
Active Technologies derives the title from the TITLE attribute in the Master File (for example, TITLE = 'Product ID'). It derives the name from the FIELDNAME or FIELD attribute (for example, FIELD = PCD).
InfoAssist+ does not allow you to create or modify your active report procedures with a text editor. In Business User Edition, you must issue the SET ACRSVRBTITL = ON command in a server profile (for example, edasprof.prf). When issued in edasprof.prf, the setting is applied globally. It affects all users and all procedures run in Business User Edition.
For more information on customizing the server profile in WebFOCUS Business User Edition, see Managing the Server or Global Profile.
The following applies to filtering Active Technologies content.
When using active content in Cache Mode, filtering may not work properly if the content contains a text field (for example, TX50). As a workaround, consider using an alphanumeric field (for example, A50).
The following apply to Active Technologies charts:
As of Release 8.2 Version 02, the chart attribute syntax has been applied to the following chart types: Dual Bar and Line, Tag Cloud, Streamgraph, Mekko, Funnel, and Pyramid. This process adds additional relevant field containers for these chart types, which can be used to specify fields in a specific area of the chart. For example, Horizontal Axis, Color, and Tooltip are field containers that are part of the chart attribute syntax.
In InfoAssist+, specific field containers appear for each chart type.
If you run an active chart that does not have a measure field to which an aggregation method can be applied, the Aggregation icon:
The following applies to Active Technologies tools.
The following apply when using the Export to Excel functionality.
The export behavior is controlled by the WebFOCUS Reporting Server, and an ActiveX plugin is not required for Internet Explorer. When the export is performed, an Office Open XML document is produced, which you can download and save in the required format (default is .xlsx).
An ActiveX plugin is required for Internet Explorer. This is used to export the output directly into Microsoft Excel, enabling you to save the document in the required format (.xlsx or .xls depending on the Microsoft Excel version installed).
In Firefox and Chrome, when the export is performed, an MS Office XML document is produced, which you can download and save in the required format (the default is .xls).
In Microsoft Edge, the Export to XML (Excel) option is not supported. The option is available with active cache disabled, but when the export is performed, the output is displayed as text inside the browser window.
The following apply when using mobile devices.
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An active report is a self-contained report that is designed for offline analysis.
With InfoAssist+ in Report mode, you can perform this procedure in Query Design view or Live Preview.
Menu options for an active report are described in the following table.
Note: The following options described in the table require the use of ActiveX controls. Since Microsoft Edge does not support ActiveX technology, these options are not available in that browser:
Option |
Definition |
---|---|
Sort Ascending |
Sorts the column in ascending order. |
Sort Descending |
Sorts the column in descending order. |
Filter |
Filters the data. Options are:
|
Calculate |
Calculation types that you can apply to the column:
For numeric fields, you can also apply:
|
Chart |
Creates an active chart from the report. Options are Pie, Line, Column, and Scatter. |
Rollup |
Lists the fields available to create a table. |
Pivot (Cross Tab) |
Lists the fields available to create a Pivot table. |
Visualize |
Adds visualization bars to, or removes them from, the selected column. The Visualize option is available for numeric data columns. |
Hide Column |
Suppresses the display of the selected column in the report. |
Show Columns |
Lists the names of the columns that are hidden in the report, allowing you to individually restore a column. Select the name of a specific column in the hidden columns list to restore that column to the report. |
Freeze Column |
Freezes the report at a particular point so that columns to the left of the freeze point remain in view while the user scrolls through the other report columns. Note: If the report can be fully viewed in the browser window, freeze is not applied. The Freeze column option is not available for expandable report (Accordion) views. |
Unfreeze All |
Unfreezes the columns. |
Grid Tool |
Opens the Grid Tool, which you can use to change the column order, select multiple columns to sort ascending or descending, hide and show columns, add a calculation result to a column, and add subtotals to the active report. |
Chart/Rollup Tool |
Opens the Chart/Rollup Tool, which you can use to select multiple group fields to generate the chart or rollup table. The Chart/Rollup Tool contains a list of columns available in the active report to add to Group By and Measure fields. Drag the columns into the field that you want. |
Pivot Tool |
Opens the Pivot Tool, which you can use to select multiple group fields to generate the chart or pivot table. The Pivot Tool contains a list of columns available in the active report to add to Group By, Across, and Measure fields. Drag the columns into the field that you want. |
Show Records |
Opens the Show Records menu option to list the number of records available for display per page in the report. Select a number (for example, 10) to display, per page. Default displays the number of records (lines) per page that is specified in the WebFOCUS report procedure. |
Comments |
Options to display comments under cells or hide indicators for comments in the active report output. |
Send as E-mail |
Enables you to save the current state of the active report and send the report as email. Note: To use this feature, you must have ActiveX enabled in your browser security settings. This feature is only supported in Internet Explorer. |
Save Changes |
Saves the current state of the active report. When you save an active report using the browser Save as option, the report is saved in its original default state. In the browser Save as dialog box, it is recommended that you select the Webpage, HTML Only save option to ensure that the page is saved properly. Note: To use this feature, you must have ActiveX enabled in your browser security settings. This feature is only supported in Internet Explorer. |
Export |
When active cache is enabled, exports all records or filtered only records to HTML, CSV, Excel, or PDF. Note: active cache is enabled on an active report when you click Pages On Demand on the Format tab, in the Navigation group. When active cache is disabled, exports all records or filtered only records to HTML, CSV, or XML (Excel). To use this feature, you must enable ActiveX in your browser security settings. |
|
Prints all records or filtered only records. |
Window |
Displays reports in a cascade or separate tabs. |
Restore Original |
Restores the active report to the default state specified in the report procedure. |
Option |
Definition |
---|---|
Drill down |
Enables you to drill down one level in the hierarchy of your data source. This option displays for reports that have Auto Drill enabled. |
Drill up |
Enables you to drill up one level in the hierarchy of your data source. This option displays for reports that have Auto Drill enabled. |
Restore Original |
Restores the active report to the default state specified in the report procedure. |
Auto Links |
Displays a list of target reports that are linked to the Auto Link enabled report. This option displays for reports that have Auto Linking enabled. |
Comments |
Enables you to add comments about data in your report. The result is an annotation that displays when you hover over it at run time. |
Highlight Value |
Enables you to highlight a particular value in your report. |
Highlight Row |
Applies highlighting to the selected row in your report. |
Unhighlight All |
Removes any applied highlighting from values or rows in your report. |
Filter Cell |
Enables you to filter the output, showing only a selected row of data. |
Remove Cell Filter |
Removes any applied cell filters. |
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You can configure active report options, including menu options, based on user role, through the active report options dialog box.
You can access the dialog box on the Format tab, in the Features group, by clicking the active report options button. The button is available when active report is selected as the output type.
The active report options dialog box contains the following tabs:
Use the General tab to set common properties specific to active reports.
The General tab contains the following options:
Use the Menu Options tab to select a user type and which options to display in the menu.
The Menu Options tab contains the following options:
The options available according to user type include the following:
Use the Colors tab to select colors for various objects on the report.
The Colors tab contains the following options:
Page. This area contains options to set the colors for the font and background of the page text.
Row Selection. This area contains options to set the colors that appear when you point to or select a row on the report.
Visual. This area contains options to set the colors for the data visualization bars.
Calculations. This area contains options to set the colors for values in a calculation.
Menu. This area contains options to change the color of the menu.
Use the Advanced tab to control the number of rows retrieved from active cache and to add security settings.
Note: Active cache is enabled when you select active report as the output type, and click Pages On Demand on the Format tab, in the Navigation group.
The Advanced tab contains the following options:
active cache. Enables a report to cache the data in a binary file and return the data to the output window in pre-set increments.
Security. This area allows you to set a password to access the report and enable expiration by date or by days.
Note: When setting security options for active reports, be aware that security options can be set for each individual component on the canvas, but only one password can be set for the entire document.
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An active chart is a chart that is designed for offline analysis. For more information, see Active Technologies Report Overview.
With InfoAssist+ in Chart mode, you can perform this procedure in Query Design view or Live Preview.
The chart appears on the canvas.
Menu options for an active chart are described in the following table.
Note: For charts that employ the new attribute syntax, only the following four icons display: More Options, Advanced Chart, Original Chart, and Aggregation. If you have applied a filter, the Remove Filter icon displays.
Option |
Definition |
---|---|
More Options |
New. Creates a new instance of the chart. This option is available only when the chart is created from a column menu on a tabular report. |
Group By (X). Changes groups by the horizontal sort field. |
|
Add (Y). Adds a vertical sort field. |
|
X-Axis. Specifies a measure or dimension sort field. Applies to scatter charts. |
|
Y-Axis. Specifies a measure. Applies to scatter charts. |
|
Arrange By. Specifies the marker color. The marker color depends on the field assigned to the color attribute. If no field is assigned to this category, then all of the markers will be the same color. Applies to scatter charts. |
|
Export to. Exports to Excel, Word, or PowerPoint. |
|
Stacked. Stacks the risers on top of each other, with the length of each riser representing the data value. Applies to column charts. |
|
Top. Displays the top values. Options are Top 3, Top 5, Top 10, and Clear Top. Applies to pie charts. |
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Trend. Draws a trendline and equation label for an individual series. Applies to scatter charts. |
|
Chart/Rollup Tool. Opens the Chart/Rollup Tool, which you can use to select multiple group fields in the chart or rollup table generated. The Chart/Rollup Tool contains a list of columns available in the active report and Group By and Measure sort fields. Drag the columns into the desired sort field. Note: When working with the Chart/Rollup Tool for active charts (specifically those with the new chart attribute syntax), the Series tab is not supported. It is available with charts that are created with tabular reports or stand-alone charts that do not use the new chart attribute syntax. |
|
Restore Original. Restores the active report to the default state specified in the report procedure. |
|
Column |
Displays data as a column chart. |
Pie |
Displays data as a pie chart. |
Line |
Displays data as a line chart. |
Scatter |
Displays data as a scatter chart. |
Rollup |
Displays the chart as a rollup table. |
Advanced Chart |
Opens the Chart/Rollup Tool. |
Original Chart |
Restores the active chart to the chart type specified in the report procedure. |
Lock/Unlock |
Freezes the chart or rollup table. You can link or unlink a chart or rollup table to the filters that you have applied in your report using the Freeze Chart or Freeze Rollup icon. The icon indicates whether the report is linked to the filter (Freeze Chart or Freeze Rollup) or not (Unfreeze Chart or Unfreeze Rollup). This option is available only when the chart is created from a column menu on a tabular report. |
Aggregation |
Applies the following options to a Measure field: Sum, Avg, Min, Max, Count, and Distinct. The default value is Sum. |
Remove Filter |
Removes a filter from a chart. You can apply a filter by pointing to or lassoing an area of the chart and then clicking the Filter Chart or Exclude from Chart option from the chart tooltip. |
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You can create an active dashboard by inserting multiple content types, such as reports, charts, images, and text, into a document. An active dashboard will run any report or chart using the active output format, even if the report or chart itself is not in active output format.
You can also insert active dashboard prompts into a document to act as filters for the reports and charts on the dashboard. You can cascade (chain) prompts to populate them based on the selections from the previous prompts.
The output format of the active dashboard must be active report in order to add active dashboard prompts.
The Active Dashboard Prompts group contains buttons that insert active dashboard prompts into your dashboard. This group is only visible when the output format of the dashboard is set to active report. You can access the active dashboard prompts on the Insert tab, in the active dashboard prompts group.
The following are the types of active dashboard prompts that you can use to apply filters to an active dashboard:
WF_RETAIL1 WF_RETAIL2 WF_RETAIL3
When you bind a field to an active dashboard prompt, the default target report is the report from which you dragged the field. You can add or remove target reports from an active dashboard prompt through the active dashboard properties dialog box. For more information on using the active dashboard properties dialog box, see Using Multiple Reports as Targets and Sources.
A report must meet one of the following requirements to be a target report:
If a report is eligible to be a target report because the field has the same user-supplied title and the title is changed, the report is automatically removed as a target.
This procedure describes how to begin to create a dashboard by creating one report and binding a single prompt to one of the fields of the report.
With InfoAssist+ in Document mode:
A placeholder appears on the canvas.
An active dashboard prompt appears in the upper-left corner of the canvas. If the report is located in the upper-left corner of the canvas, you will have to drag the prompt off of the report.
Once you have bound the field to the prompt, the values of the field appear in the prompt.
Note: Once an active dashboard prompt is added to the canvas, the document is locked in an active output format. You cannot change the active report format if there are prompts present on the canvas. To switch to a non-active output format, you must remove all prompts.
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You can add multiple reports and charts to an active dashboard. Each report can have multiple prompts associated with it.
The following procedure describes how to set up active dashboard prompts for two reports on a dashboard. In the example that is used, the first report contains information about the categories of electronics products sold in various regions. The Product,Category field will be bound to a group of radio buttons. Each radio button will represent a particular product category of electronics. When you select a radio button for a product category, for example, Accessories, the report will be filtered by your selection.
The second report contains information about the gender and geographic location of electronics consumers. The Gender field will be bound to a drop-down list. The list will display the values, F (female) and M (male). When you select a gender from the drop-down list, the report will be filtered by your selection.
Report 1:
Report 2:
For more information on working with active dashboard prompts, see How to Add an Active Technologies Dashboard Prompt to a Dashboard.
The active dashboard properties dialog box opens.
The Prompts list displays the two prompts (for example, radiobutton_1 and radiobutton_2) that were added to the dashboard in step 3.
In this example, the radio button list (radiobutton_1) has been selected as the prompt for the region report (Report1), as shown in the following image.
The next step describes how to bind the Product,Category field from the region report to the radio button list to filter that report.
In this example, the Product,Category field has been selected for the radio buttons list (radiobutton_1), as shown in the following image.
Note: You can optionally specify an ascending or descending sort order for the current scenario.
The prompt is now bound to the field on the dashboard.
In the following image, the radio buttons list is bound to the Product,Category field. It displays all product categories by which a user can filter the report.
The following steps describe how to bind the Gender field in the gender report (Report2) to the drop-down list prompt.
The active dashboard properties dialog box opens again.
Notice that combobox_2, the prompt selected on the dashboard, is selected in the Prompts list.
The next step describes how to bind the Gender field from the gender report to the drop-down list to filter that report.
Once the Gender field has been selected, Report2 (gender report) appears in the Targets list and Report1 (region report) appears in the Candidate Reports list.
Note: To move a report from the Candidate Reports list box to the Targets list box, select it and click the Add to List arrow. To remove a report from the Targets list box, select it and click the Remove from List arrow. You can select multiple reports by holding down the Ctrl key and clicking each one.
The prompt is now bound to the field on the dashboard. You can now filter the gender report by female or male, as shown in the following image.
The final active dashboard displays, as shown in the following image.
You can change the field to which the active prompt is bound.
The active dashboard properties dialog box opens.
A warning message alerts you that changing the source field for the prompt will remove the existing prompt and any dependent (child) prompts from the cascades.
The active dashboard prompt is updated with the new source field.
The active dashboard properties dialog box opens.
The filter condition is applied to the active dashboard prompt.
When you have more than one prompt on the canvas, you can cascade prompts to populate them based on the selections of the previous prompts. Cascading prompts have a parent-child relationship, in which the parent filters the available options of the child.
An active prompt can be the parent of more than one other prompt, but cannot be a child of more than one prompt.
The active dashboard properties dialog box opens.
By default, a cascade named Cascade1 appears in the Cascades section of the active dashboard properties dialog box.
Note: You can remove prompts from the Selected Prompts list box by selecting them and clicking the Remove from List arrow.
By default, the hierarchy of the prompts is determined by the order in which they are added to the Selected Prompts list. The cascade of the prompts is from top to bottom. The prompts that come first in the Selected Prompts list are the parents of the lower prompts.
The cascade is created.
Note: If you set up more than one cascade, the cascade that you interact with last is the one that filters the report.
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