Creating an Embedded Parameter Sheet

To create an embedded parameter sheet, follow the steps below:

1. In Style Studio, open the report to which you want to add an embedded parameter sheet.

2. Expand the Style Studio Asset panel.

3. Expand the 'Report' node on the tree. Right-click on the 'Parameter Sheet' option, and select 'New Embedded Parameter Sheet'.

 

A report has at most one embedded param­eter sheet.

4. This opens the embedded parameter sheet for editing.

 

5. Drag Text and TextBox components from the Toolbox panel into the parameter sheet to display labels and other static text.

6. Drag a Parameter component into the parameter sheet for each report parameter that you want the user to enter.

7. Right-click each parameter component, and select 'Properties' from the context menu. This opens the 'Properties' dialog box.

8. Adjust the desired settings in the 'Properties' dialog box:

a. Press the 'Browse Report Parameters' button, and select the parameter that the Parameter component should control.

 

b. In the 'Label' field, enter the label that should appear on the Parameter input control.

c. In the 'Tooltip' field, enter the text of a tooltip to appear when the user hovers the mouse over the Parameter input control.

d. In the 'Type' menu, select the data type of the parameter.

e. In the 'Depends On' menu, select the parameter on which the current parameter depends (if any). When the user runs the report they will need to supply a value for the 'Depends On' parameter before they can enter a value for the current parameter.

f. If you want the form to be submitted immediately when the user chooses a value for the parameter, enable 'Submit on Change'.

In general, you should also enable 'Submit on Change' if another parameter depends on this parameter (i.e., if another parameter has this parameter specified in its 'Depends On' field). If you do not enable 'Submit on Change' in this case, the user will not be able to enter a value for the dependent parameter.

g. Select 'Optional' if the user does not need to supply a value for the parameter.

h. To populate the Parameter options from an existing data source, in the 'Selection List' panel select the 'Query' option and press 'Edit'. This opens the 'Selection List' dialog box.

 

Select the Data tab, and choose the data source that will provide the labels and values for the parameter.

 

If you want the labels and values to be the same, select only a single column.

Select the Columns tab. Choose one column to provide the labels for the Parameter, and one column to provide the values for the Parameter.

 

The labels determine the choices that are displayed to the user in the Parameter. The values determine the corresponding data that is submitted when the user makes a selection. To swap the 'label' field with the 'value' field, click the 'Move up' or 'Move down' arrow above the right panel.

To adapt the Parame­ter choices based on user input, specify a parameterized condi­tion. See Parameteriz­ing a Condition.

(Optional) Select the Condition tab. Specify a condition to filter the options (labels/values) displayed by the Parameter. See Filtering Data in Data Binding Wizard for more information on specifying a filter.

Press 'OK' to close the 'Selection List' dialog box.

i. To populate the Parameter options by manually entering the label/value pairs, in the 'Selection List' panel select the 'Embedded' option and press 'Edit'. This opens the 'Selection List' dialog box.

 

Press the 'Add' button to add a new label/value pair. Double-click on a label or value to edit the text.

 

The labels determine the choices that are displayed to the user in the Parameter. The values determine the corresponding data that is submitted when the user makes a selection. To reorder the label/value pairs, press the arrow buttons above the label/value list.

Repeat to add additional labels. Press 'OK' to close the 'Selection List' dialog box.

j. To supply a default value for the parameter, uncheck the 'None' option, and enter a value in the 'Default Value' field.

k. To sort the labels in ascending order, select the 'Sort Labels(asc)' option. To sort the labels in descending order, select the 'Sort Labels(desc)' option. To restore the original order, select the 'Sort Labels(none)' option.

l. In the 'Display Style' panel, select the type of input control that should be used for the parameter.

 

m. Press 'OK' to close the 'Parameter Properties' dialog box.

9. Add a 'Button' component to allow the user to submit the form.

To add a 'Clear' but­ton, see Adding a 'Clear' button to a Parameter Sheet.

10. Arrange the components on the parameter sheet as desired.

Note that the parameter sheet canvas is the 'Detail' band of a Section component, and provides all of the arrangement features of a section band (align, distribute, etc.) See the following sections for more information about arranging components: Moving and Resizing Elements in a Section, Aligning Elements in a Section, Distributing Elements in a Section, Changing Sizes of Elements in a Section.

11. Press the 'Save' button in the toolbar to save the embedded parameter sheet.

See Also

Reusable Parameter Sheets, for information about how to create external (reusable) parameter sheets.

<< Embedded Parameter Sheets © 1996-2013 InetSoft Technology Corporation (v11.5) Walkthrough: Embedding a Parameter Sheet in a Report >>