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MicroStrategy Version 10.4 1 Updated December 5, 2016

MicroStrategy Quick Guide: Creating Prompts

PROMPTS

Prompts are questions the report user must answer in order to run the report. Some prompts are required and

some are optional. Prompts can be the following varieties:

PROMPT TYPES Hierarchy Qualification Prompt – This type of prompt allows users to qualify on attributes and elements

from a specific hierarchy.

Use a Hierarchy Qualification Prompt when you want to prompt across attributes within a hierarchy, e.g.

attributes of a calendar hierarchy allows users to answer day, month or year values.

Attribute Qualification Prompt – This type of prompt allows you to qualify on an attribute's ID,

description or other form.

Use an Attribute Qualification Prompt when you want to prompt on a specific attribute form.

Attribute Element List – This type of prompt allows users to choose from a list of elements.

Use an Attribute Element List when you want to prompt on a list of attribute values.

Metric Qualification Prompt – This type of prompt allows users to qualify on one or more metrics.

Use a Metric Qualification Prompt when you want to prompt on a metric value.

Object Prompt – This type of prompt allows users to choose one or more objects.

Use an Object Prompt when you want to prompt on a list of objects. You can use this to select a filter

object to include as a filter, select an attribute object to include on a grid, select a metric object to

include on a grid, etc.

Value Prompt – This type of prompt allows users to enter a text, date, number or other value type.

Use a Value Prompt when you want to allow users to type in a text, date, or numeric value.



CREATE A PROMPT

Standalone As a power user, you can create standalone prompts to be used on multiple reports.

1. Navigate to the home screen in MicroStrategy.

2. Click the button that says “New Prompt” within the Create menu

Select a type of prompt to create



a. Hierarchy Qualification Prompt

i. Definition – select the hierarchy(ies) to use for the prompt

1. All hierarchies – select this option to prompt the user on all hierarchies defined

in the project

2. Choose a hierarchy – select this option to specify a specific hierarchy to prompt

the user

3. Use a predefined list of hierarchies – select this option to specify a list of

hierarchies to prompt the user

4. Use the result of a search object – select this option to specify a search object

that results in hierarchies to prompt the user



ii. General – set the general options for the prompt

1. Title – set the display title of the prompt

2. Instructions – set the display instructions of the prompt

3. Prompt answer is required – select this option to require an answer to this

prompt

4. Minimum number of qualifications – set the minimum number of answers

required for this prompt

5. Maximum number of qualifications – set the maximum number of answers


6. Personal answers allowed – select “None” to restrict users from saving a

personal prompt answer, select “Single” to allow users to save a single prompt

answer, or select “Multiple” to allow users to save multiple prompt answers

(recommended)



iii. Style – set the style options for this prompt

1. Display style – select a display style for the hierarchy prompt (Tree or Shopping

Cart)

a. Fixed textbox width – select to fix the textbox to a set width

b. Fixed textbox height – select to fix the textbox to a set height

2. Orientation – select Vertical or Horizontal

a. Items per column/row – select to fix the amount of items per

column/row

3. Show search box – select “TRUE” to show the search box or “FALSE” to hide the

search box

a. Make search required – select to require searching when the search box

is shown

4. Use folder structure – select this option to display the prompt choices in a folder

structure

a. Do not show empty folders – select this option to hide empty folders

from folder browsing

b. Allow navigation above search root – select this option to allow

navigation at a higher level than the root of the search



iv. Qualification – set the qualification options for a prompt

1. Expression type allowed – select the expression type(s) allowed for the

hierarchy prompt (Qualify, Select, or Qualify and Select)

2. Default expression type – select a default expression type (Qualify or Select)

3. Default condition operator – select a default condition operator (equals, does

not equal, etc.)

4. Maximum number of elements per list – select this option to specify a maximum

number of elements returned in an attribute element list

5. Allow element import – select this option to allow the import of a list of

elements

6. Default operator between conditions – select a default operator to use between

conditions (AND, OR)

7. Allow modification of the logical operator – select this option to allow users to

modify the logical operator between conditions; set the restrictions of user

modification

a. Use a single logical operator between all conditions – select this option

to restrict all conditions to use the same operator

b. Allow the user to set independent logical operators between conditions

– select this option to allow different operators for each condition

v. Click “Save” or “Save As” to save the prompt object to the desired location.



b. Attribute Qualification Prompt

i. Definition – select the attribute(s) to use for the prompt

1. Choose an attribute – select this option to specify a specific attribute to prompt

the user

2. Use a predefined list of attributes – select this option to specify a list of

attributes to prompt the user


that results in attributes to prompt the user

4. Select the attribute forms that should be displayed for the attribute

qualification – select the forms to display when prompting the user

a. All attribute forms – select this option to display all attribute forms

available for the attribute

b. Browse forms – select this option to display the browse forms as set up

by the project architect

c. Report display forms – select this option to display the default report

display forms as set up by the project architect

d. Custom display forms – select this option to manually select which

forms to display







prompt








(recommended)




1. Display style – select a display style for the prompt (Textbox, Radio Button, Pull

Down, List or Shopping Cart)





column/row


search box


is shown


structure








1. Expression type allowed – select the expression type(s) allowed for the

hierarchy prompt (Qualify, Select, or Qualify and Select)

2. Default expression type – select a default expression type (Qualify or Select)


not equal, etc.)

4. Maximum number of elements per list – select this option to specify a maximum

number of elements returned in an attribute element list

5. Allow element import – select this option to allow the import of a list of

elements





modification








c. Attribute Element List

i. Definition – select the attribute(s) to use for the prompt

1. Specify the attribute – select the attribute by which to prompt the user

2. Define elements

a. List all elements (no restriction) – select this option to list all available

elements of the selected attribute

b. Use a predefined list of elements – select this option to specify a list of

elements to use in the prompt

c. Use a filter to reduce the number of elements – select this option to use

a filter object to limit the list of elements used in the prompt







prompt








(recommended)




1. Display style – select a display style for the prompt (Radio Button, Check Box,

Pull Down, List, Shopping Cart, Barcode Reader or Geo Location)





column/row

3. Default selection – select a default selection (Automatic, First Item, or Last Item)


search box


is shown




structure





6. iPhone/iPad/Android display options – not yet applicable as MicroStrategy

mobile is not yet available at GMU

iv. Click “Save” or “Save As” to save the prompt object to the desired location.

d. Metric Qualification Prompt

i. Definition – select the metric(s) to use for the prompt

1. Choose a metric – select this option to specify a specific metric to prompt the

user

2. Use a predefined list of metrics – select this option to specify a list of metrics to

prompt the user


that results in metrics to prompt the user







prompt








(recommended)




1. Display style – select a display style for the prompt (Textbox, Radio Button, Pull

Down, List, or Shopping Cart)





column/row



search box


is shown


structure









not equal, etc.)





modification





4. Display output level selector – select this option to display the output level

selector that allows the user to select the level at which to output the metric

(output levels explained in MicroStrategy’s advanced reporting guide)


http://www2.microstrategy.com/producthelp/9.3.1/manuals/en/AdvancedReporting.pdf



e. Object Prompt

i. Definition – select the objects to use for the prompt

1. Use a predefined list of objects – select this option to specify a list of objects to

prompt the user


that results in objects to prompt the user







prompt








(recommended)


1. Display style – select a display style for the prompt (Radio Button, Check Box,

Pull Down, List, or Shopping Cart)





column/row



search box


is shown




structure





iv. Click "Save" or "Save As" to save the prompt object to the desired location.

f. Value Prompt

i. Definition – select the type of value prompt

1. Date & Time prompt – select this option to create a prompt for a date/time

value

2. Numeric prompt – select this option to create a prompt for a numeric value (up

to 15 digits of precision)

3. Text prompt – select this option to create a prompt for a text value

4. Big Decimal prompt – select this option to create a prompt for a big decimal

value (up to 38 digits of precision)







prompt








(recommended)




1. Display style – select a display style for the prompt (Textbox)

2. Fixed textbox width – select to fix the textbox to a set width

iv. Click "Save" or "Save As" to save the prompt object to the desired location.

Within a Report When you’re creating or modifying a report, you can use the standalone prompts that you or others have

created as part of the report definition. Navigate to the folder containing the prompt object, drag the prompt

object and drop it in the Report Filter open area.

If you want to use an object prompt that determines the attributes/metrics used on a report, drag the prompt

object to the report template and drop in the rows or columns open area.



You can also create prompts on the fly within a report. Prompts created this way will be local to the report and

cannot be reused.

1. Open a report in design view (or create a new blank report)

2. Using the object browser on the left side of the screen, navigate to the object that you want to use to

create your prompt (e.g. if you want to prompt on Fiscal Year, navigate to the folder containing the

Fiscal Year attribute)

3. Drag the object and drop in the Report Filter open area

a. Qualification Prompt (applies to attributes & metrics)

i. Select the radio button next to “Qualify”

ii. Click the icon next to the Qualify button to create a qualification prompt

iii. The prompt will be created with default settings. To change the settings of the

qualification prompt, click the hyperlink titled “Qualification on [object name]” and

follow the instructions in the standalone prompts instructions for a qualification

prompt.

b. Value Prompt (applies to attributes & metrics)

i. Select the radio button next to “Qualify”

ii. Click the icon next to the Apply button to create a value prompt

iii. The prompt will be set up with default settings. To change the settings of the value

prompt, click the hyperlink titled “[object name] Value” and follow the instructions in

the standalone prompts instructions for a value prompt.



iv. Click “Apply” to create the prompt.

c. Element Prompt (applies to only attributes)

i. Select the radio button next to “Select”

ii. Click the icon next to the Select button to create an element prompt

iii. The prompt will be created with default settings. To change the settings of the element

prompt, click the hyperlink titled “Elements of [object name]” and follow the

instructions in the standalone prompts instructions for an attribute element prompt.

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