AX1690

Combo Box refresh variable for web reports

ComboBox refresh variables prompt users to select a value from a specified table column. The selected value is used to filter the data sources in the report that are dependent on the variable.

IMPORTANT: The legacy web report feature has been deprecated. For information on our new web report and Report Builder features, see Web Reports and Using the Report Builder.

The list of values is displayed in a searchable drop-down list (the combo box). The list can be filtered to only show a subset of the values from the column.

This topic provides information on how Combo Box refresh variables behave in web reports and their configuration settings. For general information on defining refresh variables for web reports and creating dependencies between refresh variables and data sources, see Configuring refresh variables for web reports.

NOTE: When using a Combo Box refresh variable, the user can only select one value from the list. If you want the user to be able to select multiple values, use a Grid variable instead.

Variable behavior

The variable displays as a drop-down list with a searchable entry box. The user can scroll the list and select the value directly, or type into the box to find a particular value.

Example ComboBox refresh variable

The drop-down list is limited to displaying the first 100 values. However, all values can be found by using the search box. The search matches on the primary value, any description columns, and any additional columns included in the display format.

The values in the drop-down list are sorted based on the display format if defined, otherwise based on the value column.

Variable properties

This section explains how to complete the variable properties for a Combo Box variable in a web report.

General variable properties

All refresh variables use a common set of general properties such as the variable display name, and whether the variable is enabled or required. Any special considerations for Combo Box variables are noted.

Item	Description
Display Name	The display name of the variable. This name determines how the variable displays to end users in the Filters panel.
Display Grouping	Optional. Assigns the variable to a group. If a group is specified, then the variable will be displayed within an expandable / collapsible grouping in the Filters panel. If the group name that you want to use has not yet been created, type the group name into the Group field to create it. If the group name already exists, you can select it from the drop-down list. Groups are useful to organize variables into logical groupings, especially when the report has many variables.
Required	Specifies whether the user must enter a value for this variable: If enabled, then the user must specify a value for this variable in order to perform the refresh. If disabled, then the user can leave the variable blank (unset). Required variables that do not yet have a selected value are indicated with a red bar along the side of the variable field.
Enabled	Specifies whether the variable displays to users: If enabled, then the variable will be included in the Filters panel. If disabled, then the variable will not be included in the Filters panel. You might disable a variable temporarily while testing the report setup.

Variable-specific properties

The following additional properties apply to ComboBox variable types:

Item	Description
Choose Variable Type	Specifies the variable type. Select Combo Box to allow the user to select a single value from a table column.
Column	The column to provide the list of values for the variable. Click the table icon to select the column. You can specify any column from any client-defined table in your system. Multi-level lookups can be used. However, system tables such as Axiom.Aliases are not supported for use with refresh variables and cannot be used. For columns with lookups, the specified table impacts the list of items to be returned. For example, `GL2021.Dept` returns only the departments used in the GL2021 table, whereas `Dept.Dept` returns the full list of departments defined in the Dept table. NOTE: If the specified column uses multi-level syntax, then the resulting list will be sourced from the final lookup table, not the original table. For example, if you specify `Encounter.PrimaryPhysician.FirstName`, then the list will contain all first names from `Physician.FirstName`, instead of only the first names for the physicians used in the Encounter table.
Placeholder Text	Optional. Specifies placeholder text to display within the combo box until a value is selected. If blank, then the default text "Choose a value for ColumnName" is used.
Default Value	Optional. Specifies a default value for the variable. When the report is initially opened, the default value is used as the selected value for the variable, and the report is filtered by that value. The default value must be a valid value that could be selected by a user for the variable. If the default value is invalid, an error will occur when the file is opened, because Axiom Financial Institutions Suite will attempt to filter the report using the value.
Column Filter	Optional. Specifies a filter criteria statement to limit the list of values displayed to the user. Click the filter icon to define a filter.
Display Format	Optional. Defines a display format for the items in the list, and specifies additional columns to display. By default, items in the list are displayed as: KeyColumn - DescriptionColumn If you want to specify a different format and/or use additional columns, then you can indicate the display format here. Use fully qualified Table.Column syntax and place column references in curly brackets. For example, you could indicate something like: {Acct.Acct} - {Acct.Description} ({Acct.Category}) This would display account items in the following format: 8000 - Facilities (Overhead) (missing or bad snippet) If a display format is defined, the items in the list are sorted based on the display format instead of the value column.
Tooltip Column	Optional. Specifies a column that defines tooltip text for each value shown in the list. Click the table icon to select the column. The tooltip column can use any column from the same table as the value column for the variable. When a user hovers over a value in the list, the corresponding text from this column is shown in a tooltip.