AX1708

Grid refresh variable for web reports

Grid refresh variables prompt users to select one or more values from a designated table column. The selected values are 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 multi-select dialog. The list can be filtered to only show a subset of values from the specified column.

This topic provides information on how Grid 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: In web reports, Grid refresh variables always allow selection of multiple values. You do not have to explicitly enable multi-select for the variable; it is always enabled. If you want to limit the user to only selecting a single value, use a Combo Box variable instead.

Variable behavior

The Grid variable displays as a read-only text box with a button next to it. The user can click the button to select items from the column.

Example Grid variable

Clicking the button opens the multi-select dialog. In this dialog, the user can select one or more items using check boxes.

Example multi-select dialog

The dialog is limited to displaying the first 100 values in the list. However, all values can be found by typing into the search box at the top of the dialog. The search matches on the primary value, any description columns, and any additional columns included in the display format.

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

When the user clicks OK to select the values, they display in the text box using the value from the value column, separated by commas.

Example selected values

Variable properties

This section explains how to complete the variable properties for a Grid 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 Grid 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 Grid variable types:

Item	Description
Choose Variable Type	Specifies the variable type. Select Grid to allow the user to select one or more values 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. Defines placeholder text to display within the variable box until a value is selected. This text also displays at the top of the multi-select dialog. 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. You can list multiple valid values, separated by commas. In this context, it is not necessary to enclose string values in single quotation marks.
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.