The value of &TIME_RANGE is not available when reports linked to a measure as Operational Report are executed. Is there a way to make &TIME_RANGE available? We wish to run WebFOCUS graphs that respect the user's preference setting of time range when the operational report drilldown is initiated.

&TIME_RANGE isn’t very useful on its own. It contains the abbreviated internal name of the time range. For example: for Current Period it would contain CURR and for Previous v. Current it would contain PREV_CUR. To get something useful you can use as a filter, you need a utility that exploits PMF modular code to get useful filters.

We didn’t do one already because – guess what? This is the first time someone asked for one.

We'll work up a utility for you and also put it in the next hotfix of PMF. But here are some questions about what should be passed. We'd love it if other users and customers and developers would chime in.

For each below, answer for a) A single point in Time (Current, Previous, or 2008/01?) and b) A range of time (5PR or PREV_CUR)

1. For reports that sort on time vertically, when you click an object name (meas, objective, theme, etc.) the object names are each being displayed within a single point in Time. So if you click Operational Report, what should be passed as a start date and end date?

2. For reports that sort on time horizontally, the object names are on the far left, unless there's also an outside vertical sort. in which case as regards Time, they're still outside an individual point in time. So if you click Operational Report, what should be passed as a start date and end date?

3. Sometimes you are consolidating multiple points in Time. For example, if you select YTD or QTD, your data is consolidated and represents more than a single Time Range. So if you click Operational Report in this context, what should be passed as a Start Date and an End Date?

thanks

I have considered the three scenarios very carefully. I am of the opinion that it is the job of the operational report to interpret the incoming variables and to act according to its requirements. What I would want from PMF is to be told the “state of nature” at the point of drill. That is, what are the relevant preferences and system variables that define where I am in PMF so that the operational report knows from where the request came and can provide the most relevant content and information. As &TIME_RANGE can be set as a preference, I define it is a “state of nature” variable. I do like the idea of a utility to interrogate &TIME_RANGE and get the start point and end point.

My answers to all scenario is to pass the current time dimension variables that are currently passed plus the start point and end point based on the lowest unique level of the Time Dimension, similar to the logic that controls what parts of Time must displayed to be unique. In its simplest form, if Time is Y/Q/M, pass yyyymm as the start point and end point.

I think this is what I want but I reserve the right to adjust my answer after sleeping on it.

Just a clarification, the start point and end point would be defined by the range of time points that defined the request. The Time variables would be the specific one drilled. This defines the state of nature. The operational report will decide what to do with them.