Has anyone come across this situation:

I have a report going to excel or pdf. The report has drilldowns in it. I can drill down to the next level of detail in both excel and pdf. However, if I use the browsers back button to try to go back to the first report I get one of 2 errors:
1. the button just clicks and goes nowhere - stays on the the page
2. i get the following error: no query information to decode

There was a post last year that said it was a browser/software issue. I was just wondering if since then anyone has come up with a work around.

Thx.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Kerry,

Yes this issue already exists in pdf and excel format. You can't go back to your previous page using Back button. Give one link and call that report by using FOCEXEC.

Not sure whether this issue is resolved in 533 or 7.0 version of Webfocus.

Thanks Kamesh. I'm not sure what you mean when you say "Give one link and call that report by using FOCEXEC."

again drilldown to your original report.

For example, If you come from A-->B then in B have one back button link and call B-->A

You might have to code a fake back button, something like this

in your heading add (note: this is line 7):
" BACK to Previous Page"

Then make it a drill down to the previous report


TYPE=HEADING, LINE=7, FOCEXEC=ConsultantRelationsRatingChange(INPUTDATE='&&PINPUTDATE' NUMBEROFDAYS=&&PNUMBER STEP1=&STEP1), ITEM=1, $

Good Luck!
Carol

Here are a couple of other options:

1. Put a "Back" button in the header of the report or something. For the hyperkink properties, you will need to use a little javascript that uses the browser history (-1) to take you to the previous link.

2. Note that next to your browsers "Back" button, there is a little triangle. If you are running WebFOCUS in servlet mode, when you click that triangle, you will see the servlet call of the previous report and you can select it. I have had mixed success with this technique though.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I actually found another way to do it - if you specify the entire URL in your code, the back button will work. I used the window.location feature in JavaScript.

The easy way to do this is to turn the pdf and excel redirection settings to "no".

I am having this issue, when I hit the back button in the drilled-to report it does not go back to the original spreadsheet. These posts are old and I was wondering/hoping if there is something new that I am missing. I am not a java coder.

Thanks,
Rick

Rick,

Another option is to open the drill-down report in a new window, thereby leaving the original report open. The user can then go to the report and continue processing. The way to do this is to add the following code to your fex.
' TARGET=NEW,'

R²,

Target=new doesn't necessarily function for Excel and PDF output formats.

Rick,

Firstly do not confuse Java with JavaScript, they are different beasts.

The reason that the back button "doesn't work" is that when either Excel of PDF output is created, the data stream is normally subjected to a redirection to the appropriate browser "plug in". When your first report is loaded, if you click on the small arrow next to the back button in your browser you will see that the previous report is shown as (something like) "WebFOCUS Report" and your URL will not be what you would normally see for HTML output. It will have a parameter in the URL (for Excel) for PG_REQTYPE of REDIRECT. This is because the process of getting that report to your screen is a two part process, receive the data from the server and then redirect that output to the plug in app for your browser (either PDF or Excel Viewers).

When you then drilldown from that report with the same output format, you can see that the drilldown process would have to go through a similar two part process, meaning that to get back to your original report you would have to go back two processes. As the back button only goes back one process, it will only go to the redirect process which will effectively reload your current report.

So you can see that you need to go back in your browsing history by two steps. You can achieve this by clicking the arrow next to the back button and selecting the second item down in the list.

Now we both know that end users are not going to remember (or agree?) to do this, so many folks have come to the solution of adding a "DRILLDOWN" link back to the original report. Alternatively, do as Darryl suggests above and turn redirection for PDF and Excel to "off" in your server console, thus negating the two part process.

Hope this helps you understand the process?

T

Thanks Tony for your explanation. I understand. Yep javascript is different.

Changing the redirection settings didn't work. I changed ,mht, .xht, .xls.

I tried the drilldown in the header of the second report and when I click on it I get the security warning message, then the Can't find procedure message. The link is pointing to a C: drive and I know on our server we use the D: drive, but I don't see where to change that. Dev Studio just asks to browse to the procedure and the style sheet only shows the internal procedure name.

If you have any suggestions I would appreciate it.
Thanks,

To drill down from an Excel spreadsheet, you have to tell Excel where the WebFOCUS client is.

This is done with the FOCEXURL setting:

SET FOCEXURL=http://hostname[:port]/ibi_apps/WFServlet;

where

hostname[:port]

Is the host name and optional port number of the Web/Application Server on which the WebFOCUS Client is installed.

quote:

On the right side of the BACK button is a down arrow, click on that, select the bottom WebFOCUS Report; this will close the current window and open the original report...

Absolutely Tom, as I mentioned above -

quote:

So you can see that you need to go back in your browsing history by two steps. You can achieve this by clicking the arrow next to the back button and selecting the second item down in the list.

T

Tony,

When does the target=new not work for PDF or Excel? I haven't had any problems with this nad I have been doing this for the past year or 2.

Thanks

Bob

Bob

Normally when you drill from a PDF or Excel. From HTML it works fine, from PDF and Excel tend to open only in the same window as the parent.

T

With this code I can now get back to the launch page, but that then reruns the report. It would be nice to get back to the first page and the user could then just click the next room.

I couldn't get the target=new to work.

Uncommneting the FOCEXURL still gets 'can not find focexec'.

-SET &ECHO=ALL;
-*SET FOCEXURL=http://server/ibi_apps/WFServlet;
APP APPENDPATH server
-RUN
-* Need a JOINKEY because JOINing TO a FOCUS file with multiple keys is not allowed.
-* To eliminate that problem you could use the FOCUS file as the JOIN FROM file.
-* However I was a afraid that would result in missing records if there was no comment
-* for a room. So creating a JOINKEY eliminates that issue. You then need to create a corresponding
-* JOINKEY for the Host file.
DEFINE FILE SLRCMNT
CMNT_MAX_KEY/A22 WITH SLRCMNT_BLDG_CODE = SLRCMNT_BLDG_CODE | SLRCMNT_ROOM_NUMBER | SLRCMNT_TERM_CODE_EFF ;
END
TABLE FILE SLRCMNT
-* Need SUM to get just one record
-* Need to change the indexed field names to less than 12 characters
-* Save as a FOCUS database with index
-*ON TABLE HOLD AS SLRCMNT_MAX_TERM FORMAT FOCUS INDEX CMNT_MAX_KEY
SUM
     'SLRCMNT.SLRCMNT.SLRCMNT_COMMENTS' AS 'Comments'
BY 'SLRCMNT.SLRCMNT.SLRCMNT_BLDG_CODE' AS 'Building'
BY 'SLRCMNT.SLRCMNT.SLRCMNT_ROOM_NUMBER' AS 'Room'
BY HIGHEST 1 'SLRCMNT.SLRCMNT.SLRCMNT_TERM_CODE_EFF' NOPRINT
BY 'SLRCMNT.SLRCMNT.SLRCMNT_SEQNO' NOPRINT
HEADING
"Go Back"
WHERE SLRCMNT_TERM_CODE_EFF LE '&TERMCODE';
WHERE SLRCMNT_BLDG_CODE     EQ '&BLDG_CODE';
WHERE SLRCMNT_ROOM_NUMBER   EQ '&ROOM_NUMBER';
ON TABLE NOTOTAL
ON TABLE PCHOLD FORMAT '&WFFMT'
ON TABLE SET STYLE *
     UNITS=IN,
     SQUEEZE=ON,
     ORIENTATION=PORTRAIT,
$
TYPE=REPORT,
     GRID=OFF,
     FONT='TIMES NEW ROMAN',
     SIZE=10,
$
TYPE=HEADING,
     LINE=1,
     OBJECT=TEXT,
     ITEM=1,
     FOCEXEC=ss0010rb_buildingroom_listing,
$
ENDSTYLE
END

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Rick Man,

Take the semi-colon off of the focexurl statement.

Try TARGET=_blank on your drill specification.

Still no dice. The best I can do is to get back to the launch page and reexecute the report.
I've tried target=new, target=_new, target=_blank

You guys are doing this? Going from report A, an exl2k spreadsheet to program B an exl2K spreadsheet and then going back to spreadsheet A WITHOUT re-executing it using a text link in the header of the second excel report?

What we are trying to do is to get the child spreadsheet to open in its own browser window. Then there will be no need to re-run the parent report.

I have not yet been successful.

Sorry about that ';' in the FOCEXURL. I copied that from some documentation. I haven't been able to get the drill-down report in a separate window.

dd1exl2k.fex

SET FOCEXURL=http://gfnotoeiprod/ibi_apps/WFServlet
-RUN

-SET &RNDM = &TOD;

TABLE FILE CAR

SUM
SALES
BY COUNTRY

ON TABLE PCHOLD FORMAT EXL2K

ON TABLE SET STYLE *
TYPE=DATA, COLUMN=COUNTRY, FOCEXEC=DD2EXL2K ( \
COUNTRY=COUNTRY \
RNDM='&RNDM' \
IBIC_server='EDASERVE' \
IBIAPP_app='testfm' \
), $
ENDSTYLE
END
-RUN

dd2exl2k.fex

SET FOCEXURL=http://gfnotoeiprod/ibi_apps/WFServlet
-RUN

-SET &RNDM = &TOD;

TABLE FILE CAR

SUM
SALES
BY MODEL

WHERE COUNTRY EQ '&COUNTRY'

HEADING
"BACK"

ON TABLE PCHOLD FORMAT EXL2K

ON TABLE SET STYLE *

TYPE=HEADING, LINE=1, ITEM=1, FOCEXEC=DD1EXL2K ( \
IBIC_server='EDASERVE' \
IBIAPP_app='testfm' \
), $
ENDSTYLE
END
-RUN

Change the server in FOCEXURL to your server. We probably don't need the IBIC_server and IBIALL_app passed.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Francis Mariani,

Thanks Francis, et al.
Betwen you and an article my admin found, see: http://www.informationbuilders.com/new/newsletter/8-2/03_trommer.html , I have been able to have both reports open in Excel and bounce back and forth between them. Yea!
However when I come back to the first it is obvious it is re-running it. That becomes evident if there is a variable prompt, as it asks for it again. At least the auto prompt facility does. I would guess creating an HTML page will also but would retain the data input (although windows does too).
If there are any other suggestions on how to bounce back and forth in excel and not have to re-run the first program that would be great.

Here is the sample code that worked:
FYI, you need a space before the first concatenation symbol, otherwise it burps.

-SET &FOCEXURL='http://server.edu';
-SET &FOCEXURL=&FOCEXURL |'/ibi_apps/WFServlet?IBIF_webapp=/ibi_apps'|'&';
-SET &FOCEXURL=&FOCEXURL |'IBIC_server=WFNT'|'&';
-SET &FOCEXURL=&FOCEXURL |'IBIWF_msgviewer=OFF'|'&';
-SET &FOCEXURL=&FOCEXURL |'IBIMR_drill=x,rickmanu/rickmanu.htm'|'&';
SET FOCEXURL='&FOCEXURL'
-SET &RNDM = &TOD;
TABLE FILE CAR
SUM
SALES
BY COUNTRY
WHERE COUNTRY='&COUNTRY'

HEADING
"DD1EXL2K"
ON TABLE PCHOLD FORMAT EXL2K
ON TABLE SET STYLE *
TYPE=DATA, COLUMN=COUNTRY, FOCEXEC=DD2EXL2K ( \
COUNTRY=COUNTRY \
RNDM='&RNDM' \
), $
ENDSTYLE
END

Report 2

-SET &RNDM = &TOD;
TABLE FILE CAR
SUM
SALES
BY MODEL
WHERE COUNTRY EQ '&COUNTRY'
HEADING
"BACK"
ON TABLE PCHOLD FORMAT EXL2K
ON TABLE SET STYLE *
TYPE=HEADING, LINE=1, ITEM=1, FOCEXEC=DD1EXL2K, $
ENDSTYLE
END

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Rick Man,

I am re-opening this becasue what I have is not working. I thought the code in the previous post worked but it is not. The first spreadsheet opens then when I click on a country the second one opens. When I click on the 'BACK' word I get 'Can not open the specified file'. The hyperlink begins with 'C:\...drill=x,RICKMANU etc.' WebFOCUS is referenced on the server with the D: drive I think that is the problem but I don't know how to fix that.

Thanks for your help.

Just to make sure here is the current code for the 2 fexs.

Report1

-*APP APPENDPATH IBISAMP
-*APP SHOWPATH
-SET &FOCEXURL='http://WEBfocus.ferris.edu:8080';
-SET &FOCEXURL=&FOCEXURL |'/ibi_apps/WFServlet?IBIF_webapp=/ibi_apps' | '&';
-SET &FOCEXURL=&FOCEXURL |'IBIC_server=WFNT' | '&';
-SET &FOCEXURL=&FOCEXURL |'IBIWF_msgviewer=OFF' | '&';
-SET &FOCEXURL=&FOCEXURL |'IBIMR_drill=x,rickmanu/rickmanu.htm' | '&';
SET FOCEXURL='&FOCEXURL'

-SET &RNDM = &TOD;
TABLE FILE CAR
-*WHERE COUNTRY='&COUNTRY'
SUM
     'CAR.BODY.SALES'
BY 'CAR.ORIGIN.COUNTRY'
HEADING
"DD1EXL2K"
ON TABLE NOTOTAL
ON TABLE PCHOLD FORMAT EXL2K
ON TABLE SET STYLE *
     UNITS=IN,
     SQUEEZE=ON,
     ORIENTATION=PORTRAIT,
$
TYPE=REPORT,
     GRID=OFF,
     FONT='TIMES NEW ROMAN',
     SIZE=10,
$
TYPE=DATA,
     COLUMN=N1,
     FOCEXEC=app/dd2exl2k( \
     COUNTRY=COUNTRY \
     RNDM='&RNDM' \
     ),
$
TYPE=HEADING,
     LINE=1,
     OBJECT=TEXT,
     ITEM=1,
     FOCEXEC=app/dd1exl2k,
$
ENDSTYLE
END

Report2

-*SET FOCEXURL=http://webfocus.ferris.edu:80/ibi_apps/WFServlet
-*SET FOCEXURL=http://gfnotoeiprod/ibi_apps/WFServlet
-RUN
-SET &RNDM = &TOD;
TABLE FILE CAR
SUM
     'CAR.BODY.SALES'
BY 'CAR.CARREC.MODEL'
HEADING
"DD2EXL2K"
"BACK"
"COUNTRY: <COUNTRY"
WHERE COUNTRY EQ '&COUNTRY';
ON TABLE NOTOTAL
ON TABLE PCHOLD FORMAT EXL2K
ON TABLE SET STYLE *
     UNITS=IN,
     SQUEEZE=ON,
     ORIENTATION=PORTRAIT,
$
TYPE=REPORT,
     GRID=OFF,
     FONT='TIMES NEW ROMAN',
     SIZE=10,
$
TYPE=HEADING,
     LINE=2,
     OBJECT=TEXT,
     ITEM=1,
     FOCEXEC=app/dd1exl2k,
$
TYPE=HEADING,
     LINE=2,
     ITEM=1,
     FOCEXEC=DD1EXL2K,
$
ENDSTYLE
END