Hi Team,

If you've ever played with InfoMini, you know that slicers are a compelling feature. The thing that sets them apart is that they are chained against each other, without having to define a hierarchy. If I pick a slicer value in any order, the other slicers reduce values to match.

I've not been able to duplicate this chaining logic using HTML composer. That tool seems to imposes a hierarchical chaining logic, meaning I need to tell it that first this filter is picked, then that affects these other filters, which affect these other filters. I say 'seems to impose,' because I hope that I'm wrong. There's always room to look in the mirror for any "missing" features.

Why not just use InfoMini, you ask? Good question! I like the ability to control the look and feel of a launch page, and to add custom javascript events when required. As good as InfoMini is, I am not able to extend it beyond 'out-of-the-box.'

Thoughts on if what I'm looking for is possible?

Cheers,

Joey

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

You cannot do this in Composer. The chain needs to be in an explicit order.

Hi David,

Thank you for the definitive reply.

I'm eager to embrace the new world of InfoAssist over Dev Studio, because of features like advanced slicer chaining. I'm on the cusp of getting a WF8 sandbox, where I know things will get even more impressive with IA.

Cheers,

Joey

I do wonder what InfoMini is and why something that has the word "mini" in it can do something that HTML Composer can most emphatically cannot do.

Hi Francis,

I'm excited that I get to teach you something, as I've learned so much from your posts over the years.

My take is that InfoMini is a cross between an output format type and a scaled down version of InfoAssist. It lets you do something analogous to having a Guided Ad Hoc launch page for a report that you built with InfoAssist.

Here's what you do to try it:

-Start InfoAssist, and make a new report based on a synonym (InfoMini does not work with reporting objects)
-drag some fields onto the report, as desired
-Click the format button, choose InfoMini, and also Active Reports
-Click the Slicers menu, drag two of the fields to a slicer group
-Run the report

What's you'll see is two small buttons near the top, one for format and one for slicers. Press the slicers button. Now you see a drop down list for each field that you added to the slicer group. Despite being a combo box, this list is multi-selectable. Choose some slicer values, click Run, and you're report will update accordingly.

Of particular interest, and the point of my post, is that you may choose the slicers in any order, and the remaining slicers chain-reduce to match. It is, therefor, impossible to have a combination of slicer values that result in no data in the report. It is also infinitely better, in my opinion, than hierarchically chained filters, because I do not have to presuppose the order in which my users pick filters. It is of particular value for engagements where it is hard to get the client to commit to specs, as it is so flexible.

As to why HTML composer (I laughed when you first called it composter), does not support this, I can only suppose that it is because InfoAssist is the future. I'm dipping my toes into WF8, and I'm deeply pleased with what I'm finding. It's got the flash and pizzaz that was missing from 7.x, largely due to enhanced IA and HTML5 graphs. I suspect you'll want to make your own assessment, but I think you might agree that composer is not going to be needed much longer.

Cheers,

Joey

Don't throw out Dev Studio just yet. InfoAssist is not there for heavy duty development. It is primarily a tool for end users or power users to roll their own employing maybe 85% of WebFOCUS's capacity . I expect that Dev Studio will eventually take on the look and feel of an InfoAssit like interface but retain the ability to step out into more extensive manual coding.

Alex,

Thanks for your detailed explanation. This is all great if the client had paid for InfoAssist, unless InfoAssist and InfoMini are included in the basic WF 8 licence.

I am curious about the phrase "impossible to have a combination of slicer values that result in no data in the report" - does this mean the InfoMini parameter screen points to the actual data (fact) table? What would the response time be for these interactive slicers if there are millions of rows of data?

By the way, I wasn't the one that coined the term "HTML Composter", which, I believe, was born of a slip of the fingers on the keyboard.

Cheers,

InfoMini is basically a cutesy name for a report created in InfoAssist where the developer can give the user a certain amount of control over the report. The amount of control ranges from simply executing the report to providing the ability to make some modifications. If would be similar to creating a reporting object for use with the old Report Assist.

You probably know this by now, but a basic version of Info Assist is included in WF 8. If you want the more advanced functionality, then you would need to pay for more.

Unfortunately, in WF8, the InfoMini slicer chaining has been modified. It no longer chains, it is a distinct list of values and you can now generate reports with No Data with ease. The rational for this change was performance reasons, which touches on Francis' question about performance against millions of rows of data.

I wish this was a setting, rather than a wholesale change, as I really, really appreciated the slicer behaviour in 7.7.

Cheers,

Joey