You set most column properties in the Properties view. You set default values for analytics properties in the Define Default Column Analytics wizard.
Table 3-2 lists column properties visible in the Properties view and a description of each property.
|
Yes, in Define Default Column Analytics wizard
|
Default aggregate function for a column in a dashboard or BIRT Studio summary table, for example SUM.
|
|
|
Path for column category and subcategories.
|
||
|
Actuate SQL data type. If the data type is unknown, choose the Compile IO button.
|
||
|
Yes, in Prompt editor
|
Default value for a predefined filter on the column in Actuate Query or a dynamic filter on the column in Information Object Query Builder.
|
|
|
Description of the column that appears when the column is selected in Actuate Query.
|
||
|
Key for Description property in localization properties file.
|
||
|
Display Control Type
|
Yes, in Prompt editor
|
Control type for a predefined filter on this column in Actuate Query or a dynamic filter on this column in Information Object Query Builder. The available values are: text box, read-only drop-down list, editable drop-down list, or radio buttons.
|
|
Format to apply to column values in BIRT Studio or Actuate Query output. To specify the display format, use an Actuate Basic format pattern or format keyword, such as Short date.
|
||
|
Number of characters to allow for display of column values in report output.
|
||
|
Display name for the column in BIRT Studio or Actuate Query. If the column is a group key, this property value is the group label in Actuate Query output.
|
||
|
Key for Display Name property in localization properties file.
|
||
|
Yes, on the Columns tab
|
||
|
To create a predefined filter on the column in Actuate Query or a dynamic filter on the column in Information Object Query Builder, set to Predefined. To enable a user to create a custom filter on this column in Actuate Query or a dynamic filter on this column in Information Object Query Builder, set to Optional. To prevent filtering on this column, set to Disabled.
|
||
|
If column contains NULLs, set to True. Otherwise, set to False.
|
||
|
The heading for the column in BIRT Studio or Actuate Query output.
|
||
|
Key for Heading property in localization properties file.
|
||
|
Balloon help for the column in BIRT Studio or Actuate Query.
|
||
|
Key for Help Text property in localization properties file.
|
||
|
Horizontal Alignment
|
Horizontal alignment of column values in BIRT Studio or Actuate Query output. The available values are: left, right, or center.
|
|
|
Indicates whether the column is indexed in the data source. True indicates that the column is indexed. False indicates that it is not indexed.
|
||
|
Yes, on the Columns tab
|
The alias for the column in the information object query.
|
|
|
The text format in Actuate Query output. The available values are: plain, HTML, or RTF. This property is used only for columns that have the VARCHAR data type.
|
||
|
To display text on multiple lines in BIRT Studio (with fixed width layout preference) or Actuate Query output if the length of the text exceeds the width of the column, set to True. To truncate the text, set to False. This property is used only for columns that have the VARCHAR data type, and it is enforced only in the detail frame. It is not enforced in before and after frames.
|
You can use an information object as a data source in a summary table in a dashboard or a BIRT Studio report. To create a summary table, users select a table’s auto-summarize feature, then select the data set column or columns whose data to group and aggregate. Because the grouping and aggregating are performed automatically, you must set default values for the analytics properties for each column. The analytics properties provide the appropriate context for these tasks. For example, it makes sense to group sales data by region or product line, but not by revenue. Conversely, it makes sense to aggregate revenue values, but not region or product line values.
To provide the appropriate information to generate a summary table, set each column’s analysis type property to one of the following values:
The dimension analysis type supports the grouping of data in the column. For example, to display revenue by region, set the region column as a dimension.
An attribute describes the items associated with a dimension. For a product dimension, for example, attributes might include color, size, and price. When you set a column as an attribute, you must also specify the dimension column of which it is an attribute. The summary table cannot group data in an attribute column.
The measure analysis type supports the aggregation of values in the column. For example, to calculate revenue totals, set the revenue column as a measure. The summary table cannot group data in a measure column.
If you do not set default values for the analysis type property, the following default values are used:
|
If the column contains numeric values or the data type is unknown, the default is measure.
|
|
|
If the column contains data of type TIMESTAMP, VARCHAR, or BOOLEAN, the default is dimension.
|
|
|
If the column is a primary key, a foreign key, or an indexed column in the database, the default is dimension regardless of the column’s data type.
|
Sometimes, the default values do not provide usable data for a summary table, so you should assign an analysis type for every column in an information object. One problem is that the default analysis type for columns that contain numeric values is measure. In some cases, however, users want to group on numeric values. For example, for a report that shows order numbers and order totals, users want to group on order number, but data in measure columns cannot be grouped.
If analysis type is set to Dimension or Attribute for all columns in an information object, the DISTINCT keyword is included in the query generated in BIRT Studio when the information object is used as a data source.
Use the Define Default Column Analytics wizard to specify default values for the following analytics properties for information object columns:
