Input Controls and Filters Availability

Input controls and filters can appear in the Editor and when a report runs:

• Input controls can be set to be visible or invisible when you edit a view:
•      Input controls set to Always prompt are displayed in the editor and always appear before the report is run.
•      Input controls that aren’t set to Always prompt are always hidden in the editor and hidden when the report is run.
• Filters defined in the Domain design are always hidden in the editor and when the report is run.
• Filters created in the Data Chooser can be locked or unlocked:
•      Filters that are unlocked display filter information in the editor and are available from the Options button when the report is run.
•      Filters that are locked display input controls in the editor when you see the view in display mode but are not available from the Options button when the report is run. Users can remove the filter while in the editor, allowing them to see all the data unfiltered when the report is run.
•      You can’t change whether the filter is displayed after the report is created.
• Filters defined in the editor are always available in the Filters panel of the editor and from the Options button when the report is run.

When setting up input controls for a huge view that takes a long time to run, consider setting the view to Always prompt. Before a report is run, the report viewer prompts you to provide the input options, preventing the report from running with the default input options.

Filters that are unlocked are available. When input controls or filters don’t appear in the report viewer, click the Options button to view them. You can learn more about how filters and input controls interact in the editor by walking through the data exploration tutorial with the Filters panel open.

To set an input control to always prompt:

1. Locate a Topic, such as the Parametrized Report Topic, in the repository and click Edit.
2. On the Controls & Resources page of the JasperReport wizard, under Input Control Options, select Always prompt:

To determine whether an input control is visible:

1. Locate a Topic, such as the Parametrized Report Topic, in the repository and click Edit.
2. On the Controls & Resources page, click the name of an input control, such as Country.
3. On the Locate Input Control page, click Next.

At the bottom of the Create Input Control page, if the Visible check box is selected, the input control appears on the report when it runs. For more information, see Adding Input Controls.

If you don’t provide a default value for the input control, users are prompted to select a value when they create a view based on the Topic.

To lock a filter:

1. Click Create > Ad Hoc View.
2. In the Select Data wizard, click and browse to Domains to create a new view based on a Domain.
3. Click Choose Data.
4. In Fields, move tables and fields from Source to Selected Fields.
5. Click Pre-filters.
6. Double-click a field in the Fields panel.
7. In the Filters panel, define a filter as described in The Pre-filters Page.
8. Check the Locked check box, and click OK.
9. Click Table to open the Ad Hoc Editor.

In the Filters panel, the name of the filter and a note about the lock appears under the heading Locked.