Linking to Another Report

How to:

Reference:

A link allows you to drill down to a report for more details or execute a procedure by selecting a designated hot spot (the link) in the report. By linking reports you provide easy access to more detailed data that supplements the information in your base report. The drill-down report can contain information that is either independent of the data in the base report or depends and expands on a specific data value in the base report.

To create a link, you must have a report to link from (the base report) and a report to link to (the drill-down report). If the drill-down report depends on a specific data value in the base report, you also need to pass that value to the drill-down report by creating parameters. For details, see Creating Parameters.

Syntax: How to Link to Reports and Procedures 

TYPE=type, [subtype], FOCEXEC=fex[(parameters ...)], [TARGET=frame,] 
[ALT = 'description',] $

where:

type
Identifies the report component that you select in the web browser to execute the link. The TYPE attribute and its value must appear at the beginning of the declaration.
subtype
Are any additional attributes, such as COLUMN, LINE, or ITEM, that are needed to identify the report component that you are formatting. For information on identifying report components, see Identifying a Report Component in a WebFOCUS StyleSheet.
fex
Identifies the file name of the linked procedure to run when you select the report component.

Note: The procedure cannot be named NONE (all uppercase). Using NONE as the procedure name will result in a syntax error. Mixed or lowercase is allowed.

To determine the file name in WebFOCUS, see How to Determine a WebFOCUS File Name in Managed Reporting.

The maximum length of a FOCEXEC=fex argument, including any associated parameters, is 2400 characters. The FOCEXEC argument can span more than one line, as described in Creating and Managing a WebFOCUS StyleSheet.

parameters
Values that are passed to the report, URL, or JavaScript function. For details, see Creating Parameters.
frame
Identifies the target frame in the webpage in which the output from the drill-down link is displayed. For details, see Specifying a Target Frame.
description
Is a textual description of the link supported in an HTML report for compliance with Section 508 accessibility. Enclose the description in single quotation marks.

The description also displays as a pop-up description when your mouse or cursor hovers over the link in the report output.

Reference: Usage Notes for Drilldown Reports in PDF Format

When going back to the original report from a drilldown report in PDF format, you must click the Back button twice quickly. The alternative is to use the drop-down list presented to the right of the Back button to view the browser history and select the link two steps back. The first history item will point to the redirection page and be titled based on the method used to access the WFServlet. The previous item will be titled WebFOCUS Report and will point back to the original PDF report.

Procedure: How to Determine a WebFOCUS File Name

  1. Right-click the report name and select Properties. The Report Properties dialog box opens.
  2. The file name appears under Name. In the example below, the name of the file is "salesrep". Do not include the file extension (.fex) or the directory location and slash (/).

Example: Linking to a Report From a Footing

The following report request summarizes product sales and sorts the data by region, state, and store code. The store code also displays in the subfootings where links to detailed reports about the store's sales (by product or by date) display. Each line of the subfoot contains two text objects and one embedded field. The relevant StyleSheet declarations are highlighted in the request.

The main report is:

TABLE FILE GGSALES
HEADING
"Sales Report"
SUM DOLLARS/I08M
BY REGION BY ST BY STCD
ON STCD SUBFOOT
"View Store <STCD Sales By Product"
" "
"View Store <STCD Sales By Date"
ON REGION PAGE-BREAK
ON TABLE SET PAGE-NUM OFF
ON TABLE SET STYLE *
TYPE=HEADING, SIZE=12, STYLE=BOLD, $ 
TYPE=SUBFOOT, LINE=1, OBJECT=TEXT, ITEM=2, COLOR=GREEN,
     FOCEXEC=PRDSALES(STOREID=STCD), $
TYPE=SUBFOOT, LINE=3, OBJECT=TEXT, ITEM=2, COLOR=BLUE,
     FOCEXEC=HSTSALES(STOREID=STCD), $ 
ENDSTYLE
END

Using StyleSheet declarations, the subfoot phrase Sales By Product links to a second procedure named PRDSALES and passes it the value of STCD displayed in the subfoot. The subfoot phrase Sales By Date links to a procedure named HSTSALES and passes it the value of STCD displayed in the subfoot.

The request for the linked report HSTSALES is: 

TABLE FILE GGSALES
SUM UNITS
BY STCD
BY DATE
WHERE STCD = '&STOREID'
ON TABLE SET PAGE-NUM OFF
ON TABLE SET STYLE *
TYPE=REPORT, GRID=OFF, $
ENDSTYLE
END

The request for the linked report PRDSALES is:

TABLE FILE GGSALES
SUM UNITS
BY STCD
BY PRODUCT
WHERE STCD = '&STOREID'
ON TABLE SET PAGE-NUM OFF
ON TABLE SET STYLE *
TYPE=REPORT, GRID=OFF, $
ENDSTYLE
END

The first page of output for the main report follows. If you select Sales By Product for Store R1020, the value R1020 is passed to the PRDSALES procedure. If you select Sales By Date for Store R1019, the value R1019 is passed to the HSTSALES procedure.

The output is:

If you click the Sales By Product link for store R1020, the output is: 

Store ID
 
Product
 
Unit Sales
 
R1020
 
Biscotti
 
     29413
 

                           
Coffee Grinder

                           
     19339

                        

                        

                           

                           
Coffee Pot

                           
     15785

                        

                        

                           

                           
Croissant

                           
     43300

                        

                        

                           

                           
Espresso

                           
     32237

                        

                        

                           

                           
Latte

                           
     77344

                        

                        

                           

                           
Mug

                           
     30157

                        

                        

                           

                           
Scone

                           
     45355

                        

                        

                           

                           
Thermos

                           
     14651