Customizing the Autoprompt Facility

If you want to specify the HTML template to use when a report is run, include the following code at the beginning of the procedure (FEX):

-<describe_html>template</describe_html>

where:

template

Is set to one of the following template values:

• autoprompt_top. Displays the parameters horizontally at the top of the page and is the default template value.
• autoprompt_top_checked. Is the same as autoprompt_top, but the Run in a new window check box is preselected.

You can customize the look and feel of the HTML Autoprompt facility by editing the template file. The template file (autoprompt_top.css) is located in the ibi\WebFOCUS82\ibi_html\javaassist\ibi\html\describe directory. Make a backup copy of the autoprompt_top.css file before making any changes to the file.

If you want to customize the banner, create an image, save it in the describe directory, and change the background-image property, which is shown in bold type in the following Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) code:

#idBannerDiv {
height:41px;
background-image:url(style/logo_banner_TOP.gif); 
background-position:top left;
background-repeat:no-repeat; 
margin:0px;
margin-top:0px;
cursor:pointer; }

The option to select different templates can be set in the WebFOCUS Administration Console using the Parameter Prompting selection under Application Settings. The setting to use to select the Autoprompt page depends upon the type of Autoprompt implementation you select in the Default Autoprompt Template (IBI_DESCRIBE_TEMPLATES) setting. For more information, see Autoprompt Configuration.

• HTML_Top. Specifies the use of the HTML-based implementation and the autoprompt_top.html template, which displays parameters horizontally at the top of the page.
• HTML_Top_Checked. Specifies the use of the HTML-based implementation and the autoprompt_top_checked.html template. In this template, the Run in a new window check box is pre-selected, specifying that all reports open in a new window, by default.

If you want to specify the HTML template to use when a report is run, include the following code at the beginning of the procedure (FEX):

-<describe_html>template</describe_html>

where:

template

Is set to one of the following template values:

• autoprompt_top. Displays the parameters horizontally at the top of the page and is the default template value.

• autoprompt_top_checked. Is the same as autoprompt_top, but the Run in a new window check box is preselected.

You can specify Autoprompt settings directly in a URL to run a report located in an application directory on the Reporting Server. The WebFOCUS Client configuration setting that you can specify for parameter prompting is:

IBIF_wfdescribe

The possible values for this setting are:

• OFF. Turns Autoprompt off. This is the default configuration value for self-service requests.
• XMLRUN. Only prompts for variables created with -DEFAULT when there is another variable that does not have a value assigned and, therefore, will be prompted for.
• XMLPROMPT. Prompts for variables created with -DEFAULT and for any other variable that does not have a value.
• XML. The XML document describing the variables is displayed in the browser. This setting is used internally by the WebFOCUS tools and is recommended for debugging purposes only.

When a request is sent to the WebFOCUS Client to run a report, the WebFOCUS Client adds the following parameter to the request sent to the Reporting Server:

WFDESCRIBE=value

where:

WFDESCRIBE

Communicates to the Reporting Server the required level of parameter prompting evaluation.

value

Is the value of the WebFOCUS Client configuration parameter prompting setting, which can be specified in the URL sent to the WebFOCUS Client to run the report request, using the IBIF_wfdescribe setting.

You can use the WebFOCUS Client variable IBIC_server to specify the server node for the report. For more information about IBIC_server, see the TIBCO WebFOCUS® Security and Administration manual. The following is an example of a URL used to run a WebFOCUS Reporting Server procedure named salessummary on the Reporting Server node EDASERVE with IBIF_wfdescribe set to XMLRUN:

http://hostname[:port]/ibi_apps/WFServlet?IBIF_ex=salessummary
&IBIC_server=EDASERVE&IBIF_wfdescribe=XMLRUN

Note: Changes to the parameter prompting configuration setting should be evaluated in a development or test environment, and the evaluation should include running existing reports and applications.

For more information about IBIF_wfdescribe, see theTIBCO WebFOCUS® Security and Administration manual.

How to: Add a Description of the Procedure

You can add a description of the procedure to be included in the internal XML used by the Autoprompt facility. This provides information about the Autoprompt form that can be useful for application integration, such as a procedure that is part of a web service application. The code that adds a description must be added before the report request.

-<description>text</description>

-<description>This procedure reports on Inventory </description>
-<description>by state, storename and product name. </description>
TABLE FILE CENTORD
SUM QTY_IN_STOCK BY STATE BY STORENAME BY PRODNAME
ON TABLE SUBHEAD
"Inventory Report"
WHERE STATE EQ '&STATE'
WHERE STORENAME EQ '&STORENAME'
WHERE PRODNAME EQ '&PRODNAME'
END