Defining a prompt control (SAP BW)

You can use prompts in:

  • Parameter maps
  • Session parameters
  • Expressions, including filters and calculations

Note: If the caption is a different datatype than the business key (MUN) for the level, use the Filter Item Reference in conjunction with setting the Prompt Type for the caption. This ensures that the right datatype is used when filtering in the studios.

This is useful for query items, such as ProductTypeCode, whose values are not shown in a report but are useful for filtering data. In general, it is better to define type-in prompts in the reports to make use of the additional prompt features. However, your users cannot modify some variables. For these variables, you can use IBM® Cognos® Framework Manager instead of the reports to define type-in prompts.

The Prompt Info properties set in Framework Manager give you the ability to control default filtering and prompting. The properties are used by:

  • The Build Prompt Page tool in Reporting to create a filter expression and set the use and display items in a prompt and prompt query
  • Generated prompts in Reporting to set the use and display items in the prompt and prompt query

The syntax for using a prompt as a value is

?<PromptName>?