Synchronizing the Use Value and Display Value properties

When you provide a prompt value (also known as Use Value) and refresh a report, the report is filtered based on the new prompt value. However, the original prompt Display Value remains unchanged.

About this task

When the values in the Use Value and Display Value properties are mismatched or unsynchronized, you must specify how you want to manage this discrepancy.

Procedure

  1. In the IBM® Cognos® pane, on the Manage Data tab, in the Properties pane, expand the Prompt list.
  2. Expand each of the parameters.
  3. In the Prompt Update Method, choose one of the following ways to update the prompt values after the import or refresh operation:
    Option Description
    Prompt page When the Use Value has changed, displays the prompt window during the import or refresh operation to retrieve the corresponding Display Value. The Display Value is updated to match the Use Value.

    If the prompt type is set to Always Prompt, the prompt page is always displayed regardless of the option selected for the Prompt Update Method.

    Do Not Update The Display Value is not modified when the Use Value is updated.

    Default setting
    Use=Display If the Use Value has changed during the import or refresh operation, the corresponding Display Value is changed to match the updated Use Value.
    Note: If you are using automation to refresh reports, you must set the Prompt Update Method to Use=Display or Do Not Update to complete the operation. Otherwise, the report cannot be refreshed without user intervention and generates errors. In cases in which the Use = Display is not sufficient to update the Display Value, such as when the Use Value is a dimensional member unique name (MUN), you must manually refresh these reports.

Results

For saved prompted reports that are refreshed, the following prompt rules are applied:
  • If you selected the Use=Display option, the Display Value is updated to match the Use Value the first time that it is modified, and the prompt value that was originally set is changed to Use Value.
  • If you selected the Prompt Page option, the first time that you refresh the report, the Prompt page is displayed regardless of whether the Use Value has changed. The prompt value that you select sets the Use Value and Display Value properties. The original or saved prompt value of the report is set to the new Use Value.