Retrieving FOR Field Values From a Data Source

How to:

Reference:

Tags identify the data values of the FOR field in your report. A report row can be associated with a tag that represents:

You can also identify Tag values that are organized in a parent/child hierarchy up to 99 levels deep and extending over many rows in the matrix. For details, see Reporting Dynamically From a Hierarchy.

The Tag button on the Financial Report Painter toolbar opens the TAG dialog box, in which you can define all of these variations.


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Procedure: How to Specify a Tag for a Single Data Value

In the Design matrix:

  1. Select the row in which you want to place a tag value.

    Note: To be able to use the same value in more than one row of the matrix, click the Use Multiple Values check box in the FML Report Properties area above the matrix.

  2. Click the Tag icon on the Financial Report Painter toolbar.

    or

    Right-click anywhere in the row (except on the label) and select Change Type to, and then Tag from the context menu.

    The TAG dialog box opens at the Options tab.

  3. Enter a data value, or click the Browse button and select one from the list. Your entry is reflected in the Tags box.
  4. Click OK on the Options tab or select the General tab to continue.

    The Row label (R1, and so on) appears automatically in the Label box.

  5. To supply an explicit row label to replace the default label (R1, and so on) on the matrix, type it into the Label input box. The default label is retained internally.
  6. Enter a row title that you want to display on the report (optional). If you do not supply a title, the title cell will be blank on the matrix and in the output.
  7. Optionally, select formatting check boxes: Invisible, When Exists, Post to. For details, see Suppressing the Display of Rows and Saving and Retrieving Intermediate Report Results.
  8. Click OK.

The matrix shows TAG in the Row Type column and if you entered them, the explicit label in the Label column and the title in the Title column.

Tip: You can also drag (or double-click) a tag from the FOR field values panel to a desired location on the matrix. The tag value appears in the For field cell and repeated in the title cell. Right-click in the TAG row and select Row Properties to open the TAG dialog box where you can enter a descriptive title for the tag value and/or an explicit row label.


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Procedure: How to Specify a Tag for Multiple Data Values

In the Design matrix:

  1. Select the row in which you want to place multiple tag values.

    Note: To be able to use the same value in more than one row of the matrix, click the Use Multiple Values check box in the FML Report Properties area above the matrix.

  2. Click the Tag icon on the Financial Report Painter toolbar.

    or

    Right-click anywhere in the row (except on the label) and select Change Type to, and then Tag from the context menu.

    The TAG dialog box opens at the Options tab.

  3. Enter a data value, or click the Browse button and select one from the list. Your entry is reflected in the Values box.
  4. Click the Add button to add the value to the Tags box.
  5. Enter or select another data value and click the Add button to add the second value to the Tags box.

    If you are familiar with FML syntax, note that this entry adds the OR phrase to your request.

  6. Repeat steps 4-5 for as many data values as necessary.
  7. Click OK on the Options tab or select the General tab to continue.
  8. Notice that the Row label (R1, and so on) appears automatically in the Label box.

    To supply an explicit row label to replace the default label (R1, and so on) on the matrix, type it into the Label input box. The default label is retained internally.

  9. Enter a row title that you want to display on the report (optional). If you do not supply a title, the title cell will be blank on the matrix and in the output.
  10. Optionally, select a formatting check box: Invisible, When Exists, Post to. For details, see Suppressing the Display of Rows and Saving and Retrieving Intermediate Report Results.
  11. Click OK.

The matrix shows TAG in the Row Type column and, if you entered them, the explicit label in the Label column and the title in the Title column.

Tip: You can also drag (or double-click) tags from the FOR field values panel to a desired location on the matrix. Multiple tag values may be contiguous or non-contiguous. They appear on the matrix connected by the FML keyword OR. The tag values are repeated in the title cell connected by the keyword AND. Right-click in the TAG row and select Row Properties to open the TAG dialog box where you can enter a descriptive title for the combined values and/or an explicit row label.


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Procedure: How to Specify a Tag for a Range of Data Values

In the Design matrix:

  1. Select the row in which you want to place a range of tag values.

    Note: To be able to use the same value in more than one row of the matrix, click the Use Multiple Values check box in the FML Report Properties area above the matrix.

  2. Click the Tag icon on the Financial Report Painter toolbar.

    or

    Right-click anywhere in the row (except on the label) and select Change Type to, and then Tag from the context menu.

    The TAG dialog box opens at the Options tab.

  3. In the Value box, enter the first data value in the range, or click the Browse button and select one from the list.
  4. In the To box, enter the last data value in the range, or click the Browse button and select one from the list.
  5. Click the Add button to add the beginning and ending range values to the Tags box.

    If you are familiar with FML syntax, note that this entry adds the TO phrase to your request.

  6. Click OK or select the General tab to continue.
  7. Notice that the row label (R1, and so on) appears automatically in the Label box.

    To supply an explicit row label to replace the default label (R1, and so on) in the matrix, type it into the Label input box. The default label is retained internally.

  8. Enter a row title that you want to display on the report (optional). If you do not supply a title, the title cell will be blank on the matrix and in the output.
  9. Optionally, select a formatting check box: Invisible, When Exists, Post to. For details, see Suppressing the Display of Rows and Saving and Retrieving Intermediate Report Results.
  10. Click OK.

The matrix shows TAG in the Row Type column and, if you entered them, the explicit label in the Label column and the title in the Title column.


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Procedure: How to Specify a Tag for a Related Group of Data Values

You can use the masking character ($) to identify a group of data values that are identified by common characters (for example, a group of accounts beginning with the number 10). This is useful for specifying a whole group of tag values without having to name each one.

  1. Select the row in which you want to place a group of tag values.

    Note: To be able to use the same value in more than one row of the matrix, click the Use Multiple Values check box in the FML Report Properties area above the matrix.

  2. Click the Tag icon on the Financial Report Painter toolbar.

    or

    Right-click anywhere in the row (except on the label) and select Change Type to, and then Tag from the context menu.

    The TAG dialog box opens at the Options tab.

  3. In the Value box, enter the common characters for the group of tags, followed by one or more masking characters ($$). For example, 10$$ to represent 1010, 1011, 1020, 1021, 1030, 1031.
  4. Click the Add button to add the group of tag values to the Tags box.
  5. Click OK or select the General tab to continue.
  6. Notice that the row label (R1, and so on) appears automatically in the Label box.

    To supply an explicit row label to replace the default label (R1, and so on) in the matrix, type it into the Label input box. The default label is retained internally.

  7. Enter a row title that you want to display on the report (optional). If you do not supply a title, the title cell will be blank on the matrix and in the output.
  8. Optionally, you can select a formatting check box: Invisible, When Exists, Post to. For details, see Suppressing the Display of Rows and Saving and Retrieving Intermediate Report Results.
  9. Click OK.

The matrix shows TAG in the Row Type column and, if you entered them, the explicit label in the Label column and the title in the Title column. If you do not specify a title, the tag value and masking characters appear.


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Reference: TAG Dialog Box

Tag Dialog Box

Options Tab

Value

Identifies one or more data values for the TAG row.

If you are identifying a range of values, this field identifies the first data value in the range.

If you are using masking characters to specify a group of tag values with common identifying characters, enter the common and masking characters ($$) in the Values box.

To (optional)

Identifies the last data value in the range.

Tags

Displays the value(s) you have selected for the current TAG row.

Children

The following options appear on the TAG dialog box Options tab only when a parent/child relationship has been defined in the Master File being used for a report. In addition, an optional attribute in the Master File enables you to specify another field, which contains a descriptive caption for display in place of the hierarchy field values on the report. For related information, see Reporting Dynamically From a Hierarchy.

When you write a financial report against a hierarchy defined in the Master File, you can control data retrieval from the following options on a drop-down list:

Show selected item

Retrieves the value for the specified tag in the hierarchy.

Show selected item consolidated

Displays a single summary row for the numeric data values of all children.

Show only children

Displays the hierarchy starting with the first child of the specified parent, up to 99 levels deep. Each child instance appears over the next child instance. The parent level is not included in the output.

Successive levels of the hierarchy field are indented two spaces from the previous level. You can change the spacing of these indents. See How to Adjust Indents for Captions in a Hierarchy.

Show only children to level... Level: n

Displays children up to the level you indicate. The default value is 1. Therefore, if n is omitted, direct children appear. Level 2 retrieves direct children and grandchildren. The parent level is not included in the output.

Show with all children

Displays the hierarchy starting with the specified parent. (Level 99 is equivalent to ALL.) The parent level is included in the output.

Show with children to level... Level: n

Displays the values for the specified parent tag and its children, up to 99 levels deep. The default value is 1. Therefore, if n is omitted, direct children appear. The parent level is included in the output.

You can refine your display further by choosing the following check box:

Consolidate

You can display a summary row for children up to the level indicated, displayed below the detail rows for the children being summed. Consolidate is supported with the Show children and Show with children options.

Display children's caption

You can display descriptive text defined in the Master File as a caption, in place of the FOR field values.

General Tab

Title

Enables you to specify a title for the TAG row. The title will appear on the report. This entry is optional. (Without it, the title cell will be blank in the matrix and on the report.)

For hierarchical data, the caption defined in the Master File is used for the title. The caption supplies descriptive text that can be used in place of the hierarchy field FOR values.

  • If you add a parent to the matrix and specify Show selected item, the caption is applied. This value appears in the Title input line, where you can edit it.
  • If you add a parent to the matrix and specify Show selected item, the caption is applied. This value appears in the Title input line, where you can edit it.
  • If you add a parent and specify an option that also retrieves its children, captions for the children appear in the Title column. However, the cells are gray, indicating that you cannot change these titles. (This happens whether the Display caption for children is on or off.)
  • If no caption is specified in the Master File, and you drag a tag value into the matrix, the tag value appears as the title. However, you can provide a descriptive title for the row in the Title column on the matrix or in the Title input box on the General tab.

    If you do not want the caption to appear, uncheck the Display children's captions box.

Label

Lists the default identification label (R1, R2, and so on) for the TAG row. You can replace the default row identification label with an explicit row label. (The default label is retained internally.)

In a hierarchy, each generated row is labeled with the specified label text. Children have the same label as their parents.

Formatting Options:

The following options apply to individual rows in the report.

Invisible

Creates a TAG row for use in a calculation, but does not display the row on the report. For details, see How to Suppress Rows.

When Exists

Displays a row only when data exists for the tag value. By default, a TAG row appears even if no data is found for the tag values. The default character used to represent the missing data is a period (.). The When Exists check box enables you to override this convention. For details, see How to Suppress Rows With No Data.

Post to

Posts the output of a TAG row to a work file. This row can then be used as if were provided in a DATA row. For details, see Saving and Retrieving Intermediate Report Results.

Tip: You can also apply these formatting options from the Row Properties check boxes above the matrix.


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