Query Properties 

Use

You can make various settings for your query in the Query Properties dialog box.

Features

The Query Properties dialog box is divided into tab pages; each tab page offers different settings.

Tab Page: General

Description

You can enter or change the query description here.

You can use text variables in the description.

You can also enter the query description when you save the query.

Technical Name

The technical name of the query is displayed.

InfoProviders

The technical name of the InfoProvider on which the query is based is displayed.

Key Date

Every query has a key date. For time-dependent data, the key date determines the time for which the data is selected. The default value for the key date is the date on which the query is executed, that is <today>.

...

       1.      Choose . The Date Selection dialog box appears.

       2.      Choose a date from the calendar and use the arrow button to add it to the selection window on the right. If you select 01.01.1999 for example, time-dependent data is read up to 01.01.1999.

       3.      Choose OK.

You can also select a variable key date:

...

       1.      In the Date Selection dialog box, choose the Variables tab page.

       2.      Choose a variable and use the arrow button to add it to the selection window on the right.

For the selection, you may need to know the technical names of the variables as well as their descriptions. In the Description window on the left, choose Technical Names in the context menu (using the secondary mouse button).

If you want to create a new variable, in the Description window on the left, choose New Variables in the context menu (using the secondary mouse button). The new variable is displayed. In the context menu of the new variable, choose Edit. The variables editor appears and you can create a new variable.

If you want to change a variable, in the Description window on the left, select the variable and choose Change Variable in the context menu (using the secondary mouse button). The variables editor appears and you can change the variable.

       3.      Choose OK.

The key date only applies to time-dependent master data.

Last Changed

This is where you can see details of the owner of the structure, the person who last changed the structure, and the date and time when the query was changed.

Tab Page: Variable Sequence

Any entry variables the query contains are listed here. You can use the two arrow buttons to determine the sequence in which the variables appear in the variables screen when the query is executed.

Tab Page: Display

Display Options

The following settings are possible:

●     Adjust Formatting after Refreshing

The setting is useful in the BEx Analyzer and is therefore the default setting.

The formatting for the query underlines the type of data contained in a cell and highlights the structure of the delivered results. As a rule, the position and size of the cell area in the analysis table changes when the query is refreshed. The Adjust Formatting After Refreshing function guarantees that the format is adjusted when the updated query data is refreshed.

You can deactivate the function for adjusting the format, for example, if you want to display the data more quickly, or if you use a workbook with your own format template.

For more information, see Workbook Settings.

●     Hide Repeated Key Values

Here you can determine whether or not identical key figures are to be displayed more than once in the query. The Hide Repeated Key Values setting is active by default, such that only the first key value is displayed for each characteristic and additional, identical key values are suppressed.

The key value is the value with which the characteristic is presented. This can be the characteristic description or the characteristic key. You can specify how the characteristic is presented using characteristic properties.

In the following example, the Hide Repeated Key Values setting is activated:

Region	Order	Sales
DE	A	EUR 14,900
	B	EUR 15,800
	C	EUR 17,600
USA	A	EUR 12,800
	C	EUR 32,800

In the following example, the Hide Repeated Key Values setting is deactivated:

Region	Order	Sales
DE	A	EUR 14,900
DE	B	EUR 15,800
DE	C	EUR 17,600
USA	A	EUR 12,800
USA	C	EUR 32,800

Note that the setting made to hide repeated key values when using the query as a data provider in Web applications is not evaluated. You need to make the settings again in the property dialog box of the query view. When the query is used in the BEx Analyzer, the settings you make here are taken into consideration.

●     Display Scaling Factors for Key Figures

Key figures can have scaling factors and units/currencies. Normally, units/currencies are displayed for every key figure, but not the scaling factors. If you activate the Display Scaling Factors for Key Figures setting, an additional header row is added to the row or column header in the query. Information about the scaling factor and currency/unit appears in this additional header row, as long as it is consistent (for example, EUR 1,000).

This setting is deactivated by default.

In the following example, the Hide Repeated Key Values and Display Scaling Factors for Key Figures settings are activated:

Region	Order	Sales
		EUR 1,000
DE	A	14
	B	15
	C	17
F	D	12
	E	32

Note that the setting selected to display the scaling factors for key figures when using the query as a data provider in Web applications is not evaluated. You need to make the setting again in the property dialog box of the query view. When the query is used in the BEx Analyzer, the settings you make here are taken into consideration.

Document Links

For metadata, master data, and InfoProvider data for a query, you can display links to documents that you have created for these objects. If documents exist for these objects, the  symbol appears next to these objects. You can click this symbol to navigate to where the document is displayed on the Web.

Select the appropriate setting so that the document links for the desired document class are displayed. The document classes are oriented to the various categories of BI objects: InfoProvider data, metadata, and master data. See Document Classes.

For more information, see Using Documents in Web Applications.

Tab Page: Rows/Columns

Results Position

This is where you specify where the result is displayed.

●     Rows: Above or Below

●     Columns: Left or Right

By default, the results are displayed at the bottom right.

Suppress Zeros

You can use this setting to specify whether columns or rows containing zeros are to be displayed.

The following options are available for suppression:

●     Do Not Suppress: Rows or columns with zeros are displayed.

●     Active: If characteristics are in the rows and columns, any row or column with a result of zero is not displayed. The rows or columns include, for example, the values 1, -1, 1, -1 and thus the result is 0. If you select this setting, the whole row or column is hidden.

●     Active (All Values = 0): Columns or rows that contain zero values in all cells are not displayed.

Under Effect On, define whether suppression of zero values should be applied to rows and columns, only to rows, or only to columns.

Tab Page: Value Display

Display of +/- Signs

Here you specify how the minus sign (-) is displayed. The following display options are available for negative values:

●     Before the Number -123.45: The minus sign (-) is positioned before the value (default setting).

●     After the Number 123.45-. The minus sign (-) is positioned after the value.

●     In Parentheses (123.45): Negative values are displayed in parentheses.

Zero Value Display

The following display options are available for displaying zeros:

●     Zero with Currency/Unit: Zeros are displayed with the currency/unit, for example, EUR 0.00. This is the default setting.

●     Zero Without Currency/Unit: Zeros are displayed without a currency or unit entry, for example, 0.00.

●     Zero as Space: Cells containing a zero value remain empty.

●     Zero as Default Text: If you choose this setting, the Show Zeros As field is activated. You can now enter the required value (character, number, or letter), such as an asterisk (*). Cells that contain a zero value are filled with this value.

Tab Page: Enhanced

Release for OLE DB for OLAP

External reporting tools that communicate using the OLE DB for OLAP interface use queries as data sources. If you want to release this query as a data source for external reporting tools, select Allow External Access to this Query.

Queries that contain formulas with the operators %RT, %CT, %GT, SUMRT, SUMCT, SUMGT, and LEAF cannot be released for OLE DB for OLAP. These operators depend on the display of the list in the BEx Analyzer and the formulas would return unexpected values when using OLE DB for OLAP or MDX. It is possible to achieve the desired result with constant selection. For more information, see Selecting Constants.

For more information about using formula operators, see Defining Formulas.

For more information about OLE DB for OLAP, see Mapping Metadata.

Tab Page: Planning

Start Query in Display Mode

Here you can specify that the query is only started in display mode. At runtime, the user can switch on the input-ready field to use the query for manually entering plan data or executing planning functions. This guarantees that users can use the query in planning applications without locking each other out.

For queries that are not input-ready, this function is always active and cannot be changed. For input-ready queries this function is not active by default, but can be switched on. Queries are input-ready as soon as they contain a structural component that has one of the following properties:

●     Data can be changed by planning functions

●     Data can be changed by user input or planning functions

For more information, see Selection/Formula Properties (Planning tab page) and BI Integrated Planning.

Activities

You call the properties dialog box for a query by choosing Query ® Properties in the Query Designer menu bar. The Properties dialog box for the query appears in the Properties screen area. You can choose Display/Change  to define whether the query properties can be changed or not. You can save your settings with  Save.