Local Cell Locks in a Query (Front End)

In BEx Web applications, you can lock input-ready cells against manual changes. These cells locks are managed as local settings with reference to the current result set in BI Java Web runtime.

Cell locks in a query remain in effect until such time as the the user makes significant changes to the result set. The cell locks remain in effect if the user performs any of the following activities:

• Sort

• Expanding or collapsing nodes in BW hierarchies

• Changing display settings for characteristics

If the user performs one of the following activities though, the cells locks are undone: :

• Calling the variable screen to change variable values,

• Drilldown, removing the drilldown

• Swapping row and column axes, swapping characteristics

• Hierarchical axis display

• Zero suppression

• Setting a filter

As cell locking is a local setting that relates to the current result set, a cell locked at runtime in the data model of the query is not known to the system. This means that a locked cell is not comparable to a cell protected by a data slice. For the back-end system, a locked cell behaves like a cell that has been transferred without the value being changed.

The following restrictions therefore apply:

A lock is a local property of the cell in the current result set. If the locked cell shares data records with other cells, the locked property is not applied to the other cells. If two cells use the same data records for example, and one of the cells is locked, the other cell is not locked. This point is particularly relevant for queries where a type of "hierarchy" is created from restricted key figures, as in the following example:

Revenue Jan. is modeled as key figure Revenue , which is restricted to 1.2009 by selection of the time characteristic.

Revenue Q1 . is modeled as key figure Revenue , which is restricted to 1.2009 - 3.2009 by selection of the time characteristic.

If Revenue Jan. is locked, and Revenue Q1 changed, the system would ignore the locked property when distributing the value of Revenue Q1 to the various months.

You can lock a cell by choosing Lock Cell in the context menu. It is also possible to lock/unlock an entire row or column using the corresponding commands in the context menu.

As an alternative, you can use the following URL parameter to set the cell lock function at runtime: MENU_CELL_LOCKING = X. You can either insert the parameter directly into the URL of the Web application or set it in Web Application Designer in the XMHTL view (XHTML tab).

For more information about cell locks, see Cell Locks and Global Cell Locks in a Planning Application (Back End) .