Making General Settings for Precalculation and Creating Links

If you have selected a particular file format (HTML, PDF, PS or PCL for example) as the output format, you can make a number of different settings on the General Precalculationtab page.

If you have selected an online link as the output format, you can use the setting options on the General Link Generation tab page.

Specify Theme

Specify the theme you want to use. The theme determines the colors and appearance of the precalculated BEx object.

More information:Understanding Portal Themes

Broadcast Only Upon Data Change

Here, you specify that the broadcast setting is only broadcasted if the data displayed in the broadcasted document has been changed since the last time the underlying data provider (for example in the query) was broadcasted. If the displayed data has not changed, the document is not broadcasted.

You can only make this setting for queries and Web templates.

BEx Broadcaster can only apply this function if the broadcast setting itself has not been changed. If the broadcast setting has been changed, BEx Broadcaster broadcasts the document according to your settings, without checking whether changes have been made to the displayed data.

Excel 2000 Format

If you have selected XML (MS Excel) as the output format for queries and query views, you can specify that the system creates a format supported by Microsoft Excel 2000. To do this, select Excel 2000 Format.

Otherwise the system creates a format for Microsoft Excel 2003.

Apply Navigational State

This function is only available if you start the BEx Broadcasting Wizard from a Web application (by choosing Distribute in the context menu) and then navigate to BEx Broadcaster.

• If you want the precalculated document or the online link to have the current navigational state of the Web application, choose Apply. The current navigational state is the state which you called BEx Broadcaster from by choosing Distribute from the context menu.
• If you want the precalculated document or the online link to have the initial navigational state of the Web application, choose Delete. The initial navigational state is the start view when the Web application is called (from the Web Application Designer, for example).

Determine Variable Assignment

Ignore: When creating an online link, you can make a setting on the Link Creation tab page to define that the values for input-ready variables are not set. When the recipient opens the online link, the variable screen can appear, allowing the recipient to enter the required variable values. This is the case, for example, if the variable has the setting Mandatory, Initial Value not Allowed.

Variable Assignment: You can create values for the BEx object's input-ready variables (Query, Query View, Report, or Web Application). The BEx object is precalculated using these variable values. These variable values are set whenever an online link is opened.

Take from Variant: You can select an existing variant for the BEx object (Query, Query View, Report, or Web Application). The BEx object is precalculated with the values of the variant. These variable values are set in accordance with the variant whenever an online link is opened.

If you have selected Online Link to Current Data as the output format, the variable assignment is appended to the URL. When the recipient opens the online link, the BEx object is started with these variable values.

When precalculating a file, you can specify one or more variable assignments on the General Precalculation tab page. When generating online links, you can assign just one variable.

Consider Exceptions

If the query or Web application contains exceptions, you can specify whether they are to be considered during precalculation or generation of online links.

• No Consideration: The system precalculates the query or Web application or generates an online link regardless of whether an alert occurred.
• Only Precalculate at Minimum Alert Level: The query or Web application is only precalculated or distributed as an online link if an exception occurs within it that has a specific minimum alert level or a worse alert level. Specify the required minimum alert level.

Starting a Query or Query View in BEx Analyzer

When creating an online link to a query or query view, you can go to the General Link Generation tab page and specify under Start in BEx Analyzer whether you want the online link to start the query or query view in BEx Analyzer.