4 Dashboard Link Types Feature in Release 10.1.3.3

4.1 Using Bookmark Links

The Bookmark Link provides a mechanism whereby a user can obtain a shortcut link to a Dashboard page, which contains all aspects of page state. This link can then be e-mailed to another user who (assuming they had identical permissions and access) can enter that link into the URL line of a browser and view the same page content. The recipient can then further analyze the data in the Dashboard. Technically, page state is too complex to capture in a URL so this functionality writes an object to the Presentation Services Catalog, which is called by the Bookmark Link URL. To create a Bookmark Link the user selects the "Create Bookmark Link" from the Dashboard "Page Options" menu. Once selected, the Dashboard message bar shows that "A Bookmark Link suitable for saving or sharing has been created for this page. This Link can be found in the browser's Address Bar." Inspection reveals that the URL has indeed changed in the Address Bar to show the Bookmark Link. At this point the user can copy and paste this link from the Address Bar and either save it or share it most likely through e-mail. After a Bookmark Link has been generated, the user can continue to modify the content of the page, such as adding or deleting reports. The Bookmark link tries to match context between the Bookmark Link and the Dashboard Page. The existing Dashboard Saved Selections functionality exploits a similar matching mechanism. For example, if a specific filter on the original Dashboard page were included in the saved Bookmark Link, but all reports that contain that filter were later removed from that Dashboard, then the Bookmark Link still works. The Bookmark Link simply contains a small amount of extraneous information, which is not applied. All other page context still appropriate is applied.

4.2 Using Prompted Links

A second variant of this functionality generates a Prompted Link, which does not capture all aspects of state, but instead provides a simplified link to the Dashboard Page, which contains both the path to that page and a simplified presentation of Dashboard Prompts. This Prompted Link is intended to support both manual and programmatic manipulation of that link and aims to provide a simple URL-based API for generating and customizing Dashboard content. Unlike the Bookmark Link, this link is dynamic, which maps to no saved catalog content.

When configured to show this feature, the Dashboard Page Options menu includes a "Create Prompted Link" option. Selecting this option generates the Prompted Link and the user sees a message that indicates, "A Prompted link capturing the prompts and values of this page has been created."

This is the Prompted Link syntax:

<Content Path>, Action=Navigate, Column1 (col1), Operator1 (op1), Values1(val1), Column2 (col2), Operator2 (op2), Values2 (val2) ...

Values are separated by plus signs (+) and to further simplify this syntax the operator parameter is not needed for equal (eq). Double quotes are optional if there are no white spaces inside the values.

The following are Prompted Link examples:

...Action=Navigate&col1=Products.Color&val1=Armory 
...Action=Navigate&col1=Products.Color&val1=Armory+Clear 
...Action=Navigate&col1=Products.Color&op1=bet&val1=Armory+Clear
...Action=Navigate&col1=Products.Color&val1="Armory"+"Clear"&col2=Periods."Month"&val2="04/01/1998%2012:00:00%20AM"
...Action=Navigate&col1=Products.Color&val1="Armory"+"Clear"&col2=Periods."Month"&op2=gt&val2="05/01/1998%2012:00:00%20AM"

Here is an example of the Full URL:

@http://localhost/aruba/saw.dll?Dashboard&PortalPath=%2Fshared%2Fnew%2F_portal%2Fprompt&Page=page%252&Action=Navigate&col1=Products.Color&val1="Armory"+"Clear"&col2=Periods."Month"&op2=gt&val2="05/01/1998%2012:00:00%20AM" 

As these links are extensions of the existing Go URL, a full list of operators can be found in the "Using the Oracle BI Presentation Services Go URL to Issue SQL and Pass Filters" section found in Oracle Business Intelligence Presentation Services Administration Guide.

4.3 Configuration for the Dashboard Prompt Types Feature

This section explains how to configure the new Dashboard Prompt Types feature.

For configuration, the Create Bookmark Link is enabled by default. The following nodes must be added to the instanceconfig.xml file under the "ServerInstance" node:

<Dashboard> 
<EnableBookmarkURL>True</EnableBookmarkURL>
<EnablePromptedURL>True</EnablePromptedURL>
<BookmarkExpirationDays>30</BookmarkExpirationDays>
</Dashboard> 

"EnableBookmarkURL" controls whether the "Create Bookmark Link" is shown in the "Page Options" menu while "EnablePromptedURL" controls the appearance of the "Create Prompted Link." The Bookmark Link refers to a stub saved in the Presentation Services Catalog and "BookmarkExpirationDays" allows an administrator to set a lifespan for how long these should persist.

See the "Making Oracle BI Presentation Services Configuration Changes" section within the Oracle Business Intelligence Presentation Services Administration Guide for more information on editing the instanceconfig.xml file.

For advanced applications, and for both the "Create Bookmark Link" and "Create Prompted Link" functionality, two Javascript functions can be called to retrieve these values from custom scripts embedded on the originating Dashboard Page. Note, for Javascript functions to work. a HardenXSSconfiguration must be set to false in the instanceconfig.xml file.

For the Bookmark Link, the function linkToPage(bInlineDrill,bGetBookmarkOnly) can be called. If the second argument is omitted or set to "false," then the browser address bar is updated with the bookmark URL. If the second argument is set to "true," then the browser address bar is not refreshed. In either case, the bookmark URL is retrieved asynchronously and put into the variable saw.bookmarkURL. Polling the value of saw.bookmarkURL gives the link. This variable is set to an empty string when the function is invoked. As for the first argument, if you see the "Page Options" menu on the page, then set it to true, otherwise, set it to false.

For the Prompted Link, the function GetPURL( ) returns the Prompted Link as a string.