To build a report, you enter commands that define the layout, member selection, and format you want in Report Script Editor. The different elements of a script are color-coded to aid readability. You can enable autocompletion to help build scripts interactively as you type. See “About Report Script Editor” in the Oracle Essbase Administration Services Online Help.
When you write a report script, follow these guidelines:
Separate commands with at least one space, tab, or new line for readability. Report processing is unaffected by extra blank lines, spaces, or tabs.
Enter commands in uppercase or lowercase. Commands are not case-sensitive. If the database outline is case-sensitive, the members in the report script must match the outline.
To start report processing, enter the bang (!) report output command or one or more consecutive numeric values. You can place one or more report scripts, each terminated by its own ! command, in the same report file.
You can group multiple format commands within one set of braces. For example, these formats are synonymous:
{UDATA SKIP} {UDATA} {SKIP}
Enclose member names in quotation marks in the following cases:
Names beginning with an ampersand (for example, “&Product”).
Names containing spaces (for example, “Cost of Goods Sold”).
Names containing the word Default (for example, “Default Value”).
Duplicate member names, which must be entered as qualified member names (for example, “[2006].[Qtr1]”)
Names containing one or more numerals at the beginning of the name (for example, “100-Blue”)
Names containing any of the characters listed in Table 90:
If a formatting command is preceded by three or more underscore, equal sign, or hyphen characters, respectively, the Report Extractor assumes that the characters are extraneous underline characters and ignores them. For example, ==={SKIP 1}.
Use // (double slash) to indicate a comment. Everything on the line following a comment is ignored by the Report Writer. Each line of a comment must start with a double slash, so you can include multiline comments.
Exercise caution in abbreviating command names. Many names begin with the same letters, and the results may be unexpected unless you use a completely unambiguous abbreviation.