A data field is a reference to an object on a report. It is a type of dynamic text. When you view the document as a PDF, the data fields are replaced by the actual data. If the object referenced by a data field is removed from the dataset report, the data field becomes static text in the PDF.
You can add data fields in any of the following ways:
Type static text to serve as a label on the document. This procedure is below.
Drag and drop a dataset object onto any section of the layout area. This creates a text field containing a specially formatted string, which refers to the object on the dataset. The string is the name of the object within braces { }. When the document is executed, the string is replaced by the data it represents. This procedure is below.
Type the data field manually. This procedure is below.
Create a metric within the document. For steps, see Creating metrics in documents.
For a detailed example of adding data fields to a document, with images, see the MicroStrategy Report Services Document Creation Guide.
Open the document and, from the Home menu, select Design Mode or Editable Mode.
Use one of the following methods:
Type static text to serve as a label:
From the Insert menu, select Text. A blank text field is inserted.
Type the static text.
Press Enter when you are finished.
Drag and drop a dataset object:
From the objects displayed in Dataset Objects, select the object you want to use.
Drag
and drop the selected object into the Layout area.
Notes:
To ensure that data fields are resolved correctly when the PDF is displayed in a language other than English, each text field is automatically placed within square brackets [ ] when you drop it in the layout area. After you save and re-open the document, the brackets remain only if the object name contains special characters. A special character is any character other than a to z, A to Z, 0 to 9, #, _, and . (period).
When you add a metric to the document, the dataset name is added to the string if the metric exists in multiple datasets.
Type the data field manually:
From the Insert menu, select Text. A blank text field is inserted.
Type the object's name within braces, such as {Revenue} or {Region}. The name must match either the name of an object in a dataset or its alias. If either name contains spaces or special characters, you must type it in square brackets [ ] within the braces, as in {[Last Year Revenue]}. A special character is any character other than a – z, A – Z, 0 – 9, #, _, and . (period).
To display a particular attribute form, type @attribute_form after the object name, within the braces, where attribute_form is the name of the attribute form to be displayed. If you specify an attribute form that does not exist for an attribute, the data field cannot be resolved and the syntax is displayed as text in the PDF.
If the same object name is used in multiple datasets, use the syntax {[dataset name]}:{[object name]}.
To resize the text field, click and drag in the section.
Press Enter when you are finished.
The text field is automatically formatted in a default style using the defaults for that control. To change the formatting of the text field, right-click the text field and select Properties and Formatting. You can format general and layout properties for the text field, such as name, position, and size, as well as font, alignment, number format, border, and color options, including gradient colors, 3D borders, and drop shadows.
To move the data field to a different area of the document, see Moving controls on documents.