Creating a selector that updates a dynamic text field on a panel stack

You can create a selector that displays different elements of attributes, custom groups, or consolidations in a panel stack. The selector updates a dynamic text field on the panel stack. A dynamic text field is a text field populated by the dataset; it is essentially a reference to an object on a report. Selectors work in Interactive Mode, Editable Mode, and Flash Mode.

You can choose to either automatically maintain the targets of attribute and metric selectors, or manually define these targets.

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• If targets are automatically maintained in the layout, attribute and metric selectors automatically target all Grid/Graphs and panel stacks that are in the same panel or document section as the selector.

• If targets are not automatically maintained, you must manually select the targets when you create all types of selectors.

For more information on automatically maintaining targets, including instructions to enable or disable it, see Automatically maintaining targets for selectors.

Prerequisites

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• You must have added a panel stack to the document, to use as the target of the selector. For steps, see Inserting a panel stack into a document. If targets are automatically maintained, and you add a panel stack to the same document section or panel after creating the selector, the panel stack is automatically added as a target.

To create a selector that updates a dynamic text field on a panel stack

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1. Open the document in Design or Editable Mode.

2. Expand the section where you want the selector by clicking the plus sign next to the section name.

3. Click the arrow next to the Selector Control icon on the Controls toolbar, and then choose how to display the selector from the drop-down list. For information and an example of each style of selector, see Defining a selector. When you move the mouse to the layout area, the pointer becomes crosshairs.

4. If desired, resize the selector by clicking and dragging its handles.

5. If the targets are not automatically maintained, you must manually specify the target of the selector, as described below:

1. Right-click the selector and choose Select Targets. The selector is outlined in orange to indicate target selection mode is on.

2. Click the panel to specify it as the target. The sizing handles of the target are displayed in orange.

3. Click anywhere in the Layout area to turn target selection mode off.

6. Click the Select Target icon  to confirm that the panel stack that you selected is the target of the selector.

7. Right-click the selector and select Properties and Formatting. The Properties and Formatting dialog box opens.

8. From the left, choose Selector.

9. Select an attribute, custom group, or consolidation in the Source field. The elements of the source are displayed as items in the selector.

10. By default, autosubmission is enabled, which means that once a user chooses an item in the selector, the target immediately updates without any additional user interaction.  To disable it, see Allowing autosubmission in selectors.

Now that you have created the selector, you can modify properties, such as multiple selections and simultaneous display of selector items, and format it.