Configurator Features and Functionality

Configurator License

A user with a Configurator license has the ability to control the user interface and the templates made available to other users. Typically, this is a highly experienced user of the underlying ERP system.

A user with a Configurator license has the ability to do the following:

• Add new columns to an inquiry or template using More Columns within the Columns Sorting and Grouping dialog
• Filter Layout functionality is active, allowing the Configurator to customize the filters provided in an inquiry
• Full control in Reusable Inquiry Objects (RIO), including adding and modifying objects
• Ability to customize the file links in Alternate Joins, which govern the underlying joins between the tables in the ERP system

Add More Columns

To add more columns to your inquiry:

1. On the Design menu in the Layout group, select Columns, Sorting and Grouping.
2. Click the More Columns button (only available to users with a Configurator License) in the bottom left hand corner of the dialog.
3. In the Add Columns dialog, expand the table name and place a checkmark next to the desired field/column to be added to the template. (To select all columns for a table, select the checkbox to the left of the table name. This will then check all of the columns listed for the table.) Columns can be added either as fully or partially functional field depending on the icon and description next to their name (searchable, descriptions, QBE only).
4. To search for specific fields, use the filter at the top of the Add Columns dialog:

Note: Keeping the number of columns (both available and displayed columns) to a minimum in a template will give optimum run-time performance. Also, once columns are added through Add Columns, they cannot be removed. Therefore it is very important to know exactly which columns are necessary before adding them in.

5. Click OK after choosing all necessary columns.
6. The columns are now available to be displayed in the template. Select them through the Columns, Sorting and Grouping dialog by moving them from the left panel (Available Columns) to the right panel (Displayed Columns).
7. You can add more columns at any time through the More Columns function. (Any columns that have already been added to the template will not display.)
8. Select which default Displayed Columns are needed, and apply appropriate Sorting and Grouping modifications. You must have at least one Label column in the Displayed Column list.

Note: When adding columns to an inquiry, you will see that some are marked as ‘QBE Only’. This is because that field does not have a UDC table within the ERP System in order to provide you with a lookup on the values. Because of this, it can only be added as a column and values are only searchable using the QBE line.

The icons next to the fields indicate their function:

Filter Layout

Layout Design

Layout design is done within Filter Layout. When creating inquiries for Viewer users, it is done within Explorer Filter Layout; however, both Filter Layout Dialogs are used in the same way. More about report design for Viewer users is in the Configurator section.

For details on saving as a template, see the Saving Inquiries/Saving Templates section. For details on setting permissions, see Permissions.

To access Filter Layout:

1. You must be assigned a Configurator License.
2. Open your inquiry.
3. On the Configurator menu, in the Configurator group, click on Filter Layout to open the Filter Layout dialog.
4. As you make changes, the inquiry remains completely interactive. Any changes that are made are retained when switching in and out of the Filter Layout.

To access Explorer Filter Layout to design inquiries for Viewer users:

1. You must be assigned a Viewer (Console) License or a Configurator License.
2. Open your inquiry.
3. On the Explorer menu, in the Explorer group, click on Explorer Preview to preview what the inquiry would look like to a Viewer user.
4. Click Explorer Filter Layout.
5. As you make changes, the inquiry remains completely interactive. Any changes that are made are retained when switching in and out of Explorer Filter Layout.

The Filter Layout dialog is split into two sections: on the left panel is a list of all the different filters and controls that can be added to the inquiry and on the right panel is the Workspace Area, where you design the layout of all the filters.

On the left panel, under Available Filters & Controls, filters are organized into different groups. Each template has a set of Main Filters. In the General Ledger Module, this would consist of Company, Business Unit, Object Account, etc. Additional filters can also be added to the main filter set by clicking on More Filters.

The groups accessed by clicking on the Groups button vary depending on which module you are using as the groups are relative to the data in each module. For example, the General Ledger Module has a group called ‘Subledger’, whereas the Accounts Receivable Module does not.

Add a Filter

To add a filter to your inquiry that is not there already, follow the below steps.

1. Open your inquiry.
2. Access Filter Layout.
3. In the Filter Layout dialog, select the filter from the list in the left panel.
4. Holding down the mouse button, drag and drop it onto the Workspace Area (the right panel). In the below example, Business Unit was added to the Workspace Area.
5. Once the filter is dropped into the Workspace Area, it appears in the first of three boxes, each of which represents a placeholder for the different filters.
6. To add any other filters, hold down the mouse button, drag and drop it onto the Workspace Area. If there are already boxes/placeholders, you can drop it into one of them depending on where you want the filter placed within the layout.
7. To add filters that are not listed, click More Filters.
8. In the Add New Filters dialog, expand the table name and place a checkmark next to the desired field/filter to be added to the template.
9. To select all fields for a table, select the checkbox to the left of the table name. This will then check all of the fields listed for the table.)
10. To search for specific fields, use the filter at the top of the Add New Filters dialog:
11. Click OK after choosing all necessary fields.
12. Filters can now be added to the Workspace Area on the right by dragging and dropping them into the appropriate placeholders.
13. Click Apply to apply the filter and stay in the Filter Layout dialog, or click OK to apply and exit the dialog at the same time.

The below example shows the Business Unit Filter added to a Profit and Loss report. This filter is a standard edit filter where you can directly type values into the filter or you can use the Visual Assist to make selections.

Add/Remove Rows and Filters

The Workspace Area can have between 1 and 4 filters per row. You can control the number of filters within a row using the + and – buttons on the right-hand side of the row.

Note: You can have blank placeholders to create more space between filters.

You can control the number of rows of filters that are available by clicking on the + or eraser buttons on the left-hand side of the row. The Workspace Area can have between 1 and 8 rows, making 32 the total number of filters that can be added to a single inquiry.

Note: You can have a row of blank placeholders to create more space between filters.

Changing the Order of the Filters

Within the Workspace Area you can change the order of the filters using drag and drop techniques.

1. Select a filter in the Workspace Area.
2. Hold the mouse and move the filter to the new location where it needs to be placed. The icon changes to indicate the action being performed:

Undo changes in Filter Layout

At any time it is possible to undo any recent changes and revert back to the previously applied changes by clicking on the Reset button within the Filter Layout dialog. This can only reset changes made prior to exiting the dialog.

Filter Controls

There are two types of controls that can be used:

1. Drop Down Filter – Takes the current selection in the filter being applied and presents the items in a drop-down list.
2. Hierarchy Filter – Uniquely reserved for selecting any hierarchies used in the inquiry.

There are two important rules regarding controls:

1. Controls must be added to a placeholder BEFORE adding the actual filter.
2. If adding a drop-down or information filter control, you must add the filter selections in standard mode prior to adding the control and filter in Filter Layout.

Symbols in Filter Layout

If you place a control on a filter, a symbol displays in the upper left corner of it. The below table describes what the symbols are:

Right-click Options on a Filter

The options vary according to the filter. Below is a complete list of all the options. Selecting the option places a checkmark next to the option. Turning the feature off is achieved using the same method.

• Remove – Removes the filter. It is important to know that removing a filter does not remove any values that were previously within the filter – these values will still affect the result set. To see these values without adding the filter back, you can use Filter Selections.
• Rename – Renames the filter. This only renames the filter itself; other references in the product, such as the name shown in the column of the result set, have to be set independently. To have this populated in the filter and throughout Hubble, it is recommended that you use User Defined Captions.
• Always Include Nulls - Includes null values in the filter results.
• Read Only - Prevents the user from typing into the filter. However, the user is still able to make or change selections using the Visual Assist. This forces users to make a valid selection.
• Show Description Only - This setting displays only the description of the selected items in the filter:
• Show Code and Description - Used with a drop-down filter control, this setting displays both the item code and its associated description:
• No Visual Assist – Removes the Visual Assist from the control, preventing the user from making selections in this way:
  *The combination of Read Only and No Visual Assist will result in the following filter which will not allow manual entry or provide a Visual Assist to make selections:

• Lock Visual Assist: This locks down the Visual Assist so that the user can only work with the selections that have previously been made by the Power User. Clicking on the Visual Assist will show the selections that have been made available. These selections have been pre-determined by the report creator while in the standard report mode. When the Visual Assist is locked, the features available within the Visual Assist are restricted and visually a little different, as shown below:

• Show All (*) Member - Used with a drop-down filter control, this setting provides the user with the ability to choose all filter selections that were pre-selected by the inquiry creator:
  The combination of Show Code and Description and Show All (*) Member will result in the following filter which will not allow manual entry but does provide a Visual Assist:

Renaming Filters

If a filter has been renamed, you can find out what it was originally by following these steps:

1. Right-click on a filter and select What’s This?:
2. The dialog that appears shows the caption as well as the original table and field names from your ERP System:

Display the Column Description

1. Open your inquiry.
2. On the Configurator menu, in the Configurator group, click on Filter Layout.
3. In the right panel, right-click on the filter for which you would like to display the description.
4. Select Show Descriptions.

5. It is not possible to clear the contents of the filter when in the Show Descriptions mode for the filter, as this is a read-only mode. In order to clear the contents of the filter:
   1. Right-click on the filter and select Reset Filter, OR
   2. Press delete or backspace to clear the contents.
6. It is now possible to use the Visual Assist to select a different value, or if you no longer want to show a description in this filter, you can right-click on the filter and un-check this option.

Adding an Item from a Group Filter

A Group Filter operates in the same way as the Standard Edit Filter, but is used for groups of items such as category codes. All the group filters are listed under the Filters Node in the left panel in Filter Layout or Explorer Filter Layout.

Just as with a standard filter, drag and drop the specific group filter into the Workspace Area by doing the following:

1. Open your inquiry.
2. Access Filter Layout.
3. In the Filter Layout dialog, under the Filters node in the left panel, expand the specific Group Filter.
4. Select the specific filter item and drag it over to the Workspace Area.
5. Click Apply to apply the changes or OK to apply the changes and exit the dialog at the same time.

Note: *** Remember that if you want to use a control, you must put it in the placeholder in the Workspace Area prior to adding the actual filter to it.

Creating a New Group of Filters

As an alternative to editing the existing groups, new groups can be created.

1. Access Filter Layout.
2. In Filter Layout, click Groups to open the Manage Grouped Fields dialog.
3. Click New.
4. In the New Grouped Field dialog, create a unique name and specify the field type in which the group will be based. (Within the General Ledger Module, there are three types – Object, Business Unit and Subledger. Other Modules have other groups.)
5. Click OK.
6. Highlight the group.
7. Click Edit to add fields/dimensions to the group.
8. Add the selected fields to the right panel.
9. Click OK to return to the Manage Grouped Fields dialog. This group will now be available for inclusion in the inquiry under the Grouped Fields node in the left panel of the Filter Layout dialog.
10. Click OK to return to the inquiry.

Rename a Group of Filters

1. Access Filter Layout.
2. In Filter Layout, click Groups to open the Manage Grouped Fields dialog.
3. Highlight the group you wish to rename.
4. Click Rename.
5. Enter the new name for the group.
6. Click OK.
7. Click OK to return to the inquiry.

Delete a Group of Filters

1. Access Filter Layout.
2. In the Filter Layout dialog, click Groups to open the Manage Grouped Fields dialog.
3. Highlight the group you wish to rename.
4. Click Remove.
5. Click Yes to confirm.
6. Click OK to return to the inquiry.

Changing the Items included in a Group Filter

Groups facilitate the grouping of common sets of items into a single filter. Examples of this include Category Codes and Subledgers. By clicking on the Groups button within the Filter Layout dialog, you can manage existing groups.

For example, if your company only uses 3 of the 30 available Business Unit Category Codes, you can remove all of the other category codes from the group, leaving a restricted, but highly relevant, set of codes for the end user.

To edit the items in an existing group:

1. Access Filter Layout.
2. In the Filter Layout dialog, click Groups to open the Manage Grouped Fields dialog.
3. Highlight the group you wish to edit.
4. Click Edit.
5. In the Edit Grouped Fields dialog, the values being used are on the right panel:
6. Move any values you do not wish to use to the left panel.

Note: The order in which they appear in the data set is controlled by the up/down arrows in the bottom right of the dialog.

For example, if you are only using Business Unit Category Codes 1-3, you can remove all the other category codes by moving them to the left side:

De/Activate Fields Functionality

Templates have a default set of filters and columns that can be accessed across all modules. Not all of the filters that are made available may be relevant to the user. In a similar manner, there are additional columns and filters available that are deactivated, and you may wish to activate those which are relevant to your company.

To activate and deactivate filters, follow the steps below:

1. From the Configurator menu, select De/Activate Fields. In this dialog, filters and columns are organized by the names of the tables to which they belong. The currently active fields are selected in the checkbox to the left of each item.
2. To activate a field, mark the checkbox next to the item.
3. To deactivate a filter, unmark the checkbox next to the item.
4. To search for specific fields, use the filter at the top of the De/Activate Fields dialog:
5. Click OK to accept the changes.

Note: Activating and de-activating filters does have a performance impact on the product. Reducing the number of active filters minimizes the number of filters that need to be loaded on startup, leading to improved performance times.

Alternate Joins

Alternate joins allow Hubble users to configure how the underlying JD Edwards Tables are linked together in an inquiry. The addition of any columns through Columns, Sorting and Grouping is affected by the Alternate Join settings. Depending on the inquiry, there will be different Alternate Joins. The change of an alternate join can have consequences for the data derived from other columns.

The ability to change alternate joins is only made available to users with a Configurator License. To change an alternate join, follow the below steps:

1. From the Configurator menu, click on Alternate Joins.
2. Highlight the specific link you wish to change.
3. Click on the drop-down menu next to New Link to choose a different want to link to that table.
4. Click OK to accept the change and exit the dialog.
5. The change is reflected the next time the inquiry is run.

Example: Alternate Joins for a Purchasing Template

The underlying Fact Table for this template is the Purchase Order Detail File (F4311), which is specified in the header of the dialog.

Links that can be modified are displayed in the dialog. In this example, we can configure the links from the F4311 to the following tables:

• Business Unit Master (F0006) using the Business Unit Field (MCU)
• Address Book Master (F0101) using the Address Number Field (AN8)
• Address Book Who’s Who (F0111) using the Address Number Field (AN8)
• Address Book Contact Telephone Number (F0115) using the Address Number Field (AN8)
• Address Book Electronic Address (F01151) using the Address Number Field (AN8)
• Address by Date (F0116) using the Address Number Field (AN8)
• Account Master (F0901) using the Object (OBJ), Subsidiary (SUB), and Business Unit (MCU) Fields
• Asset Master (F1201) using the Asset Item Number (FANUMB) Field
• Item Master (F4101) using the Item Number – Short field (ITM)
• Item Cost (F4105) using the Level – Inventory Cost (CLEV) and Costing Selection – Inventory (CSIN) Fields
• Sales Order/Purchasing Text Detail Lines (F4314) using the Order Type (DCTO), Order Number (DOCO), Order Company (KCOO) and Line Number (LNID) Fields

In this example we will be selecting the Address Book Master (F0101) and changing the New Link from Join on AN8 to Join between AN8 and SHAN. The change is reflected in the To Column; it changed from PDAN8 to PDSHAN.

In this case, the change from Address Number to Ship To would affect other data derived from Address Book-related tables such as the Address Book Who’s Who. Instead of displaying the phone numbers for the Address Number value, the phone number for the Ship To Address would be displayed.

Filter Combinations Functionality

The Filter Combinations Functionality, available to users with the Configurator License, allows the ability to change the way the filter values affect the SQL statement. By default, all filter expressions are evaluated using “And” logic. Filter Combinations allow the ability to change some of these items to be evaluated using “Or” logic.

The Filter Combinations Functionality must be turned on in Administrator in Advanced Capabilities under Hubble Inquiry Settings > Feature Control > Filter Structure (Enable to Yes; check the box for Control Filter Structure). After it has been enabled, it can be accessed from the Configurator menu. To change the operator between two filters, follow these steps:

1. If necessary, add the filters to your inquiry if they are not there already.
2. From the Configurator menu, click on Filter Combinations.
3. Move the desired filters to the top of the list.
4. For each filter, choose the option to Indent.
5. Click OK to save changes and return to the inquiry.

For example, in the Homebuilder Module, you want to evaluate 2 date fields, Projected Closed Date and (actual) Close Date, and see a listing of ALL houses that will close in the month of October. If you add both fields as filter values and populate the date range, the default logic would be as follows:

AND

However the desired logic is:

OR

Within Filter Combinations, move these 2 filters to the top of the list and choose the option to indent each one. Now they are listed in the OR column: