Configure Columns

There are two types of columns in Hubble:

1. Value columns
2. Label columns

Column design - There are many ways in which columns can be manipulated, including the following:

• Add/remove from inquiry results
• Place in a specific order
• Format the content of columns
• Hide/unhide
• Show descriptions of the data returned
• Set a column header
• Format a column header
• Set column width
• Wrap text
• Copy a value or entire column(s) in order to paste in another application

The way value columns are created varies, depending on the specific template and module.

The GL Balances Templates dynamically create values based on a combination of selections in the Period, Ledger and Year Filters. Templates for modules such as Accounts Receivable, or any transaction- based template, have an Amount Filter with corresponding Visual Assist functionality for selection.

Templates in the Master Data Module do not have value columns.

When more than one value is included in a value filter, each is separated by a comma. None of the other selection options, such as greater than or ranges, are valid.

You can create additional value columns by activating pre-defined calculations or creating your own user-defined calculations.

In this example, two value columns are created in the GL Balances template based on the combination of selections in the Period, Ledger and Year Filters. There are two periods, one year, and one ledger in the filters, so there are two value columns created:

To remove a column, remove that item from the filter.

In the same example, to only display Period 1 on the inquiry, remove Period 2 and you will only see 1 value column on the inquiry:

Add/Remove Label Columns

There are two ways to add or remove label columns:

1. Interactively, by right-clicking on a column and choosing Remove Column.
2. Through Columns, Sorting and Grouping in the Design menu.

The Consolidation tab in the Columns, Sorting and Grouping dialog displays the columns currently in the inquiry on the right-hand side of the window. Label columns are indicated with an  icon and value columns with an  icon.

Additional columns available for display appear in the left panel. Use the arrows (or double-click), to select and deselect label columns.

By hovering the mouse cursor over a column name, you can see the table and field details of that column.

Other Column Design Options

The Columns, Sorting and Grouping dialog can also be used to:

• Modify the display sequence of the columns by moving them up and down in the list or by dragging and dropping them.
• Modify column widths.
• Fix column widths.
• Hide and unhide columns.
• Wrap text in the column.
• Set column headings.

To display the specific table and field name for all columns, enable the Show Tables and Columns Option at the bottom left-hand side of this dialog.

Note: Hiding vs removing columns - Removing a column will completely remove it from the inquiry; a hidden column can still be used to do sorting and base headers and totals on.

Change the Column Order

There are two ways to change the column order:

1. Interactively, by dragging and dropping columns within the inquiry. You can drag and drop columns by selecting the column near the column header and moving it to another place. You will see the symbol change, depending on where you are trying to drop it:
   
   Swaps the column with the column you are hovering over
   Inserts the column to the left of the column you are hovering over
   Inserts the column to the right of the column you are hovering over

2. Through the Columns, Sorting and Grouping dialog on the Design menu in the Layout group.
   You can drag and drop any of the Displayed Columns in the right panel or use the arrows to move them up and down to put them in your desired order. The order that they display on the right panel is the order in which they will display within the inquiry:

Sort Data

Data can be sorted by label columns, by value columns, or a combination of both. Sorting is set up in Columns, Sorting & Grouping.

You can also quickly change between the two by going to the Design menu, in the Options group, and either turning on or off the Sort by Values Option. When turned on, the sort order includes sorting by values. When turned off, sorting is only done within label columns. In both scenarios, Hubble goes according to what has been set in Columns, Sorting & Grouping as far as which values/labels to sort by first, second, etc.

Sort on Labels

In the Columns, Sorting and Grouping dialog, you designate how columns within the inquiry result set are grouped and organized.

1. On the Design menu in the Layout group, click Columns, Sorting and Grouping.
2. Go to the Sorting & Grouping tab.
3. Select the Sort on Values checkbox if value columns are to be included in the sort sequence. If the checkbox is not ticked, the value columns in the list are grayed out and cannot be included.

Note: The summing of Label column totals is disabled when there are Value columns before them in the sort order. However, the options are still available in case you subsequently disable the value sorting option.

4. Whatever item is at the top of the Column list is the primary sequence. The order of the remaining columns in the list dictates the subsequent sequencing.
5. To change the sort order of the columns, select a column to move and either drag and drop it or use the up/down/top/bottom buttons to move it. Note that the table name and column name (field alias) for each label column are listed to the right of them.



6. Once a column has been selected, you can choose whether the sort order should be Ascending, Descending or None by selecting a radio button option from the Sorting options.

Note: If a label does not have any sorting specified (sorting set to none), clicking OK and exiting the screen would move the label column to the bottom of the list. This is because it is no longer affecting the sequencing on the inquiry.

Sorting by multiple columns - It is possible to add secondary, tertiary, etc. sorting criteria by setting sorting options on multiple columns. These can also be referred to as nested groups, when one group of columns is grouped within another.

The top-most columns in the list always take precedence. This basic sorting process will be applied to all the rows within the result set; while the result set remains the same size, it will be re-arranged into a different order.

For example, if Object Account is the primary sequence and Business Unit is the secondary sequence, then the Business Unit labels will be sequenced within a particular Object Account. The following figure demonstrates this concept:

This is how the order would look in the Sorting & Grouping tab:

Rank Values

If the first column being sorted by is a value column, you can also set up ranking so data columns are in ranking order either by highest or lowest values. To rank values:

1. A value column must first be in ascending or descending order.
2. Select the column in the Sorting & Grouping tab.
3. Click the Ranking button, where you can specify the number of rows to display by entering a value and defining whether or not that should apply to the highest or lowest group of values.



These settings are then reflected in the settings of the Sorting & Grouping tab as shown here:

The below example illustrates a Business Unit inquiry that has been sorted based on the Asset Accounts in Quarter 1. Notice that the order of the Business Unit labels has now given way to the sort order of the Quarter 1 2010 value column.

Headers and Totals

Once the sorting of your data has been established, you can specify sorting elements that will group your data, such as Totals and Grand Totals.

Any label column that is using a sort sequence (ascending or descending) can be set to include header, sum and advanced total information, breaking down your inquiry into more complex analytical levels. Besides sum, the other totals that can be calculated for a group of data include average, maximum, minimum, count and unique count.

Value columns can also be set to have a grand total.

Set a Group Header or Sum

To set a sum or header for a group of data:

1. In the Design menu in the Layout group, go to Columns, Sorting and Grouping.

2. In the Sorting & Grouping tab, set a sort sequence (ascending or descending) on the label columns.

Note: The summing of label column totals is disabled when there are Value columns before them in the sort order.
However, the options for setting up summing are still available in case you subsequently disable the value sorting.

3. Highlight the column and click the Grouping option to include a header and/or sum.
4. By default, the heading/sum description displays in the column where the aggregation is performed. If you wish to display the data in a different column, highlight the label column, and use the drop-down to select the column for the display.
5. To see a grand total, mark the checkbox in Grand Total to include it in your inquiry.

In the example below, we will show the Company column with a header and sum that display in the Business Unit Column.

In this example, the Company column is hidden. When you run the inquiry, you see a header row and subtotal for Company 60. The Business Units that belong to Company 60 are all included in the grouping.

Changing the formatting of a group header or sum - To the right of the Header and Sum setup in the Grouping section are painters palettes; clicking on these brings up the Formatting dialog where you can set the format for the header/and or sum.

For example, you can set the header to have a blue background and top and bottom border for a result like this:

Change Text on the Label for a Group Header or Sum

Label text overrides can be used on headers or sums. Click on the label icon to the right of the formatting setup in the Grouping Section to set a text override.

For example, set the label for the sum to display Total for Company <<CAPTION>>.

Note: Note that <<CAPTION>> is used to dynamically display the specific company number.

The label text for that sum will now display like this in the inquiry:

Display Toggle

Headers, subtotals and totals can all be enabled or disabled on the Design menu in the Options group.

Column Headers - Formatting

There are three ways in which to format the column header.

1. From within an inquiry, right-click on the column header and select Format Column Header.
2. From within an inquiry, select Columns from the Formatting tab in the ribbon and select Column Headers. The Define Formatting Style dialog is then displayed (refer to the Inquires - Formatting topic later in this guide for details of this dialog).
3. Define a default format for a column header, put it in RIO and subscribe to it from within an inquiry.

To define column header formatting via RIO:

1. Select Reusable Inquiry Objects from the Inquiry Objects menu.
2. Select the desired inquiry object from the left panel and bring it over to the right panel.
3. Modify the RIO to define the formatting as desired.

Note: * Within RIO, it is possible for each column header to have its own format applied, or to define a default RIO for column headers.

In the example below, the Default Column Header is applied to all columns:

In this example, the Business Unit column has its own defined format and all other columns will use the Default Column Header format.

Column Headers – Dynamic Text

Just like dynamic text in a report title, you can use dynamic text within a column header. You can use filter labels and/or filter codes, as well as display only the information for certain values within a filter. All of these dynamic selections are identified by the syntax symbols < and >. The default is to show the filter code (such as the specific period numbers within the Period filter), however you can show the filter label instead.

Note: Continuing with the example of Period, the label would be "Period" unless a user defined caption has been set up for specific period values. In that case, the user defined caption would display.

To show the label of the filter values, you would use L within the syntax.

For example, suppose you have set up a calculation that calculates the variance between two periods. This calculation is dynamic so the correct variance is calculated no matter which period values are in the Period filter. The below example shows that the period that is first in position in the Period filter subtracts the period that is second in position in the Period filter to calculate the variance:

Then the column header is set so that there is static text ("Variance between") and then on the second line, dynamic text that changes according to whichever period values are in the Period filter. In this case, Period:L:1 designates the label of the period that is first in position in the Period filter, and Period:L:2 designates the label of the period that is second in position in the Period filter:

Below shows the result, where period 1 and 2 are in the Period filter (as well as the calculation which is named TEST):

If you change the values in the Period filter to be 2 and 3, this is the result:

If you have user defined captions set up for the specific periods, it would look like this:

Advanced Totals

All of the below calculations are based on the data displayed in the inquiry.

• Header – Display a header for the specified column
• Sum – Calculate the sum for the specified column
• Average – Calculate the average for the specified column

• Count - Return the number of values for a certain field included in the selected label or custom column. This operation can also be applied to label columns other than the selected aggregation level.
  For example, when the aggregation level is business unit, you can insert a row to count the number of object accounts within each business unit grouping.
• Maximum – Return the highest value from those that are displayed in the respective value column
• Minimum - Return the lowest value from those that are displayed in the respective value column
• Unique Count – Return the number of unique values of a certain field included in the selected label or custom column. Like count, this operation can be applied to label columns other than the selected aggregation level.

Inquiry Level

To set advanced totals to calculate at the entire inquiry level, follow these steps:

1. Access Columns, Sorting and Grouping in the Design menu in the Layout group.

2. In the Sorting & Grouping tab in Columns, Sorting and Grouping, click the Advanced button at the bottom of the dialog to the right of Grand Total. This opens the More Totals dialog.

3. In the drop-down next to Aggregation level, keep the drop-down option set to Inquiry.
4. Choose the operation that you want to perform by checking the checkbox to the left of it.
5. With the operation selected, choose which columns the aggregation will be applied to within the Settings For section of the dialog.
6. Optionally, you can change the Display Text for an aggregation as well as the formatting for the entire row. In the drop-down next to In Column, you can also change in which column the text displays.
7. Optionally, you can reorder the aggregation operations using the arrows at the right of the dialog.

All of the operations, when applied at a Grand Total level, can be applied across all the data results (effectively ignoring any Sorting/Grouping you have previously specified).

1. Access Columns, Sorting and Grouping in the Design menu in the Layout group.
2. In the Sorting & Grouping tab, set a sort sequence (ascending or descending) on the label columns.
3. Highlight the column and click the Advanced button to the right of the setup for Sum. This opens the More Totals dialog (see below).
4. In the drop-down next to Aggregation level, choose the level for which you want to assign aggregation operations.
5. Choose the operation that you want to perform by marking the checkbox to the left of it.
6. With the operation selected, choose which columns the aggregation will be applied to within the Settings For portion of the dialog.
7. Optionally, you can change the Display Text for an aggregation as well as the formatting for the entire row. In the drop-down next to In Column, you can also change in which column the text displays.
8. Optionally, you can reorder the aggregation operations using the arrows at the right of the dialog.

Additional Notes:

• Each operation shows the possible number of columns where it can be applied and the actual number of columns to which it has been applied. For example, 1 of 2 means that the operation is applied in 1 value column of the possible 2 columns that are included in the inquiry.
• Under the Settings For section, the columns listed are dynamic; they change depending on the operation highlighted in the Operation Summary.

Note: In this example, having an average on business unit names would not make any sense, but having an average on a period amount would. So if average is selected at the top of the dialog, the Business Unit column would not display at the bottom.

For example, at the Company level, we will show a header, subtotal and average. The average will only be calculated for 1 of the 2 value columns that are in the inquiry, Period 3 of 2010. The text has been overridden to show “Average Amount …” and the text will show in blue, bold font.

This is what the inquiry will look like with the above settings:

Change Column Settings

There are two ways to change column settings:

1. Interactively, either by right-clicking on a column header or using drag and drop depending on the option

2. Within the Columns, Sorting and Grouping dialog, you can do the following in regards to column settings:
1. Select and order columns
2. Width (Auto, Hidden, or Fixed Size)
3. Wrap Text (The maximum characters is dependent on screen size, but is around 5000 characters with wrap text off and 20,000 characters with wrap text on.)
4. Heading

To change the settings for a column, follow these steps:

1. Select the column.

2. Using the radio buttons in the bottom right corner of the dialog, set the column to auto or fixed width, hide the column, or set the wrap text option. You can also set a custom heading.

Notice that any changes you make to the width and heading are displayed in the upper portion of the dialog under Displayed Columns:

Column Descriptions

There are three ways to set a column to show the description for each displayed value:

1. Right-click on the column, go to Descriptions, and then choose one of the options:
   1. Code
   2. Description
   3. Code and Description
2. From the Design menu in the Setup group, click on Descriptions to open the Descriptions dialog.
3. Use the drop-down menu below the Descriptions button on the Design menu to choose one of the options:
   1. Code
   2. Description
   3. Code and Description

Setting Descriptions for a Column in the Descriptions Dialog

In the Descriptions dialog, the left panel displays all group filters (Business Unit, Object, and Subledger) as well as the Main Filters. Note that descriptions are not available on user-defined Subledgers (X, Y and Z).

The panel on the left organizes different filters and attributes into groups. There will always be a Main Filters option containing the key filters which drive the particular inquiry template being used (i.e. Business Unit, Company, Object Account).

The other groups vary from one inquiry template to the next. Each group can be expanded to show the next level of detail. For example, the Business Unit group is further organized into Attribute and Category, representing the attributes and category codes of the Business Unit. Once a group has been selected, the dimensions which belong to that group are shown.

To set a particular item:

1. Highlight the item.
2. Select one of the following:
   1. Code: Displays only the code (number)
   2. Description: Displays only the description
   3. Code and Description: Displays both the code and description
   4. Custom: Define custom descriptions with specific text strings

Set a Custom Column Description

You can choose to show codes, descriptions, or a combination of codes and descriptions for items in rows or in column headings.

1. In the Descriptions dialog, select the column.
2. Click the Custom radio button and then click the Customize button.

3. Modify the description via the Add, Edit and Remove buttons.
1. When editing or removing a description, you must first select the row you wish to edit/ remove and then click Edit/Remove.



2. When adding and editing, once you add the item (code/description) from the drop-down menu in the Define Description Pattern dialog, it will display in the Description Text field.

   

4. Click OK to return back to the main Description dialog.

Note: You also have the option of showing a description for any blank items by checking the Show Blank Code Description box in the lower right-hand corner of the dialog.

Right-click Column Options

Depending upon whether you click on a label column or a value column, certain options will be available. Options also change depending on if you are selecting an entire column or a single cell.

Format the Content of Columns

The content of columns, i.e., the appearance of the text and cells in them can be edited by:

• Using the Formatting dialog (see Formatting Dialog).
• Using the options in the Format Types group of the Formatting menu:

Select the column to be formatted and then select the required option from the menu.

Multiple column can be selected by holding down the CTRL key while selecting them. The formatting will be applied to all selected columns.

A complete list is shown below:

• Format Column - apply a formatting style to the column
• Format Column Header - apply a formatting style to the column header
• Add Comment Column - add a comment column to the right of the selected column
• Remove Column – delete the column
• Hide Column – hide the column

• Freeze/Unfreeze Column - freeze all left-most columns from this point, which means when scrolling occurs, those columns always remain displayed on screen
• Descriptions – display code (number), description or both code and description
• Set Column Header - set a column header
• Follow Links – drill to a linked inquiry (this can also be done by double-clicking on a value in the result set)
• What’s This? – display the associated caption, file name and field name information
• Copy – copy the selected cell or column(s) in order to paste in another application, for example Microsoft Excel

View Table and Column Information

There are several ways to view table name and column name (field alias) information about report columns:

1. Within a report, you can right-click on any displayed column and select the option called What's This:

2. From the Design menu, go to Columns, Sorting & Grouping. In the Consolidation tab, for both available and displayed columns, you can see the table and column information:

3. Within the same Columns, Sorting and Grouping dialog, click on the Sorting & Grouping tab. The table name and the column name can be viewed for each column:

4. In the same dialog, under the Grouping section, table name and the column name can also be viewed in the Header and Sum drop-down lists:

Cached Information: Object and Subsidiary Column Descriptions

Description settings specify which combination of Object Account and Subsidiary are used to derive the descriptions for these columns in Hubble. These settings are in Administrator and set within the Profile Wizard, however can be overwritten on a report basis (from the Home menu, go to Inquiry Options and click on the Advanced tab).

It is important to understand not only what these options are, but how the information is retrieved as certain options can affect report performance. The intent of this article is to discuss the technical side of how the information is gathered.

The options are as follows:

1. Model BU/First Subsidiary or Object Account
2. Exact BU/First Subsidiary or Object Account
3. Exact BU/Blank Subsidiary or Object Account
4. Exact BU/Exact Object/Exact Subsidiary

Option 1

The descriptions come from cached information so results can be returned quickly. There is no join to the F0901 or temporary tables.

Option 2

This is a MAX query run over the entire F0901, joining it to the F0901. Using this option table, a temporary table is created for every BU/OBJ/First SUB combination. This can significantly slow down the speed at which a report runs. The following SQL query is done to create the temporary tables:

Options 3 and 4

With these options, there is a direct join to the F0901 to retrieve the descriptions, so there are no temporary tables being created. Results can be returned quickly with these options.

Comment Columns

Power users can add one or more user input comment columns to an inquiry, and can input comments on subtitles, subtotals, and hierarchy and data rows. These columns allow you to add feedback and information to an item on an inquiry.

Comment columns are stored in the repository at the report level. They cannot be shared across reports.

Details on comment columns:

• No special licensing is required for comment columns. The ability to read, edit or add comment columns is governed by Permissions and Advanced Capabilities in Administrator.
• Multiple comment columns can be added to an inquiry.
• Comment columns are refreshed each time the report is run.
• Formatting, including conditional formatting, can be applied to comment columns.
• Comment columns export to PDF and Microsoft Excel.
• In Columns, Sorting and Grouping (accessed from the Design menu), comment columns can set to be auto or fixed size width. With fixed width, you can set the option to wrap text when the maximum is reached.
• The maximum characters that can be used in a column is dependent on screen size, but is about 5000 characters with wrap text off and about 20,000 characters with wrap text on.
• Comments are tied to a user-selected combination of inquiry columns. If a user changes the inquiry columns that have been assigned to the comment, the previous comments will still exist at the report level, but will be hidden if an associated column is removed from the grid.
• Comments are saved as part of the inquiry; therefore when adding comments to an inquiry, the user must save the report before the comment can be viewed by other users. If the inquiry is already open by other users, they must close it first and re-open to view the comment.
• A comment can be associated with a filter, as long as the filter only contains one value. This is because if there is more than one value associated with the filter, the application would not know when to display the comment. However, if the column is on the grid, and is un-pivoted, then it is ok for the filter to contain more than one value since each row of the grid would contain its own filter value.
• In Budgeting, comments are only available for input as long as the budget cycle is open. After the budget cycle is closed, you can no longer enter in comments on the form but they do still display.

Permissions Required

The ability view, add, edit, delete etc. comment columns is governed by Permissions and Advanced Capabilities in Administrator.

For each user, a permission setting determines whether or not users can enter etc. comments on specific reports, i.e. it is set on a report-by-report basis.

This setting is overridden by the capabilities described below, i.e. if it is set to No for a user, that user cannot comment on any reports regardless of their individual permission settings.

If this permission is not available for a user, the Enter Comments button will be grayed out for that report. If that user double-clicks on a comment cell (or selects the cell and presses F2), a message will be displayed telling them that they don’t have the required permission.

There is also an advanced capability which determines whether or not a user can enter etc. comments for all reports, and a separate advanced capability that controls each Budgeting contributor’s access to the commenting functionality for all reports.

If these capabilities are set to No for a user, the Enter Comments button will not be displayed on the Design or Budgeting / Planning menu (as appropriate). Double-clicking on a comment cell will result in a message being displayed as described above.

This Budgeting capability alone does not allow users to enter comment mode in general; they can only enter comments if they have access to Budgeting and while in Budgeting mode.

Entering Comments

Once a Comment Column has already been created, you can enter in comments in 1 of 3 ways.

1. From the Home menu, in the Comments group, click Enter Comments.
2. Double-click the Comment Column and you will be taken to Enter Comment Mode.
3. Hit F2 when focusing on a Comment Cell.

Once you are in Enter Comment Mode, the Comment Column will turn yellow to signify that you can input comments:

When you are finished entering your comments, select Finish, Save Comments or Cancel from the ribbon at the top of the page.

• Finish will save your comments and exits out of comment entry mode.
• Save Comments will save the comments you have entered and keep you in comment entry mode.
• Cancel will cancel the changes you have made to your comments since the last time you saved them and exits out of comment entry mode.

Note: If you have defined row headers and/or subtotals, you can enter in a comment for those as well.

Add a Comment Column

Adding a comment column can be done in the following ways:

1. To add a column from the Design tab, under the Comments Group, click the Add button.
   Or, to add a column from within the grid, right-click on the column you would like for the comment to appear to the right of and select Add Comment Column.

2. Select the columns you would like to have associated with your comment column. The purpose of associating comments to columns on the grid is to define when the comment should change. If only associated with the Sold To customer number, then the same comment will display for every line where the Sold To number is the same. If the comment is associated with the Sold To customer number and the Hold Orders Code, then the comment will be the same for each Sold To/Hold Orders Code combination, allowing you to input a different comment for the same Sold To when the Hold Orders Code changes.

Notes on Comments Columns:

• You can also associate a comment to a filter so long as the filter only contains 1 value. If more than 1 value exists, Hubble would not be able to discern when to display the comment (e.g. If you have Ledger = AA in the filter you can associate a comment. If you have Ledger = AA and BA, then Ledger is not an available choice in the Associated Column dialog. This is because we would not know when to display the Ledger when Ledger = AA or BA). If the column is on the grid, then you can filter on multiple values. Example: if Ledger is a grid column and is not being pivoted on, then having AA and BA in the Ledger Filter is fine since each row of the report would have either AA or BA for the comment to be associated to.

• If using a value in a filter to associate to a comment column, then the filter field also needs to be a column on the grid. It can be hidden or displayed.
• Comments are actually refreshed with every report run, not just when you open the report.

Delete a Comment Column

To delete a column from within the grid:

1. Right-click on the comment column.
2. Select Delete Comment Column.

Save Comments

When you are finished entering your comments, you will see the following options for saving them in the ribbon at the top of the page:

1. Finish, which will save your comments and then exit out of Comment Entry Mode.
2. Save Comments, which will save your comments and keep you in Comment Entry Mode.
3. Cancel, which will cancel the changes you have made to your comments since you last saved them, and then exit out of Comment Entry Mode.

Copy and Pasting

It is possible to copy in text from any grid column to your comment column.

In the example below, the 'C1 - Credit Hold' text is copied from the Hold Orders Code Column to the Comment Column.

Highlight the text you would like to copy, right-click and then select copy:

Within the Comment column grid, right-click and select paste:

The comment column will display the 'C1-Credit Hold' information:

Attachment Columns

Note: This feature is only supported for the JD Edwards ERP, and if an Accelerator is not utilized.

In a similar way to Comment columns, Power users can add one or more attachment columns to a report, containing text and URL type attachments from the database.

Power Users can include any such attachments that can be joined to as additional columns when designing a template, based on the tables and columns that are available within that template.

Add an Attachments Column

In the Attachments panel of the Design tab, click the Add Attachments Columns option.

The Choose the attachment column data structure dialog is then displayed:

For attachment database object columns to be added to a report template in an attachment column, the equivalent columns must be available on the report template. Therefore, when the dialog is opened, the following are scanned in order:

1. Current report columns
2. Columns that can be added using the Columns, Grouping and Sorting window
3. Columns that can be added using the More columns button on the Columns, Grouping and Sorting window, if available.

The progress of the scan is displayed at the bottom of the dialog using a progress bar. Based on the columns found by this scan, the dialog is populated with the compatible attachment objects.

The Name fields contains the Media Object Name from the database. The Columns fields displays the columns that are used to retrieve the attachments.

To add a column to the report template, select it from window and click Add. There is no need to wait for the scan to finish before doing this. A column can be added as soon as it is displayed in the dialog.

The dialog then closes, and an attachment column with the selected column structure is then added to the report template. The header of the new column is based on the object description.

For example:

To add further attachment data to the column, select additional database objects as described above.

Note that:

• All formatting is stripped from text attachments when displayed in an attachment column.
• URL attachments, and URLs in text attachments are supported (http and https protocols only). If clicked on, the item the URL points to will open in the default browser.
• If there are multiple attachments to be displayed in a row in the attachments column, they are separated in the cell using the “|” symbol.

• It is possible for multiple columns in the available attachment objects to have the same alias (i.e. MCU - as shown in the example Choose the attachment column data structure dialog above). In this case, the feature will attempt to display attachments for the all possible column combinations. If all the MCU columns (for example) contain the same result for a row, then the attachment is displayed once for that cell. If the results are different in a row then the attachments are shown separated by a “|”.
• The attachment column is disabled if there are required key columns missing from the report template. For example:



The required key columns and the relevant object name are shown in What’s this window of the column. For example:

• You stop a column from being displayed in a report, using Columns, Sorting and Grouping options in the usual way. Currently there is no way to completely delete an attachment column, except by disabling the “Attachments” capability completely in Administration.
• Like comment columns the attachment columns are not “searchable”.

Display Settings

The number of characters displayed in each attachment column row can be limited if required. By default, no limit is set.

To impose a character limit, in the Attachments panel of the Design tab, click the Display Settings option. The Attachment Display Settings window is then displayed:

Check the Limit attachments to checkbox.

Select either First or Last from the drop-down, and then enter the maximum number of characters in the characters field.

If First is selected, the beginning of attachment text up to the character limit will be displayed. If Last is selected, the end of attachment text up to the character limit will be displayed.

Hubble inserts “ …” in place of the missing text, i.e. at the start or end of text that has more characters than the set limit.