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Manage Inquiries

Open Inquiries

Previously saved inquiries can be opened in any of these ways:

  • From the Home menu in the Documents group, click Open.
  • From the Backstage View, click Open.
  • Use the Quick Access Toolbar, if configured.
  • If it is a recent inquiry, you can click on the down arrow beneath the Open button to see the 5 most recent inquiries. From here you can select the one you wish to open.

Save Inquiries/Saving Templates

To save an inquiry or template:

  • From the Home menu in the Documents group, click Save.
  • From the Backstage View, click Save. You then have three options: Save, Save As, and Save As Template*.

    • Caution: Save as Template: Your Administrator must set the capability for you to use this feature (Advanced Capabilities under Hubble Inquiry Settings > Feature Control > Save as Template). At the appropriate level (for example Everyone, a specific group or specific user), set Enable = Yes and select Control Save as Template Inquiry Feature. Also, in order to use the Save as Template option, you must be assigned a Configurator license and be granted create permissions for the Templates folder within Administrator.

  • Click the drop-down menu below the Save button and you have the option to Save or Save As.
  • Use the Quick Access Toolbar, if configured, to save an inquiry.

Close Inquiries

Inquiries can be closed in any of these ways:

  • From the Home menu in the Documents group, click Close.
  • From the Backstage View, click Close.
  • Use the Quick Access Toolbar, if configured.

This closes the active inquiry and also closes it in memory. Before an inquiry is closed, you will be prompted to confirm whether you are sure that this is what you wish to do.

Caution: This is your reminder to save the inquiry if you need to save any changes prior to closing. You will not receive a prompt that your inquiry has not yet been saved.

Manage Folders and Inquiries

Folder, inquiry and report management such as renaming, deleting, assigning permissions, tagging and creating report packs, can be done by using:

  • The Save Inquiry As dialog.
  • The Manage Folders dialog, accessed from the Manage Folders dialog on the Home tab:

These dialogs provide a number of toolbar and right-click menu options for the management of inquiries, reports, and the folders containing them:

View and Change the Properties of a Inquiry/Report

To view or change the properties of an inquiry or report, right-click on it in the dialog and select the Properties option. The Properties of dialog for the selected item is then displayed:

You can use the dialog to change the name of the inquiry or report, add or change its description, and change its attributes.

Add Properties to Dialog Display

To add a property column to the list of items displayed in the right-hand panel of the dialog, right-click on the headings and select the property from the menu that is then displayed:

In this example, a column for the Description property has been added:

Import and Export .RDF Files

On occasion it might be necessary for you to import or export an inquiry you have created within Hubble, for example if you are working with our Customer Support group and they have asked you to send your inquiry for their analysis. The application provides you the ability to import and export inquiries as .rdf files.

Your Hubble Administrator must grant you the capabilities in order to use these features (set in Administrator in Advanced Capabilities under Hubble Inquiry Settings > Feature Control > Export File/ Import File.

Exporting

Steps to export an .rdf file:

  1. Save the inquiry in Hubble.
  2. From the Backstage View, choose Export Inquiry.
  3. When prompted, navigate to the location where you wish to save it and provide a file name.
Importing

Steps to import an .rdf file:

  1. From the Backstage View, choose Import Inquiry.
  2. Navigate to where the RDF file has been saved and click Open.
  3. The Open dialog appears. Select the report again and click on Open.
  4. You will be prompted to save the inquiry into a chosen location in the Object Repository. It defaults to your User Folder/My Inquiries, but you can change this to whichever folder you would like.

Report Packs

Report packs are a tool used to group inquiries together. All inquiries can be opened at the same time, one next to the other in separate tabs within the same Hubble session. These inquiries can be closed, and exported in one step.

Report packs can only contain inquiries; they cannot contain folders, templates or other report packs. Steps to create a report pack:

  1. Start from either Manage Folders (on the Home menu in the Documents group) or the Save As dialog.
  2. Right-click on the folder under which you wish to create a report pack or right-click in the white space on the right panel.
  3. Choose New – Report Pack.

  1. Provide a name and, optionally, a description for the report pack.

  1. Select the inquiries to include in the report pack by clicking on the Add button.
  2. This will open up an Open dialog. Navigate to select the inquiries and then click Open.
  3. If desired, move the inquiries up and down to designate the order in which they should be opened within the report pack.
  4. Click OK.
  5. Grant permissions to other users if you want them to be able to access the report pack. (Other users need permissions to the report pack itself as well as the inquiries contained within the report pack).

View which Inquiries are included within a Report Pack

There are two ways in which you can view which inquiries are included within a Report Pack:

  • All of the included inquiries are listed in the Edit Report Pack dialog. From within the Manage Folders dialog, you can double-click on the report pack or right-click on the report pack and select Edit to open this dialog.
  • The inquiries are listed in the Associations tab of the report pack Properties. From within the Manage Folders dialog, right click on the report pack and select Properties.

Edit a Report Pack

After a report pack is created, you can change which inquiries are included in the report pack and/or the order they display when the report pack is opened.

  1. From within the Manage Folders dialog, double-click on the report pack or right-click on the report pack.

  2. Select Edit to open the Edit Report Pack dialog.

View the Properties of a Report Pack

To view the properties:

  1. From within the Manage Folders dialog, right-click on the report pack and select Properties.

  2. In the General tab, you can see the following information:

    • Type – type of object (inquiry, report pack, template, folder, shortcut, etc.)
    • Location – location of the object in the repository
    • Created – Date and time of object creation
    • Created by – User who created the object
    • Modified – Last date and time that the object was modified
    • Modified by – Last user to modify the object
    • Accessed – Last date and time that the object was accessed (opened)
    • Stored Size – Actual size of the inquiry (useful for disk space analysis)
    • Attributes – General attributes associated with an object including all object dependencies.

    Note: You cannot delete a report if there are dependencies on it.

Report Bursting

“Report bursting” is the ability to create separate files when exporting to PDF or Microsoft Excel. With this ability to define a file break, different sections of a report are exported to separate files. You have the ability to define a break on any sorted column, even if it is not subtotaled, and even if it has a wildcard in its filter. For file breaks, you can define the pattern for the file names, which can include the filter selections you are using for the file breaks.

Report bursting is done in the Breaks tab of PDF Options/ExcelOptions, depending on which you are using. Below we will show an example of report bursting when exporting to PDF; however the process works the same with Excel.

In this example, we are filtering on specific Business Units:

In PDF Options, we have set the options to page break after totals and by filter selection, using the Business Unit filter selections as the Selected combinations. Because we are filtering on Business Unit, Business Unit is automatically available to select as a parameter to use in the File Name. This list is dynamically updated based on the filter selections you have defined in the report.

Now we can click on PDF and the PDF output will automatically burst into several files based on the Business Units defined in the Selected Combinations. The file name displayed is using the File/Workbook Name Pattern defined for this report:

If you prefer to output to 1 file and break instead into multiple pages (PDF) or worksheets (Excel) within the file, you would choose the option to do that.

For PDF:

For Excel:

When exporting to Excel, you also have the option to define the Worksheet Name Pattern for the worksheets within the file.

Stop an Inquiry

Once is inquiry is running, you can hit the Stop button in the Running Inquiry dialog to stop it from running on both the machine it is running on as well as the database.

To cancel a report before records are retrieved from the database, you must use the built-in-provider connection option in Administrator.

Favorites

Favorites are shortcuts to existing saved inquiries within Hubble; you can use them to quickly access your most commonly used inquiries.

From within the inquiry you wish to save as a favorite, there are 2 ways in which it can be added to your Favorites:

  1. In the Home menu in the Documents group, click Favorites. If desired, specify a name for the favorite (this can be different than the saved inquiry name). If a different name is not specified, the saved name of the inquiry is used.
  2. In the Home menu in the Documents group, click the drop-down menu next to Favorites. Select Add Favorite. If desired, specify a name for the Favorite (this can be different than the saved inquiry name). If a different name is not specified, the saved name of the inquiry is used.

Folder Structure

You can add your own folder structure within the Organize Favorites dialog.

  1. In the Home menu in the Documents group, click the drop-down menu next to Favorites. Select Organize Favorites.
  2. The organizational structure of Favorites is displayed on the right panel. Using the buttons on the left, you can add, move, or delete a folder or favorite.

Inquiry Options

There are several Inquiry Options that can be set to personalize the product, making it more relevant to your inquiry and reporting needs. These settings are inquiry-specific; however a user with a Configurator license can set these options differently and save them in a template.

To access these options, from the Home menu, go to the Options group and click Inquiry Options. The Inquiry Options window is then displayed:

General Tab

Options in the General tab are:

  • Missing Text - The text you define in this field displays in cells of missing data. For example, if you entered in the text ‘missing text’ in this field, when running the inquiry with missing balances enabled, the result set would look like this:

  • Blank Text - The text you define in this field is used to specify blank selections. The default is BLK, however this can be changed to other text. This functionality can be demonstrated in an inquiry that has category codes. If you wish to select a blank object category, you can do so by typing BLK (the default text) into the Object Category filter as shown here:

  • Null Filter Keyword – The text used to search for null values (the default is NULL)
  • Enable Localization – This is an inquiry-specific language setting to override the user’s preferred language setting as set in User Preferences.

To enable Localization, complete the following steps:

  1. Check the Enable Localization checkbox.

    2. Note: If the Enable Localization option is activated and grayed out, it means that at the user level, in User Preferences, the option to Enable Language on all reports on all JD Edwards reports is turned on. This must be unchecked so you can override the language on an inquiry-basis.

  2. Set the JD Edwards Module you wish to retrieve captions from.

    3. This information is stored within the Data Item Alpha Descriptions (F9203) Table. For example, field MCU is called Business Unit in the General Ledger module, but in the Job Cost module is called Job.

  3. Either the designated Inquiry Language or uncheck User’s Preferred Language and select another language using the drop-down menu.

    4. Note: The setting of the User's Preferred Language checkbox has no impact on the Hubble Web interface. It only applies to Hubble Desktop.

  4. Click OK to exit the dialog.

Advanced button for Localization – Designate the underlying tables used for Localization. The default preference is to use the F0004D/F0004 for UDC fields, which derives captions from the User Defined Codes – Alternate Language Descriptions (F0004D) Table and User Defined Codes (F0004) Tables. Alternatively the preference can be set to Use F9203 for all fields which will only derive captions from the Data Item Alpha Descriptions (F9203) Table.

Advanced Tab

The options in this tab vary by Module and template. For example, those in GL Balances Template include:

  • Who’s Who Phone Number Type - This setting provides a method to choose which phone number will be displayed from the JD Edwards Who’s Who system. This option will be displayed in any inquiry/template that includes the Address Number. Use the drop-down box to select the Phone Number Type that you want to display from the Address Book – Contact Telephone Numbers (F0115) Table. If there are two phone numbers with the same Who’s Who Phone Number Type, Hubble automatically selects the number that was most recently added.
  • Who’s Who Address Book – This setting allows you to choose which type of contact you want to display from the JD Edwards Address Book Who’s Who system. Use the drop-down box to select the Address Book Type that you want to display from the Address Book Who’s Who (F0111) table.
  • Use Business Unit Snapshots – This setting provides a means of enabling the Business Unit Snap Shot Functionality. This option will be displayed in any inquiry/template that includes functionality for a Business Unit Category Code.
  • Restatement Currency – This setting provides a means of designating the currency used for Restatement. This option will be displayed in any inquiry/template that is capable of using the Restatement functionality.
  • Object Account Description* – This setting provides a way to choose which description is used for object accounts.
  • Subsidiary Description*– This setting provides a way to choose which description is used for subsidiaries.

Note: * More on object account/subsidiary descriptions - These settings provide a way to choose which description displays for an object account and subsidiary. These options are used in any inquiry/template that includes the object account and subsidiary columns. The Configured Option is the setting that has been made in Administrator for the profile being used. You can, however, use the drop-down box to override that setting for a specific inquiry.

* The choices below apply to both of these options, just substituting "Object Account" for "Subsidiary" depending on the option.

  • Model BU/First Subsidiary - this default option uses the account description that comes from the combination of the Model Business Unit and the first subsidiary found for the object account. (Note that the Model BU is that which has been configured in Administrator for the profile being used.)
  • Exact BU/First Subsidiary - stores in a temporary table the descriptions based upon selections from your Account Master. The account description comes from the combination of the exact business unit and the first subsidiary found for the object account.
  • Exact BU/Blank Subsidiary - joins directly to the F0901 to retrieve the descriptions. The account description comes from the combination of the exact Business Unit and blank subsidiary.
  • Exact BU/Exact Object/Exact Subsidiary - joins directly to the F0901 to retrieve the descriptions. The account description comes from the combination of the exact business unit, exact object account and exact subsidiary.

Settings for Cost Type/Cost Code Descriptions

These are similar controls to the Object Account Description and Subsidiary Description except that they are referenced within the Job Cost Module.

The Configured Option is the setting that has been made in Administrator for the profile being used. You can, however, use the drop-down box to override that setting for a specific inquiry.

The choices below apply to both of these options, just substituting "Cost Code" for "Cost Type" depending on the option.

  • Model Job/First Cost Type - this default option uses the account description that comes from the combination of the Model Job and the first cost type found for the cost code. (Note that the Model Job is that which has been configured in Administrator for the profile being used.)
  • Exact Job/First Cost Type - stores in a temporary table the account descriptions based upon selections from your Account Master. The account description comes from the combination of the exact job number and the first cost type found for the cost code.
  • Exact Job/Blank Cost Type - joins directly to the F0901 to retrieve the account descriptions. The account description comes from the combination of the exact job number and blank cost type.
  • Exact Job/Exact Cost Type - joins directly to the F0901 to retrieve the account descriptions. The account description comes from the combination of the exact job number and exact cost type.

    • Note: Typically in Job Cost, users choose the option to "Use Exact Job with Blank Cost Type". If not, you do not get the Cost Code description and this is how Job Cost users typically sort. This is based on the assumption that your Job Cost Chart of Accounts has descriptions for the exact job / blank cost type / exact cost code. Thus it is much faster to get the description based off the blank cost type rather than match all three elements.

Advanced Options

Advanced Options vary depending on the template. Some commonly-used Advanced Options in other templates include the following:

  1. Use Transaction Table - This setting provides a way to choose whether the underlying General Ledger Transactional data is extracted from the Account Ledger (F0911) and/or Purge – Account Ledger (F0911P) tables. This option will be displayed in any inquiry/template that references F0911 data.

    2. Note: Due to the potential size of the F0911P, we recommend that you inform your database administrator of the need to apply the F0911 Indexes on the F0911P to increase the speed of your inquiry.

  2. Use Sales Order Details/Use Sales Header - These controls provide a method to define whether the underlying sales transactional data is extracted from the Sales Order Detail (F4211), Sales Order History (F42119), or both tables.

    3. Note: Due to the potential size of the F42119, we recommend that you inform your database administrator of the need to apply THE F4211 Indexes to the F42119 to increase the speed of your inquiry.

  3. As of Optimization Level Setting - For As Of Templates in both the AR and AP Modules, there is an As of Optimization Level option, set in Inquiry Options that can be used under certain circumstances to assist performance of As Of reports.