BUSINESS WAREHOUSE FUNCTIONAL PROCEDURE

Accelerated Title: Personalizing Query Input Values for Report Execution

SAP Process:
T-Code:
File Name: smiley_faces Release: BW 3.1B, Frontend 3.0A
BPP Control Number: Responsibility: BW Team

Personalizing Query Input Values

for
Report Execution

This document provides answers to the following:

Recently, I’ve started seeing little smiley faces when I am prompted

to enter data values before running my query. What do they stand
for?

How do I personalize a variable?

How do I change or delete personalization values?

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 BUSINESS WAREHOUSE FUNCTIONAL PROCEDURE
Accelerated Title: Personalizing Query Input Values for Report Execution
SAP Process:
T-Code:
File Name: smiley_faces Release: BW 3.1B, Frontend 3.0A
BPP Control Number: Responsibility: BW Team

Personalizing Query Input Values

Some workbooks have an input screen that allows you to enter (execution
parameter) values for certain characteristics. If you always view a particular
workbook using the same set of input values, for example, using the same
business area, fund and fund centers, it is helpful to save the entered values for
later use. Recent upgrades to ImaginePA’s Business Information Warehouse
have made it even easier for you to preserve your input between consecutive
query executions.

1. Creating Personalized Values

Queries that require parameter entries present you with a pop-up box into which
you enter values for the query to use in selecting the data for the report.
Parameter values that are required are shown with a checkmark inside a square.

Make an entry in each of the required fields, and then click on the “smiley face” at
Required Entries

the right. Notice that all required entries have been supplied with values.

Clicking on the smiley face button causes the box shown below to appear:

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 BUSINESS WAREHOUSE FUNCTIONAL PROCEDURE
Accelerated Title: Personalizing Query Input Values for Report Execution
SAP Process:
T-Code:
File Name: smiley_faces Release: BW 3.1B, Frontend 3.0A
BPP Control Number: Responsibility: BW Team

If you click on the bar that reads Personalize Variable Value, the small box
disappears and the smiley face changes color from gray to yellow. This tells you
that a personalization for the variable has been recorded. In our example, we
saved the value 10 in the Business Area.

Once you personalize a variable, you will no longer be prompted to enter a value
for it. Notice that our example screen no longer has a field soliciting input for
Business Area.

Important feature: Variable is personalized is associated with the variable and

not with the workbook or query itself. What this means is that personalizations
can have an effect on multiple queries and workbooks, depending upon which of
them use the particular variable that has been personalized. This can be
confusing, because once a variable has been personalized, there is no obvious
indication that a personalization is in effect. Variable values can be displayed by
following the instructions for changing personalizations as explained in the next
section.
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 BUSINESS WAREHOUSE FUNCTIONAL PROCEDURE
Accelerated Title: Personalizing Query Input Values for Report Execution
SAP Process:
T-Code:
File Name: smiley_faces Release: BW 3.1B, Frontend 3.0A
BPP Control Number: Responsibility: BW Team

2. Changing a Personalized Value

Once a parameter value has been saved, the fact that a variable exists becomes
transparent to the query user. Stated another way: You won’t know that the
variable exists-- or that its value can be changed-- without close inspection of the
query text fields. In the screen shot shown below, the value of 10 for Business
Area is shown in the query text fields, but a prompt for Business Area was never
displayed.

Because the parameter input is now suppressed, the only way to change its
value is through the BEx toolbar, as follows: Click on the “pencil” icon and
choose the Change variable values from the drop down menu.

After selecting this option, all query

inputs will be presented. At this point,
you can simply change the input value
or completely remove the
personalization. If you change the
input value, the query uses the value
that you have supplied to select report
data. However, the original saved value persists unless you explicitly remove it or
save the personalization again.

You can also reload your saved

personalizations by choosing the
Load Personalized Values bar from
the pop-up menu. This feature will
come in handy when you have
made changes to your inputs and
want to change them back to the
values that you had saved.
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 BUSINESS WAREHOUSE FUNCTIONAL PROCEDURE
Accelerated Title: Personalizing Query Input Values for Report Execution
SAP Process:
T-Code:
File Name: smiley_faces Release: BW 3.1B, Frontend 3.0A
BPP Control Number: Responsibility: BW Team

3. Clearing All Personalizations

If you want to completely clear the personalization for a variable, click on the
yellow smiley face next to the variable of interest. When the pop-up box appears,
select the Undo Personalization option:

4. Saving All Values Made Easy

Using the method just described, you may save only one parameter value at a
time. If you run your reports using the same parameter values every time, you
may find it time-consuming to save each value individually. Fortunately, SAP BW
provides an easy way to save all of your inputs for future use.

On the screen shot below, you will see that no parameter entries have been
saved. At the bottom of the pop-up screen, you will see another new icon that
looks like a person’s face standing in front of a report.

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 BUSINESS WAREHOUSE FUNCTIONAL PROCEDURE
Accelerated Title: Personalizing Query Input Values for Report Execution
SAP Process:
T-Code:
File Name: smiley_faces Release: BW 3.1B, Frontend 3.0A
BPP Control Number: Responsibility: BW Team

Clicking on this icon changes all of the smiley faces yellow, and will suppress
parameter entry upon future
use of the workbook for the
parameters for which you
have entered values. Notice
the yellow smiley faces on
the screen at the right. The
fact that they are all yellow
would indicate that even the
null values (inputs for which
no value has been supplied)
have been saved, but this is
not the case. You will
continue to see prompts for
the empty fields upon
subsequent executions of
the workbook. If values are
provided for all inputs, then the workbook will execute without soliciting input. To
change this behavior, follow the instructions given in Item 2 or Item 3 above.

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