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WHERE statements or selection criteria, restrict the data retrieved to only those records that meet the conditions that you specify. Filters are selection criteria that run when the user selects the filter in WebFOCUS. Other selection criteria run when the user opens the Reporting Object, preventing data values that do not meet the criteria from being available to the user.

For more information on WHERE statements, see Field Tab in the WebFOCUS InfoAssist User's Manual.

Filters enable users to quickly select predefined criteria that limit the data included in a report or chart. Filters are selection criteria (WHERE statements) that you create for users, who then select the filters needed to limit the data in a report or chart without having to create their own selection criteria.

In order to create a filter, you must create the filter group and define the filters that make up the group.

Note: The Undo and Redo functions are not available for the Filter component until you have created at least one filter.

A virtual field is a field whose value is not stored in the data source but can be calculated from the data that is there. A virtual field takes up no storage space. It is created only when a user accesses the Reporting Object that includes the virtual field.

A join is a temporary connection between two or more data sources that share at least one common field. After you join two data sources, each time that WebFOCUS retrieves a record from the first data source (the host file), it also retrieves the matching records from the second data source (the target file).

For more information on joining data sources, see the WebFOCUS InfoAssist User's Manual.

Note:

The Preprocessing Other component contains custom code that must run before all other components. You can use the text editor in the component to create and edit code or to paste the code that you have copied from another application.

To create or edit a Preprocessing Other component, do one of the following:

• Double-click the component.
• Select the component and click Edit on the ribbon.
• Right-click the component and select Edit.

The Preprocessing Other text editor appears.

The Postprocessing Other component contains custom code that must run after all other components. You can use the text editor in the component to create and edit code, or to paste the code that you have copied from another application.

To create or edit a Postprocessing Other component, double-click the component, or select the component and click Edit on the ribbon. Alternatively, right-click the component and select Edit. The Postprocessing Other dialog box opens.

From the WebFOCUS Home Page, in the Workspaces view, you can view or edit the properties of a Reporting Object by right-clicking the object and selecting Properties. The Reporting Object Properties dialog box opens.

A Reporting Object may contain any of the following types of components, which are run in the order of precedence, as listed:

Reporting Objects are stored in folders in the tree within workspace folders. They can include selection criteria (WHEREs), JOINs, virtual fields (DEFINEs), filters, and other WebFOCUS statements, as well as reports or charts supplied as templates.

Note: A Reporting Object will not show in the repository when the user cannot functionally use the Reporting Object.