Using the MDDB Report Viewer

How do I use the MDDB Report Viewer?

The MDDB Report Viewer contains four Web pages in which you enter information or manipulate your report data.

Report Layout page

This page contains drop-down lists from which you select the MDDB and the style sheet to be used.

Dimensions page

This page enables you to select the items that you want to include in the report.

Click Options at the top of the page to go to the Optional Settings page, where you can specify a variety of options that control the layout of the report. In addition, you can specify whether to display a graph in the report.
In the Columns section, define the report layout by selecting items to be included from the Down and the Across list boxes.
In the Analysis section, select one or more analysis variables from the Columns list box.
In the Statistics section, select the variables that you want to specify statistics for from the Select Column list box (the items in the list box are the variables that you selected in the Analysis section). Then, from the Available list box, select one or more statistics by highlighting the desired statistics and then clicking the right-arrow button. To select all of the available statistics, click the double-right-arrow button. To deselectstatistics, select the statistics in the Selected list box and then click the appropriate left-arrow button to remove them from the list box.
Click View Report to display the report.

Optional Settings page

This page enables you to set the report options and specify whether to display a graph in the report.

Click Dimensions at the top of the page to go to the Dimensions page, where you select the items to include in your report.
In the Filter Columns list box, select category variables for subsetting your report data.
In the Filter Listbox Options section, customize the size and location of the List By list box on the Report page.
In the Report section, specify a title for the report and specify whether to display a table in the report.
In the Graph section, specify whether to display a graph and then customize its appearance and location in the report.
When you click View Report, the report is displayed.

Report page

This page displays the table and graph that are produced from selections made in the previous pages. You can respecify new variables and select subset values in order to change the report.

Click Download to spreadsheet to download the data in the HTML table, including the titles, as it appears on the page.
Click Rotate to rotate the down and across dimensions of a report.
Click Dimensions to go to the Dimensions page, where you select the items to include in your report.
Click Options to go to the Optional Settings page, where you can specify a variety of options that control the layout of the report. In addition, you can specify whether to display a graph in the report.
Click ? Help to view the MDDB Report Viewer documentation or a Help page that you created.
Change report dimensions by selecting different variables from the Down and Across list boxes on the Report page. After you select the new dimensions, click View Report to display the new report.
In the Filter By list box, select the values of the category variables by which to subset your data, and then click Apply Filter. The report will be redisplayed with the subset applied. If a graph was previously displayed, it will be redisplayed with the subset applied.

How do I select items from a selection list?

Web browsers have different selection methods. For example, some browsers use a Shift-click combination and others use a mouse click only. Use the selection method that is appropriate for your browser.

How will I know whether the items that I select for a report are valid?

Because selection list items cannot be disabled, you receive a message when an item is invalid. For example, you cannot select the same item for the Down and Across values in a report. Simply reselect the items and run the report again.

What does the Rotate button do?

Use the Rotate button to rotate the down and across dimensions of a report.

How does Download to spreadsheet work?

The Download to spreadsheet button appears on the Report page and on the detail data page (after a reach-through to detail data). On the Report page, the Download to spreadsheet button downloads the data in the HTML table, including the titles, as it appears on the page. On the detail page, the Download to spreadsheet button downloads the detailed data that is displayed on the page. The data is written in comma-delimited format, and you can open the file in your spreadsheet program or save the file to disk for later use.

You can use the _MRVSEP global variable to specify a delimiter other than a comma. For more information, see Table 2, MDDB Report Viewer Global Variables.

How can I print reports?

You can print reports using the browser. Follow the instructions for printing that are appropriate for your browser.

Can I print extremely large tables?

If you print a table that is extremely wide, you might not get the results that you want. Tables cannot be resized, so when you print a large table, some columns might be truncated.

Can I change report dimensions from the Report page?

You can change report dimensions by selecting different variables from the Down and Across list boxes on the Report page. After you select the new dimensions, click View Report to display the new report.

To add or change analysis variables or statistics, click Dimensions to go back to the Dimensions page and change your selections. Then click View Report. The report is automatically displayed with your new selections.

Can I change the colors of my report?

Colors for report values are determined by values that are set in the RANGE entry in the SAS/EIS metabase in which the MDDB is registered. To change the colors in which report values are displayed, edit the RANGE entry in the SAS/EIS metabase. To use colors that are supplied by your browser, delete the RANGE entry in the SAS/EIS metabase. The background color of the table cell is set to the color value in the RANGE entry. Make sure that the numeric text is not set to the background color so that the text will be readable.

Note: Cascading style sheet (CSS) settings overwrite a RANGE setting.

How do I drill down to additional values in a report?

To drill down to other values in a report, select a Down or Across value. The report title changes when you drill down to other levels of information.

How do I subset my report data?

On the Optional Settings page, select the category variables (in the Filter Columns list box) by which to subset, and then click View Report. When the report is displayed, select the values of the category variables (in the Filter By list box) by which to subset your data, and click Apply Filter. The report will be redisplayed with the subset applied. If a graph was previously displayed, it will be redisplayed with the subset applied.

How do I see the detail data?

The numbers in the table should be hyperlinked if the BASETABLE attribute is in the metadata and if the base table exists. If the numbers are not hyperlinked, reach-through is not available for the selected MDDB. Click a number, and select the variables that you want to see from the data set. Click Next, and the detail data is displayed in a table.

How do I generate a 3D graph of the report data?

To generate a three-dimensional graph of the report data, go to the Optional Settings page (by clicking Options), and select 3D Clickable Graph in the Graph section. Then select the graph type (block, vertical bar, and so on) from the Type drop-down list. Click View Report to display the report along with a graph of the first column of data in the table. You can click the right mouse button within the graphics display area to change the graph's properties or to save the graph to a file.

How do I generate a standard GIF graph of the report data?

To generate a standard GIF graph of the report data, go to the Optional Settings page (by clicking Options), and select Standard GIF Graph in the GRAPH section. Then select the graph type (block, vertical bar, and so on) from the Type drop-down list. Click View Report to display a report along with a graph of the first column of data in the table. You can select the GRAPH icon next to any column in the report to change the statistic that is graphed.

How do I change the font for the standard GIF graph?

You can specify the font for the standard GIF graph from the REQUEST INIT program that is used by your application server. In the REQUEST INIT program, set the _GRFONT macro variable by specifying the following:

  %let _grfont=myfont;

By default, the MDDB Report Viewer uses the SWISSB font if a value is not specified for _GRFONT. For a complete list of available fonts, refer to SAS/GRAPH Software: Reference, Version 8. For more information about the REQUEST INIT program, see the PROC APPSRV, REQUEST statement syntax.

How do I specify the repository manager for the Application Dispatcher Server?

After you set up the repository manager files, you must include the following statements after the PROC APPSRV statement:

    ALLOCATE LIBRARY RPOSMGR 'rposmgr-path' ;
    DATALIBS RPOSMGR;

How do I specify a different delimiter for Download to spreadsheet?

To use a different delimiter for Download to spreadsheet, set the _MRVSEP macro variable in the REQUEST INIT program that is used by your application server. For example, to use a semicolon (;) instead of the default comma (,) delimiter, insert the following into your REQUEST INIT program:

  %let _mrvsep=%str(;);

Can I create my own Help page?

By default, the Help button points to the following URL, which is located on the SAS Web site:

  http://support.sas.com/rnd/web/intrnet/mddbapp/hinttips.html

You can create your own Help page with information that is specific to your site. To do this, create the Help Web page and specify the URL in the _MRVHELP macro variable in the REQUEST INIT program that is used by your application server. For example, you could insert a line similar to the following in your REQUEST INIT program:

  %let _mrvhelp=http://myserver/myhelp.html;

Can I use cascading style sheets to modify the appearance of my report?

Version 8 of the MDDB Report Viewer offers cascading style sheet support. Style sheets provide you with an easy way to customize the viewer for your site. For more information about how to use style sheets with the MDDB Report Viewer, see Customizing the MDDB Report Viewer Using Cascading Style Sheets.

Can I change the toolbar location?

You can change the toolbar location by setting a macro variable in the REQUEST INIT program. Set the _MRTBLOC variable to

  %let _mrtbloc=toolbar-location-value;

In this setting, the toolbar-location-value can be one of the following values: 1 = top, 2 = bottom, 3 = left, 4 = right, and 5 = no toolbar.

The default toolbar location is 1 = top.

Can I display reports without the Down and Across list boxes?

You can disable the display of the Down and Across list boxes by specifying the following in your service definition in the broker configuration file:

   ServiceSet _MRNODIMBOXES "X"

Can I disable the sorting feature?

You can disable the sorting feature by specifying the following in your service definition in the broker configuration file:

   ServiceSet _MRNOSORT "X"

Can I disable the row paging feature?

You can disable the row paging feature by specifying the following in your service definition in the broker configuration file:

   ServiceSet _MRNOPGOP "X"

Can I modify the settings for the number of rows to display?

By default, the options page lists "ALL", "25", "50", and "100" as the number of rows to display. To modify these, specify a ServiceSet directive in the broker configuration file for your service for the _MRVRNDX1, MRVRNDX2, MRVRNDX3, and MRVRNDX4 macro variables. For example, if you want the number of rows options to be "ALL", "100", "200", and "500", use the ServiceSet directives in the broker configuration file as follows:

   ServiceSet _MRVRNDX1 "ALL"
   ServiceSet _MRVRNDX2 "100"
   ServiceSet _MRVRNDX3 "200"
   ServiceSet _MRVRNDX4 "500"

Can I change the number of paging links that are displayed beneath the report table?

By default, five page links are displayed beneath the report. To modify this setting, use a ServiceSet directive for the _MRVNRLKS macro variable. For example, to display 10 paging links, specify

   ServiceSet _MRVNRLKS "10"

How do I specify to the viewer not to use HTML frames?

To modify this setting, use a ServiceSet directive for the _MRNOFRAMES macro variable. For example, specify

   ServiceSet _MRNOFRAMES "X"

The toolbar buttons on both the Layout and the Report pages will be displayed at the top.

Can I change the appearance of the report table?

Use the _MRTBLPRM macro variable in a ServiceSet directive to change the appearance of the report table. For example, specify

   ServiceSet _MRTBLPRM "CELLPADDING=4 CELLSPACING=2 BORDER=3"

These attributes are inserted into the <TABLE> tag for the report.

Using the Interface

Printing Reports

Changing the Appearance of a Report

Viewing Your Data

Creating Graphs

Modifying the Default MDDB Report Viewer Settings