Databases Reference
In-Depth Information
Conditionally showing and calculating objects
While building our dashboard, we already saw how we can conditionally hide or
show a text object. As you may have already discovered, this does not only work
for text objects, but for any sheet and sheet object, and even for dimensions and
expressions within charts.
For sheet objects, the conditional show input box is located on
the
Layout
tab of the object properties. For sheets, it's located
on the
General
tab of the
Sheet Properties
window.
For charts, within the
Chart Properties
window, conditional
showing of dimensions can be set using the
Enable
Conditional
checkbox located on the
Dimensions
tab. For
chart expressions, conditional showing can be set using the
Conditional
checkbox on the
Expressions
tab.
Conditional showing
of objects can make your document much more user-friendly.
You can, for example:
• Show visual cues to make users aware of potential issues.
• Hide objects which, based on the current selection, would display incorrect
information. For example, a sheet that displays information on an individual
carrier that would not display correctly if more than one carrier is selected.
• Combined with buttons and variables, you can further refine the user
interface. For example, showing and hiding groups of objects within the
same sheet, or simulating pop-up windows.
Let's look at a small practical example in which we will add a sheet that will only be
visible when a single carrier is selected:
1.
Select
Layout | Add Sheet
.
2.
Using
Layout | Promote
or the
Promote
button on the toolbar, move the
sheet until it is next to the
Reports
sheet.
3.
Press
Ctrl
+
Alt
+
S
to open the
Sheet Properties
dialog.
4.
Use the following expression for the
Title
of the sheet
='Details for '&
[Carrier Name]
.
5.
Click on
OK
to close the
Sheet Properties
dialog.
