Creating a Link to a Report, a Web Page, or Another SAS Application

Access the Report Linking Dialog Box for Images, Tables, or Graphs

You create report links by using the Report Linking dialog box while in Edit mode. To create a report link for images, tables, or graphs, complete these steps:

Right-click the report object, and then select Report Linking to open the Report Linking dialog box.

Report Linking Menu Item for a Tile Chart
For a link to an existing report, continue with the steps described in Linking to an Existing Report or Stored Process. For a link to a Web page, continue with the steps described in Linking to a Web Page.

Access the Report Linking Dialog Box for Text Objects

You create report links by using the Report Linking dialog box while in Edit mode. To create a report link for text objects, complete these steps:

In Edit mode, right-click on the text object, and then select Edit to open the Edit Text dialog box.
Enter the complete text that you want to display. Then highlight the text that you want to link from. Do not select anything other than plain text (no formatting changes).

Tip
Be careful not to select all the text in a paragraph. Selecting the entire paragraph also selects the underlying HTML tags, which results in an error message stating that the selected text cannot be made into a link.

Edit Text Dialog Box with Selected Text

Tip
If you are using Internet Explorer, and you want to create a link from text that is already a Web address (such as www.mycompany.com) or an e-mail address (such as myname@mycompany.com), do this instead: First, type in a temporary name that is not a valid URL (for example, wwwXmycompany.com), and select it. Click and fill in the Report Linking dialog box as described in Linking to a Web Page. Then click OK. Finally, change the temporary name in the text to the desired text (for example, change wwwXmycompany.com to wwwmycompany.com).
Click to open the Report Linking dialog box.
To link to a Web page, continue with the steps described in Linking to a Web Page.

Choosing a Link Destination

Linking to an Existing Report or Stored Process

When you link reports, you can associate data item values and prompts so that the prompt window is bypassed for the target report and the target report is automatically subset based on the values in the source report. You can associate values and prompts in the Set Up Destination Report dialog box, which is explained in Step 6 here.

For multidimensional crosstabulation tables, SAS Web Report Studio can pass the following values to a prompt in a target relational report:

category values that are visible in the table
group break or filter criteria, if the data item is manually associated with a related prompt

For multidimensional reports only, you can also pass hidden data item values to the prompts in a linked report. The hidden values can be categories that are not visible in the table.

To link to an existing report or stored process, complete these steps:

Start with the steps described in
- Access the Report Linking Dialog Box for Images, Tables, or Graphs
- Access the Report Linking Dialog Box for Text Objects
Select the Include report links check box to confirm that you want to create a report link.
Select a link destination of An existing report or stored process.
Select an existing report. The report name displays in the Report field.

Report Linking Dialog Box for a Link to an Existing Report

Note: If the Set Up Destination Report button is dimmed, then you cannot add report links.
(Optional) Add content to the Tool-tip text field. The default tooltip text is Click to view linked content.
If the destination report contains multiple sections or prompts, then click Set Up Destination Report to open the Set Up Destination Report dialog box and assign data items in the source report to prompts in the target report.

If the destination report contains multiple sections, the Open to section drop-down list contains the names of the sections in the destination report. Select the section that you want to appear when a user clicks to follow a link.

If the destination report contains any prompts or if the report object in your source report contains suitable data items, then the box contains a drop-down list of Data Items for each prompt in the destination report. The data item that you select has to be compatible with the prompt. Data items that are incompatible cannot be assigned. For example, a character prompt for age groups, such as child and adult, cannot accept numeric data item values, such as 5 or 35. For more information about compatibility between prompts and data items, see Defining Prompts in Report Linking. If you do not assign a data item value to each prompt, the prompt window appears and you must confirm the current values or enter new ones.

Note: You can select the same data item value for multiple prompts.

If none of the available items in the drop-down list provides the intended value for a given prompt, then leave the drop-down list unchanged.

Set Up Destination Report Dialog Box
If you get unexpected results in the target report, here are some potential ways to remedy the situation:
- If a table or graph in the target report unexpectedly displays the message: No values were returned, then you can check the prompt values that were actually used by clicking the Refresh Data option. The prompt window for the current section of the target report appears with the values that were actually used. Sometimes the format of the values used by prompts can affect the results. In such cases, you should verify that the formats of the values delivered from the source report agree with the formats expected by the prompts. For example, unexpected results could occur if a target prompt expected values in uppercase and the source report delivered the values in lowercase. You could simply correct the values on the prompt screen. Alternatively, you could adjust the source or target or both reports so that the values passed from the source agree with the expectations for the target prompt or prompts.
- If the prompt window unexpectedly appears when you are linking to a target report and messages with particular prompts indicate their values are invalid, then review the set up of the source and target report. Here are some potential inconsistencies you might encounter:
  
  A prompt that allows only one value is passed multiple values from a hidden data item in a source report.
  
  A missing value is passed to a prompt that does not allow missing values.
  
  A value that is 10 characters long is passed to a prompt that allows values with no more than 7 characters.
The following are special considerations for linking text and image objects:
- Text objects uniquely enable you to create multiple report links, but the Set Up Destination Report button does not appear in the Report Linking dialog box.
- For image objects, if the destination report has multiple sections or contains prompts, the Set Up Destination Report button is available, but you cannot specify the data items corresponding to prompts in the destination report.
Click OK to close the Set Up Destination Report dialog box.
Click OK to close the Report Linking dialog box.

Linking to a Web Page

Type the URL for the Web page that you want to link to. When the user clicks to follow the link, the Web page opens in a separate browser window. Complete these steps:

Start with the steps described in
- Access the Report Linking Dialog Box for Images, Tables, or Graphs
- Access the Report Linking Dialog Box for Text Objects
In the Report Linking dialog box, select the check box to make a link. (The name of the check box depends on the type of report object.)
Select A Web page for the Link destination.
Enter a value for the Web page URL.

Report Linking Dialog Box for a Graph
(Optional) Add content to the Tool-tip text field. The default tooltip text is Click to view linked content.
Click OK to close the Report Linking dialog box.

Linking to Another SAS Application

The ability to link to another SAS application is available only from tables and graphs that are based on information map data sources. This feature has to be set up in advance by a system administrator. Only users with the appropriate role and capability can link to another SAS application. If you have questions about your role or capabilities, contact your system administrator.

To link to another SAS application, follow these steps:

Start with the steps described in
- Access the Report Linking Dialog Box for Images, Tables, or Graphs
- Access the Report Linking Dialog Box for Text Objects
In the Report Linking dialog box, select the check box to make a link. (The name of the check box depends on the type of report object.)
Select Another SAS application for the Link destination.
Select the SAS application(s).
(Optional) Add content to the Tool-tip text field. The default tooltip text is Click to view linked content.

Report Linking Dialog Box for Another SAS Application

Creating a Link for a Group Break

To link to a report from a group break, complete these steps:

In the Table of Contents panel in Edit mode, select OptionsGroup Breaks Report Linking to open the Report Linking dialog box.
Specify what you want to link to by selecting an item (or items) in the Assign link(s) to: list.

Report Linking Dialog Box for Group Breaks
For a link to an existing report, continue with the steps described in Linking to an Existing Report or Stored Process. For a link to a Web page, continue with the steps described in Linking to a Web Page.