Dynamic List Parameters

A dynamic list parameter is made up of a set of elements, measures or custom element lists, from a chosen data model. This is in contrast to static parameters, which are 'hand-built' with static logic.

Data driven dynamic list parameters can be built using quick tools directly in Discover. However, they can be designed with more control from Formulate using the Parameter designer wizard. Editing of parameters is also done in the Formulate tool.

Creating a Dynamic List Parameter

To build a parameter launch a Formulate session and choose Parameter. After selecting model as the parameter's scope, you need to select the target data source model that this parameter will operate against. Choose any model in the system from the drop down listing (red box below). Use the filtering and search tools (red arrows) to find your model more easily.

Next you need to choose its type: Data Driven (red arrow below) - since our dynamic list is going to be driven by the data in the model itself.

Then, select a hierarchy from the model (green arrow) and then select elements (purple arrow). If you have logical selections made with other list definitions you can use those (teal box below) or hand select the elements. The selections will appear in the last panel (blue arrow). Click the List Builder button (yellow arrow) to import and auto-select a list of elements.

Dynamic Measure Parameters

Dynamic Parameters are usually built against hierarchies. However, they can also be built using measures - using the same technique as above. These can then be used as a measure parameter slicer in queries in Discover and Present. This way, you can inject the required measure into the query at runtime. Measure parameters can also be built on the fly in Discover.

Example

The example below shows a simple flow of how to build and use a dynamic list parameter. For a more advanced example see the manual cascading slicer example.