An ad hoc dataview is a simplified representation of a complex database, which can be use as datasource for Ad Hoc Reporting. It offers a simple list of columns that can be used in an ad hoc report instead of a large number of joined tables. End user don't have to know the structure of a database and can dive into Ad Hoc Reporting.
An ad hoc dataview can be created using the i-net Designer. This enables you to use the same tools as required to design a normal report, like the visual linking wizard or the field property editors.
To provide access to certain database fields, use the visual linking wizard to add a datasource and it's tables to your report. Now you're able to add fields of these tables to your data view. Only fields which are added to the ad hoc dataview are visible to the user. The alias names and and field order is exactly what will be shown to the user. Please note, that duplicate names are not allowed as alias name.
Formula fields can be used to create artificial fields. This is usually required to apply a complex formatting or to combine database fields into one field, for instance first and last name.
Once created a formula field can be added to the Dataview like a a database field. Formula fields do not have an additional alias. To change the display name of these fields, please change the name of the field itself.
The type of the field (database or formula) is hidden from the user, who will only see a plain list of field names and their data types.
Ad hoc dataviews can use prompt fields as well. They can be defined and added to the ad hoc dataview like formula field. But their primary purpose is to allow the user to modify certain parameters for formula fields or the record selection formula.
The format of all fields in an ad hoc dataview can be changed. The available properties are limited to content formatting only. You cannot change the font style or colors here since these parameters are defined by the ad hoc layout.
If a property is set to a value other than default, this property will override the value defined by the ad hoc layout.
An additional feature of ad hoc dataviews is to define a filter by setting the record selection formula. This selection formula will be combined with the filter set by the user by an logical AND. The user will never see the additional filtering by the record selection formula.
To activate ad hoc dataviews for a user, simply put the dataview files into the root of the ad hoc base directory or any of it's subdirectories. Since all ad hoc dataviews are presented as a plain list, it doesn't matter in which directory an ad hoc dataview is located.
If there is at least one ad hoc dataview found by Ad Hoc Reporting, which can be utilized by the current user, this user is only allowed to use ad hoc dataviews instead of datasources and visual linking. Another option is to activate the CSV upload since an uploaded CSV file is presented as a ad hoc dataview.
The ad hoc dataviews visible to a user can be restricted by setting file permissions. It is highly recommended to review the file permissions for ad hoc dataviews if the public account is enabled.