Exago comes with a number of functions that can be used to make formulas in the Formula Editor. Administrators may create additional custom functions using high level coding languages which will be accessible to end-users of the Report Designer. Functions can be added to a preexisting folder or a function can be put into a new custom folder.
Custom Functions can be written in C#, VB.NET, or JavaScript (Windows only). Functions can take as many input arguments as needed.
Functions can get and set elements of the current session state of Exago such as Parameter values. See SessionInfo for more information.
Each Custom Function has the following properties.
A name for the function that will be displayed to the end users. Required.
A description of the function that will be displayed to the end users.
Note
To support multi-language functionality, you can supply an Id from a language file instead of a static string. For more information, see Multi-Language Support.
Note
Arguments are passed to the code as an array of generic objects, accessed as
args[ ]
.
A way of grouping similar functions. You can assign custom functions to an existing Exago category or create a new category.
To create a new category:
FormulaEditor
and end with Node
. For example:
<element id="FormulaEditorVeryCoolFunctionsNode">Very Cool Functions</element>
The language filed ID is provided in the Specify Category Name (Optional) field
Formula Editor dialog showing the custom category name Very Cool Functions
Important
Providing a static text string that does not match a language file ID for the Specify Category Name (Optional) field is not valid.
A return type must be specified for each Custom Function. This field can be defined as a String, Integer, Decimal, or Date, and determines the expected return type of each function.
You may use this flag to specify whether this function has side-effects and should disqualify including reports from aggregating in the database (thus skipping the function when in a suppressed Detail section). For example, most functions that build or manipulate memory storage with Get/SetStoredValue should have this flag set to true.
The high-level language of the code for the function. Can be C# or VB.NET, or JavaScript (Windows only).
A semicolon-separated list of any DLLs that need to be referenced by the Custom Function. The DLLs must be present in the bin
folder of the Exago Web Application, Scheduler Services, and the Web Service API if applicable. This folder can be found in the installation directory of the respective component.
Tip
System.dll
does not need to be listed as a reference as it is already available.
A semicolon-separate list of any namespaces that need to be referenced by the Custom Function.
The program code for your Custom Function. Press the green check mark to verify the code executes properly. Required.
Note
To use a .NET Assembly for custom functions, first add it to the applicable
bin
folders. Then add the assembly as a reference in the Custom Code window, and invoke the method, e.g.,return Extensions.Functions.DayBefore(args);
.
Starting with version v2017.2 there are several enhancements to the way function arguments are implemented and used.
Click Edit Argument Info to show a dialog for managing arguments. Then click Add Argument for each argument the function will have. Arguments have the following properties:
The name of the argument, which will appear as a placeholder in the function parentheses and in the function’s description tooltip.
A description for what the argument is used for. You should mention the expected data type, if it is not obvious. This will appear in a tooltip when the placeholder name is selected.
Can also be a language file ID.
Whether this argument is required or optional. Optional arguments are surrounded by brackets [ ] in the function’s description tooltip.
If selected, the last argument in the list accepts more than one value. Variable arguments are followed by an ellipsis (…) in the function’s description tooltip.
Custom Functions can access the Exago session state through a “sessionInfo” object. Access to sessionInfo allows powerful new capabilities such as the ability to persist values across function invocations, allowing each invocation to be aware of previous calls and behave accordingly.
Note
sessionInfo
can also be accessed in Server Events, Action Events, and Assembly Data Sources.
This is the parent of all information in the current session. Included is the active Report and SetupData objects.
Note
Since the Report and SetupData objects are accessed frequently, direct pointers are included for these objects.
An object that contains all of the report’s Data Object, sort, filter, and layout information.
An object that contains all of the session’s configuration setting including Filters, Parameters, Data Objects, Joins, Roles, etc.
A direct pointer to the companyId Parameter value.
A direct pointer to the userId Parameter value.
A method that executes the specified report and returns its html output. This could be used to embed a report within a cell of another report.
Note
The
reportName
is relative to the session’s report path.
A method that returns the specified Parameter Object. ‘GetParameter’ first looks in the Report Parameter collection, parameters being utilized by the report, and then in the Config Parameter collection, as well as other parameters such as hidden parameters or multi-tenant values.
A method that returns the specified Parameter object that is utilized by the report being executed.
A method that returns the parameter object stored in the default configuration.
A method that writes the specified text to the Exago log file.
Note
The following methods utilize Stored Values which are objects that can be created and set by custom functions during report execution to pass data between custom function calls. Stored Values only exist for the duration of report execution.
A method that retrieves a Stored Value. If a there is no Stored Value with the specified valueName, then one will be created with the specified initialValue.
A method that sets the value of a Stored Value. Passing ‘null’ to newValue will delete the Stored Value.
Cases may arise where you want to call an existing function within your Custom Function. Using the class CellFormula and returning the method CellFormula.Evaluate().
Exago BI ships with several built-in custom functions in v2017.2+. These are functions that are common in many reporting environments, but the manner in which they work may be different depending on locality, time zone, or other factors. For this reason, these functions have been exposed in the Admin Console so that administrators may change how they work.
Note
If these functions are unavailable, such after an upgrade, in the Admin Console navigate to General > Filter Settings > Restore All Default Formula Functions and click on the
Restore button.
The following custom functions ship with Exago BI:
Description | Given a date value, returns the name of the month of that date. The month name is retrieved from the active language dictionary. For example, given the date “01/01/2017”, MonthName() will return “January” in an English-speaking environment, and “Enero” in a Spanish-speaking environment. |
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Arguments |
|
References |
|
Example | These examples are in an English-speaking environment:MonthName("02/29/2020") February
|
Description | Given a date value, returns the fiscal quarter of the date, as “Q1”, “Q2”, “Q3”, or “Q4”. By default, Q1 encompasses January 01 – March 31, Q2 encompasses April 01 – June 30, Q3 encompasses July 01 – Sept 30, and Q4 encompasses Oct 01 – Dec 31. But since different countries or financial landscapes may use different systems of quarters, the behavior of the function is exposed and customizable. |
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Arguments |
|
Example |
QuarterName("02/29/2020") Q1
|
Description | Given a date value, returns the fiscal quarter of the date, as “1”, “2”, “3”, or “4”. By default, Q1 encompasses January 01 – March 31, Q2 encompasses April 01 – June 30, Q3 encompasses July 01 – Sept 30, and Q4 encompasses Oct 01 – Dec 31. But since different countries or financial landscapes may use different systems of quarters, the behavior of the function is exposed and customizable. |
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Arguments |
|
Example |
QuarterNumber("02/29/2020") 1
|