A dynamic link uses variables to pass information from Metrics Management to a URL. These variables are either system variables or link tags. A system variable supports passing properties of a specific Metrics Management object to a link, for example, the name of the selected measure or the logged-in user’s e‑mail address. A link tag is a user-defined text value for a specific Metrics Management object. Each book, database, location, measure, and user supports up to four link tags. The object owner or the system specialist defines the link tag value.

When using a variable in a link, ensure that the variable has a value in the context in which a user accesses it. Using a variable that has no value causes the link to fail. For example, a link using location information fails if placed on a measure.

A variable provides access to properties of any of the context items named in Table 8‑33.

Most context items have a name property. Other properties are specific to the type of context item.

A dynamic link is not available if the specified property does not have a value. For example, <%SelectedMeasureOwner.Email%> does not appear if the selected measure owner does not have e‑mail information.

Calendar properties provide values for the completed, current, and locked period for each available period type. If the database does not use a period type, those period properties do not have a value. For example, most Metrics Management databases do not support the week or day period types. The context item that provides calendar properties is Calendar. Table 8‑34 lists and describes calendar properties.

The following line shows an example of a calendar property as used in a link URL:

Database properties provide information about the database to which the user logs in. Database properties also include link tags, which are custom values defined by the system specialist. The context item that provides database properties is CurrentDatabase. Table 8‑35 lists and describes database properties.

The following line shows an example of a database property as used in a link URL:

Metrics Management provides a single name property for the currently selected location. Location properties also include link tags, which are custom values defined by the system specialist or location owner. The context item that provides location properties is SelectedLocation. Table 8‑36 lists and describes location properties.

The following line shows an example of a location property as used in a link URL:

Metrics Management provides a single name property for the currently selected measure. Measure properties also include link tags, which are custom values defined by the system specialist or measure owner. Three context items provide measure properties: SelectedMeasure, SelectedMeasureAssistant, and SelectedMeasureOwner. Table 8‑37 lists and describes measure properties provided by SelectedMeasure.

Table 8‑38 describes measure properties provided by SelectedMeasureAssistant.

Table 8‑39 describes measure properties provided by SelectedMeasureOwner.

The following example shows measure properties used in a link URL to send an e-mail message to the measure owner:

User properties provide information about the currently logged-in user. User properties also include link tags, which are custom values defined by the system specialist or user owner. Table 8‑40 lists and describes user properties.

The following example shows a measure property as used in a link URL:

Metrics Management provides a single name property for each currently selected map, period, section, and view. The context items providing the name property are SelectedMap, SelectedPeriod, SelectedSection, and SelectedView respectively. The selected period is the period of the data displayed in the currently selected object. Table 8‑41 shows examples of the name property for these context items.

To use a variable in a link’s destination, you type the variable name in the link’s Filename or URL property. Type the variable using the following structure:

The <% and %> characters must enclose the variable. To use multiple variables in the URL, enclose each variable separately in these characters.

For example, the following link opens a Google search on the selected measure:

The following e‑mail link passes the selected measure owner’s e‑mail address to the default mail program, and uses the selected measure name as the subject line:

If a property value contains characters that Windows or an application launched by a link misinterprets, the link fails to open the destination as expected. Common examples of these characters include &, %, <, >, and space. Add .AsURL after the property name to encode these special characters so that Windows or the application interprets them correctly. For example, use <%SelectedMeasure.Name.AsURL%>. If the property contains international symbols, such as the Euro symbol, €, use .AsUTF8URL instead of .AsURL.

You can use a link tag to pass context information as a variable to a link. Define custom text values for up to four link tags for a database, user, measure, or location to pass the text values to links. For example, you can create an employee number as a link tag value. The number is then available in a link.

For example, if the selected measure’s name is “Employee Satisfaction,” and the value of the selected measure’s Link tag 1 is “Morale”, the following link:

opens the following URL:

After you have created link tags, you can pass them to URL, filename, application, and e‑mail links.