Default Open Date

The question “How do I default my document to the right date?” has come up a few times and I’d like to offer one possible solution using document triggers.


First, make sure that you have a master calendar in your script that includes relative time frames. Open Settings>Document Properties… (Ctrl+Alt+D) and navigate to the ‘Triggers’ tab.


Click on ‘OnOpen’ in the ‘Document Event Triggers’ dialog box. Click ‘Add Action(s)’ button.

Click ‘Add’. Check ‘Selection’ in ‘Action Type’ and ‘Select in Field’ in ‘Action’.

Enter [RelativeFiscalYear] (the exact field name will depend on your m*sight script) in ‘Field’. Enter =‘Current Year’ (the string will depend on your script) in ‘Search String’.

The steps above will set Year. You can continue to add actions (e.g. current quarter, current week, current day) as needed. Don’t forget to ‘Save’.

Benefits

Reduced user confusion:

• Most dashboards have multiple years of data; all years summed up may create confusion with the end user

Targeted Data

• Default other information, such as ‘covered’ stores so that the end user has an immediate view of the information that is important to them

Control

• Most users’ initial experience will be better if you exercise control; Give them something familiar before they explore the capabilities of your dashboard