How can I configure a report to allow inline editing of fields?

Environment:

Analytics, Inline Editing option
Oracle B2C Service, All versions

Resolution:

Inline editing is a reporting option that allows staff to edit content directly from a report without having to open the individual record. When inline editing is enabled for a field in a report, when the staff member clicks on the field, a blue box displays for that value. The staff member can click again to edit the value for that field.

For example, with an incident report that allows inline editing, if you notice that an incident is assigned to the wrong agent, you can reassign the incident to the correct agent from the report without having to open the incident. If the Status field is also enabled for inline editing, you can edit the status without having to open the record.

To configure a report to use inline editing: 

1. Verify that your staff profile has the Modify Inline Report Editing box enabled on the Analytics tab.
    
   1. Profile requirements:  In order to configure a report that allows inline editing, the staff profile must have the Modify Inline Report Editing option enabled on the Analytics tab. With this option enabled, when the staff member edits a report, the Properties tab displays an additional button named Editing Options. The Editing Option window allows staff to enable inline editing for specific fields in the report.
       
2. Create a new report or copy an existing report.

   1. Copying reports: If a staff member uses a  profile that does not have the Modify Inline Report Editing option enabled but does have the Create/Edit Reports or Create/Edit Public Reports options enabled, that staff member can copy a report that has inline editing. The copy that is created also has inline editing enabled for the fields specified in the original report.

      Therefore, when you enable a field for inline editing, other staff may be able to copy that report and make the copy available to other staff members that you did not originally consider. 

      As a result, when enabling inline editing for a specific field, consider who within your organization has the ability to copy reports and create and edit public reports that can be enabled for other staff members.

      For more information on creating custom reports, refer to Answer ID 2509: Creating a Basic Custom Report.
       
3. Include the output columns of interest in your report.
    
   1. See Add Output Columns for steps to do this.
       
4. From the Home tab, click the Inline Editing button located within the Properties section.
    
5. Enable the Allow inline editing checkbox.
    
6. To have inline edits saved automatically, enable the Automatically save inline edit changes check box. If this box is not enabled, staff must manually push a save button in order for their inline edits to be saved to the database.
    
7. In the lower pane, enable the checkboxes for the fields that you want to be inline editable. 
    
   1. Fields that cannot be edited are listed in gray text and cannot be enabled. This includes fields such as Reference # in an incident report, Answer ID, products and categories in an answer report and date fields such as Date Created or Date Last Updated.
      
      
       
8. Click OK to close the Editing Options window.
    
9. Save the report.

When staff run the report, the fields you enabled from the Editing Options window can be edited inline. The fields that are inline editable are highlighted when the mouse hovers over the field.

In addition to editing individual rows, staff can edit multiple records at once. Use the CTRL key or Shift key to select multiple records. Then, click Edit Selection from the top of the page and select the field to edit.

If the Auto Save button is not enabled, be sure to click Save after editing your records inline so that your edits are saved to the database.

Additional considerations: 

When editing a report to allow fields to be inline editable, note the items below and how they relate to your report and data.

• The following record types are supported for inline editing:  Incidents, Contacts, Organizations, Opportunities, Tasks, and Answers.  For comprehensive information on inline editing with reports, refer to the 'Enable inline editing' and 'Editing data inline' section in online documentation for the version your site is currently on. To access Oracle B2C Service manuals and documentation online, refer to the Documentation for Oracle B2C Service Products.

• Several features control whether a staff member can edit a report using inline editing and which fields can be edited:

  • The report must be configured to allow inline editing.
  • The staff profile must allow editing for that record type.
  • The fields enabled for inline editing must be editable. For example, you cannot include incident reference number to be edited inline since that field is not editable in any record.
  • The field must be in the primary (top) level of the report.
  • The field cannot be configured with grouping or other functions such as a count, maximum, or minimum function.
     
• Workspace configurations and read-only properties:  Inline editing may allow edit access to fields that otherwise cannot be edited by the staff member using a specific workspace. 
   
  For example, within a workspace, you may restrict access to specific fields or make them read-only for certain profiles. If you allow those fields to be inline editable in a report outside the workspace, staff who cannot edit the field from the workspace can edit the field from the report if they are granted access to the report. Please note, you cannot use this functionality with the legacy .NET console. This feature is only available in the Browser User Interface (BUI). 
   
• Include the proper field in the report:  When including fields in your report, some fields include the same information, but one field may be editable and the other may not be. Evaluate the fields to determine which is best to include in the report.
   
  For example, in an incident report, you can include either the incidents.assgn_acct_id field or the accounts.full_name field as an output column to indicate which staff member is associated with the incident.
   
  In this case, the incidents.assgn_acct_id field is editable and can be enabled for inline editing.  However, the accounts.full_name field is not editable from a report. Therefore, include the incidents.assgn_acct_id field in the report if you want the Assigned value to be inline editable.
   
• Columns using formulas:  If you include a formula in an output column that acts on a field, you cannot enable that field for inline editing. 
   
  For example, if you use the formula: nvl(incidents.assgn_acct_id, 'No Assigned Account') to assign a display value for null values in the incident assigned field, that column cannot be enabled for inline editing. 
   
• Groupings:  Similarly, columns that group multiple records and report a summary value such as count, maximum, or minimum value cannot be enabled for inline editing.  If a row has any grouping in it, the field will not be able to be inline edited.
  
  To check this while editing the report --> go to the Level tab --> in the Grouping section --> uncheck Group Results. Does the number of results change? Then there are rows being grouped.