Q:

Input Controls In WebI

I need to have multiple selection in my report filters. Is it possible?
I used list box multiple selection from Input Controls for the same purpose. But the User needs to search for the input control to open and select as it does not open by default. Can we make input control to be seen in our Reports all the time when a user opens the Report?
If yes, How?
Thanks
Niki

A:

As far as I know, you can't force a document to open with the Input Control pane visible. If I'm not mistaken, whether the left pane is visible or collapsed and which tab is showing, is either document or user related, but you can't set it as a document property.
The state of the left pane (visibility and selection) is saved in the user profile. You can see the value by looking at the property SI_DATA.INTERACTIVE_EDITING_VIEWER_USR_PROFILE.CDZ_VIEW_leftPaneSel. Use the Query Builder (http(s)://<application server>:<port>/AdminTools) and run the query below to retrieve the value (in this case for the user Administrator).
select si_data
  from ci_systemobjects
 where si_name = 'Administrator'
   and si_kind = 'User'

The only way you could manipulate the value is through the BusinessObjects Enterprise SDK. But remember that - due to being part of the user profile - changing this impacts all documents the user opens. Moreover, as soon as the user either hides the left pane or selects a different tab, the value will be overwritten. There is no way you could prevent this from happening (at least not to my knowledge).
One possible alternative, is to limit the user interface for that specific user / user group. In BI 4 (I'm not exactly sure from which version on this feature is available), you can turn off certain aspects of the Web Intelligence user interface. 
Doing so, you could make the Input Control tab the only one available in the left pane. Granted, it's not what you're aiming for, and it's an application setting, so the impact is on user(group) level, not on document, but it might be an alternative, depending on the circumstances.
You can customise the Web Intelligence interface by right-clicking a user group in the CMC and selecting Customization from the context menu.

