Subset picklist beginning with blank

[nimol]

Can you have a subset picklist starting with an empty selection / blank. It can be done in a static, but can you do it with a subset picklist?

[jim wood]

You can control pick lists on the pick list cube by creating a rule.

[rmackenzie]

There's been some talk on this before - http://www.tm1forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2000

The short answer is that unless the fix has come out (and I don't think it has, but may be wrong) then no, you can't have a blank in a subset-based picklist. The workaround is to have an element that is, perhaps, a dot or a dash, for the sole purpose of being able to blank out a previous selection in a cell that contains a picklist.

[tomok]

I've never liked starting a drop-down with a blank value, especially in TM1 where the result of the selection is a dimension element. All that does is result in KEY_ERR in the report and it requries a descriptor to let the user know exactly what the are supposed to be picking. My solution is to add an element to each dimension in the model that will be a title element in a report and name it "Select an account", or "Select a model", etc. Make this element the first one in the picklist. This way no descriptor is needed, the element is actually in the dimension (thus no KEY_RRR), and the report will return all zeros until all valid selections have been made for all picklists (because no data is in these "Select a" elements).

[jim wood]

Attached are the rules I did for a customer that did something similar to (What I hope) you are after:

Code: Select all

['Decision Location'] = S: ('static:HQ:Local: :') ;

['Decision Country'] = S:
IF(DB('ibie',!ibie_scale,!ibie_time,!ibie_country,!ibie_product,!ibie_client,'Decision Location') @= 'Local'
,('subset:ibie_country:Level0')
,('static: :'));

[rmackenzie]

I've never liked starting a drop-down with a blank value, especially in TM1 where the result of the selection is a dimension element. All that does is result in KEY_ERR in the report and it requries a descriptor to let the user know exactly what the are supposed to be picking.

This is true in situations where you are asking the user to populate element references. However, the result of a selection can easily be a piece of data, for example, in an assumptions cube. In these cases, allowing a combination of a blank and elements from a defined subset would be useful.

This is a simple usability issue - where a user is being asked to make a selection into a blank cell, the expectation is that it can be deleted in the case of a bad input, or a change of mind, etc.

[nimol]

thanks for all valid points, in this case it's a usability issue as mentioned. If contributor mistype or change his/her mind it would be useful if you can make it blank again