Prompt parameters to be set to default: first day and last day of the current period

[AlexanderSk]

Dear Team,

Could you please advise me? I am creating a custom report that requires a prompt page with a date range "from" and "to."

This range is assigned to a parameter. Everything is set up so far as a standart one

How can I configure the setup of  a Promt Page so that, by default, the first date and the last date of the current month are automatically derived by the system when running the report?

Thank you

[KevinD]

@AlexanderSk If I'm understanding you correctly, you want to see data for a one month period. Because Cognos updates each night, data from the last day of any month isn't available until the first day of the next month. So, these reports would need to be run (at the earliest) the first day of each month.

Now for the really good news. You do not need to preset your paramaters in your prompt. In fact, you can remove the filter altogether and use the Last Month prebuilt filter. This will allow you to run the report at any time and it will return the data from previous month. It makes things easier and you can run it on day 1 of each month. In fact, you could even set this report up on a schedule to run on the first day of each month. When scheduling, you can even have it send the report out in an email. So many options.

Let me know if you have any questions.

[AlexanderSk]

Dear Kevin,

This is exactly what I need. I developed a custom report where I have a Date Prompt (please see the attached picture).

This report is supposed to be executed via a job every day, and by default, the Start Date and End Date should be the first and last day of the current period.

However, I have no idea where I can define the logic for the Start Date and End Date. If you have any suggestions, I'd appreciate it.

In the default selection options, it doesn't seem possible to enter a formula. 

[KevinD]

@AlexanderSk when you say "current period" what does that mean? Current week? Current month? If this period is something like that last seven days or last 10 days there are ways to write a filter expression to define this so you wouldn't need a prompt.

I just need a little more information on what exactly the "current period" is in the amount of days or months.