When creating new custom tasks or extending the out-of-the-box tasks, it is possible to access various information in the context of the Strategy Application such as form and query strings, http headers, or cookie information. For example, the RWManipulation out-of-the-box task gets triggered when the user runs a Flash Dashboard and switches the selector value (when selectors are configured to behave as a filter). The RWManipulation task call will contain information about the current state of the application, the dashboard the user executed and the element the user selected in the selector control.
To access this information programmatically, perform the following steps to create a new bean-based task (selecting the RWManipulation task as an example) in the Strategy Developer Library (MSDL):
Creating a New Bean-based Task
After completing the steps from the MSDL, add the following code the collectData() function:
@Override
protected void collectData(BeanTaskRequestContext btrContext)throws TaskException {
// TODO Auto-generated method stub
System.out.println("calling collectdata in custom rwmanip task");
//the container services collection contains cookie information, form and query values, and http header strings
ContainerServices cs = btrContext.getContainerServices();
//Use the requestKeys object to access information in the Request keys:
RequestKeys keys = btrContext.getRequestKeys();
//the following method is getting the selector element that was just changed by the user (see below for direction on getting to the values of all selectors):
String evts = keys.getValue("events");
System.out.println("events: "+ evts);
int idx = evts.lastIndexOf("elemList*.");
int idxStart = idx+10;
String element = evts.substring(idxStart);
System.out.println(element);
//this saves it as a temporary cookie, use Fiddler to see temp cookies. to save the cookie as a hard cookie, set the expiration date.
GenericCookie cookie = cs.newCookie("ginalist", element);
cs.addCookieToResponse(cookie);
//if you want to get values of all the selectors in the document, the BeanTaskRequestContext object has a handle to the RWBean instance:
RWBean rwb = (RWBean)btrContext.getWebBean();
//now that you have the rwbean, you have access to all the data including what is currently selected in the selectors.
//KB17624 shows how to traverse the rwbean to get to the definition and data:
super.collectData(btrContext);
}
The example provided in this document is provided “as-is” and user has read the following customization warning:
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
The Strategy SDK allows you to customize several Strategy products and extend and integrate the Strategy business intelligence functionality into other applications. However, before changing the way Strategy products look or behave, it is helpful to understand how the application is built. For more information regarding the Strategy products or the process of customizing Strategy products, please refer to Strategy Developer Zone (https://developer.microstrategy.com).
To access the Strategy Developer Zone, you must have access to the Strategy Knowledge Base, you must have purchased the Strategy SDK, and you must be current on your Strategy maintenance agreement. If you are a US-based business and believe that you satisfy all three of these conditions but you do not have access to the Strategy Developer Zone, please contact Strategy Technical Support at support@microstrategy.com or at (703) 848-8700. If you are an international business, please contact Strategy Technical Support at the appropriate email address or phone number found at https://www.microstrategy.com/us/services/support/contact.
CUSTOMIZATION WARNING:
This customization is provided as a convenience to Strategy users and is only directly applicable to the version stated. While this code may apply to other releases directly, Strategy Technical Support makes no guarantees that the code provided will apply to any future or previous builds. In the event of a code change in future builds, Strategy Technical Support makes no guarantee that an updated version of this particular customization will be provided. In the event of a code change in future builds, Strategy may not be able to provide additional code on this matter even though this customization is provided at this time for this specific build. For enhancements to this customization or to incorporate similar functionality into other versions, contact your Account Executive to inquire about Strategy Consulting assistance.
