Multiple reports in Application Studio WebServices

In Application Studio WebServices users can interact with multiple reports in four ways:

Tabbed browsing
Portals
New Window
Multiple browsers started from a desktop shortcut.

These options each have characteristics which designers of Application Studio reports should consider when developing reports which may be opened in Application Studio WebServices.

It is recommended that reports which may be used among multiple reports are designed to be as independent from the other reports as possible.

Note: We strongly recommend that users avoid the New Window and multiple browser options.

When working with multiple reports it is recommended that you use report variables and minimize the use of global variables. This example illustrates why.

Example

There are two reports: Planning and Budgeting.

Both reports use the date value stored in a global variable called g_CurrentDate.
A user opens each report in a different tab.
The user changes the date in the Planning report and writes back some values.
On the server, the value of g_CurrentDate has changed to the new value. On the client, the Budgeting report still uses the old value.
The user writes back some values in the Budgeting report.

The date shown in the report is different from the date now held on the server and the data is not written back as the user expects.