Types of Prompts in Cognos Report Studio

VALUE PROMPT: Value Prompt Retrieves data based on values that you select from a list.

Use this control to show the list of possible values from which users can choose.  

Note: The maximum number of items that can appear in a list is 5000.

SELECT AND SEARCH PROMPT: Select & Search Prompt Retrieves values based on search 

criteria that users specify. Data is then retrieved based on values users select from

the search results. Use this control instead of a value prompt if the list of values 

is very long, which can slow down performance.

Tip: Users have the option of performing a case sensitive or case insensitive search.

A case sensitive search is faster, while a case insensitive search usually returns 

more values. You cannot use this control if you are working with SAP BW datasources.

DATE PROMPT: Date Prompt Retrieves data based on a date that you select. Use this 

control when you are filtering a date column. With this control, users can retrieve 

data for a specific day, a set of days, or a range of days.

TIME PROMPT: Time Prompt Retrieves data based on a time that you select. Use this 

control to restrict a report to a particular time or time range. For example, you can

use this control to see how many orders are received after business hours. You can 

then use this information to determine the number of staff needed to work after hours.

DATE AND TIME PROMPT: Date & Time Prompt Retrieves data based on a date and time that

you select. Use this control when you are filtering a datetime or timestamp column. 

This control is useful for specifying ranges. For example, you can retrieve all 

orders received from Monday at 12:00 a.m. to Friday at 5:00 p.m.

INTERVAL PROMPT: Interval Prompt Retrieves data based on a time interval that you 

specify. Use this control to retrieve data that is related to the passage of time. 

For example, you can use this control to retrieve a list of products that were 

returned 30 or more days after they were purchased.

TREE PROMPT: Tree Prompt Retrieves data based on values you select from a list. 

Values are organized hierarchically. This control is useful when you are working 

with dimensional data sources. Data is shown from the top of a dimension hierarchy to

the most detailed member, and users can choose the level of Detail they want to view 

in the report.