Products
Webtrends Analytics 8.x
Webtrends Analytics 9.x
Cause
For each custom report, a database structure is created to store the data related to that report. When changes are made to the report configuration that would impact that underlying database structure, this will clear the historical data for that report. Data will then be provided for all future data based on the new report configuration, but historical data is unavailable.
When such a change is made, a warning is provided that the configuration change is a “destructive change,” and giving the user an opportunity to cancel that change rather than clearing historical data. This article provides a list of all possible changes and whether that change is a destructive change.
When it is necessary to keep historical data, best practice is to create a copy of the report, make the needed changes to the report copy, and attach both the old version and new version of the report to the profile. Once sufficient historical data has accumulated in the new report, then the historical report can be deleted.
Resolution
The following changes to a report’s configuration are considered destructive changes:
- Adding or removing a dimension
- Changing what dimension is used for either the primary or secondary dimension
- Removing an existing measure
- Changing what measure is used for any existing measure
- Changing whether a measure is sortable
- Changing the accumulation method for a measure (sum, average, etc.)
- Editing the name, title, category, short description, help card description, or row total label
- Selecting or deselecting “Allow only Webtrends Administrators to edit or delete these settings”
- Changing the column name for any dimension
- Selecting or deselecting “Exclude activity without dimension data” for any dimension
- Changing how interval data is collected for one or all measures
- Changing the column name for any measure
- Enabling or disabling column totals
- Adjusting the number of decimal places for any measure
- Adding a new measure to an existing report (versions 9.2 and later)
- Adding, editing, or removing a calculated measure
- Adding or removing one or more include or exclude filters
- Changing the “Value to Base On” selection
- Altering when data is collected (all hits, most recent, etc)
- Editing the name, category, column name, or help card description
- Selecting or deselecting “Allow only Webtrends Administrators to edit or delete these settings”
- For dimensions based on a parameter value, changing the parameter name
- Selecting or deselecting “Parameter Can Have Multiple Values Delimited by Semicolons”
- Any updates to the settings to select a sub-string from a dimension value
- For dimensions that collect data only when matching a specific URL, any updates to the URL that must be matched
- Changing the “Value to Base On” selection
- Selecting or deselecting “Parameter Can Have Multiple Values Delimited by Semicolons”
- Altering when data is collected (all hits, most recent, etc)
- Selecting or deselecting “Do you want to sum this measure across the visit”
- Editing the name, category, column name, or help card description
- Selecting or deselecting “Allow only Webtrends Administrators to edit or delete these settings”
- For measures based on a parameter value, changing the parameter name
- Any updates to the settings to select a sub-string from a measure value
- For measures that collect data only when matching a specific URL, any updates to the URL that must be matched