I was presented with a design approach yesterday that included one web report duplicated multiple times for each group in the organization. Each web report then used essentially an identical information map with the difference of only a filter. Instead of using a single web report with a prompted filter (or copying the web report and changing each report's defined filter), the information map prefilter capability was necessary to keep the criteria hidden from user view.

Probably the best approach to this requirement would be to implement one information map and one web report, with identity based filters. More detail on how this works is available from SAS Support: http://support.sas.com/kb/37/798.html

However, sometimes identity-based filters are not an option. Many web report developers do not have any access/authorization to implement this since it requires updates to user profiles in SAS Management Console. So my thought is to create copies of the information map and just change the filter. Then use the Manage Files interface in SAS Web Report Studio to copy the report using a different name. The same interface would then be used to open the Update Resources functionality. In Update Resources, change the original information map to the newly copied but slightly different information map.

Here are the steps in detail.

1. Open the Information Map from Information Map Studio
2. File->Save As, Rename the Information Map
3. Change the Filter and Save.
4. Open Web Report Studio, select File-> Manage Files from the Welcome Screen.
5. Click the Actions box next to the original report and click Copy.
6. For the new name 'Copy of ...' select Actions -> Rename to modify the name.
7. For the new report select Actions -> Update Resources to select the new information map created in step 1-3.

The bold text in the task list above represents menu items selected in the Action menu. The screenshot below highlights these options.