Natural Language Support in Interactive Reports

Learn about natural language support available in interactive reports.

Developers can extend an interactive reports to accept natural language input from end users. Utilizing a Large Language Model (LLM), users can apply report settings, such as filters, control breaks, charts, and so on, using natural language.

Note: Natural language support in interactive reports must be enabled by an application developer. To learn more, see Adding Natural Language Support to Interactive Reports in Oracle APEX App Builder User’s Guide.

Best Practices When Using Natural Language

Learn about best practices when using natural language to filter a report.

Tip: When asking questions using natural language, remember that AI assistants only work with the existing columns and capabilities already available in your interactive report.

Best practices when using natural language to filter a report include:

• Use natural language to apply report settings such as filters, select columns, highlights, breaks, sorts, groups, charts, pivots, and computations. You can also perform report actions such as reset, save and set the rows per page.

• Keep questions focused on how data should display in the report.

• Phrase instructions using language such as Show me..., Break by..., Highlight..., Group by..., and so on.

• A request containing multiple actions within one instruction. For example:

  Show all projects for Develop Production Partner Portal and Develop IT Management Apps, sort on the start date and highlight the rows in green that have a cost of zero.

In contrast, avoid the following when using natural language to filter a report:

• Do not ask questions to generate new insights or doing free-form analysis.

• Do not request complex queries such as nested groupings or multiple aggregations. Hierarchical rollups are supported. Request one grouping or calculation at a time.

• Open-ended requests are not supported. For example:

  • Why are sales down?

  • Who is the best manager?

Filtering an Interactive Report Using Natural Language

Learn how to filter an interactive report using natural language. Note: Nautral language support in interactive reports must be enabled by an application developer. To learn more, see Adding Natural Language Support to Interactive Reports in Oracle APEX App Builder User’s Guide.

To filter an interactive report using natural language:

1. View the interactive report.

   

   Description of the illustration ir_nls.png

   Note the search bar includes the following controls:

   • Columns to Search - Select specific columns to search or search all columns.

   • Search or ask a question - Enter natural language to apply filters, highlight, sort, show/hide columns,apply control breaks, perform group bys, aggregate data, pivot, create charts, add pagination save reports, and reset the report state.

   • Actions menu - Displays as three vertical dots ( ). Use the Actions menu to customize the interactive report. Contains the same options that appear in standard interactive reports.

   • Creates - Create a new row in the table.

2. In the Search or ask a question:

   1. Enter natural language to filter the report. For example:

      Show projects where the Assignee is Tyson King and highlight rows in yellow if the cost is greater than 5000.

   2. Press Enter.

      A revised report appears with two filters: Assignee = ‘Tyson King’ and Cost >5000.

      

      Description of the illustration ir_nls_search_results.png

3. To view the AI Assistant, click the Assistant icon ( ).

   1. Click the Assistant icon.

      The AI Assistant appears to the right of the report. Note the previously entered text displays in the AI Assistant window.

      

      Description of the illustration ir_nls_ai_assistant.png

      Additional AI Assistant controls include:

      • Detach - Displays the AI Assistant in a separate window on top of the report.

      • Close Assistant - Closes the AI Assistant window.

   2. To add additional filters, enter more criteria in Type your message here field and press Enter.

Related Resources

For more information, see Key Phrase Support in Interactive Reports.