The Custom Reports feature allows you to create report
templates based on any combination of criteria, with many formatting options.
Formatting
options include headings, columns, sorting, and color graphs. Single
and two-level metrics based on any fields can be included. Report
output can be exported to another application (such as Excel) and can
be scheduled to be run on a regular basis.
Report Options
Note
The names of many of the fields in FootPrints
can be changed by the administrator (Title,
Priority,
Status,
Description,
etc.), as well as the name of the records (Issue). Custom
fields can also be created. For
clarity, this manual always refers to FootPrints records as “Issues”
and uses the default terms for the other field names.
To create a custom
report, select Reports
| New Report from the FootPrints Toolbar. The Custom Report Wizard is displayed:
Style tab—Select
the output style of the report. Choices are:
Columns—Issue data is displayed in fixed columns.
One Issue is displayed per row. Columns can be selected from any available
fields.
Wrapped—Each
Issue returned is displayed in its own mini-table. Line breaks can be
used to wrap data to multiple rows, for example, to place the Description
in its own row. This style is useful for printing reports that
contain many fields.
Metrics and Graphics—Create custom metrics and graphs of counts,
averages and sums on any field. Single and two-level metrics are supported.
Output options include table, bar, and pie charts.
Export—Export data to a text file that
can be saved to your local desktop. Use this format to import FootPrints
data into a spreadsheet or other programs
Include metrics...—Column and
Wrapped reports can also contain metric charts and graphs. Check this
box to include metrics in a Column or Wrapped report (not available for
Export option).
Click GO to display the rest of the report options. The steps on the next page depend on the report style selected in Step 1.
Heading tab—Define what
is included in the heading at the top of the report output. Available
for all styles except Export. Options include:
Report Title—This is displayed
at the top of the report.
Date—The date the
report is run (updates each time the report template is re-run).
Time—The time the
report is run (updates each time the report template is re-run).
Workspace
name—The
name of the Workspace.
Logo
graphic—The
logo image displayed in the current Workspace.
Formatting tab—There are two sets of options for the Formatting tab. One is for column and wrapped reports and the other is for metric reports and combo reports.
Column and wrapped reports—Select the
issue information to display in the report. All fields are available. This option
is available for all styles except Metrics.
Type
of Field—Select the types of fields to be displayed in the report. Options are Server fields, Issue Information fields, and Contact Information fields. You can select fields from any or all of these options at any time by selecting the appropriate radio button. Once a radio button has been selected, click on a field in the Fields list and then click the Add Field button to display the field in the Selected Fields list. Selected Fields are displayed in the report in the order in which they appear in the list. Change the order by clicking on the field in the Selected Fields list and then clicking the Change Order up and down arrows. Remove a field from the Selected Fields list by clicking on the field and then clicking the Remove button. The Reset button allows you to reset the Selected Fields list to its default state and will do so regardless of which radio button has been selected (in other words, if you added Issue Information fields and then clicked the Contact Information button and added contact fields, then clicked Reset, all of the added fields, both Issue Information and Contact Information, are removed). Some fields have special characteristics:
Email History—The Email History
field is a special field that includes the email history in the report.
This provides
an audit trail in reporting. Because
this type of report searches every record included in the report for every email notification, using this field can cause a slowdown in the
reporting.
History—The History
field is a special field that includes the Issue history in the report.
This provides
an audit trail in reporting. Because
this type of report searches every record of every change to the Issues
that are being reported, using this field can cause a slowdown in the
reporting.
Last Edited By—The Last Edited By
field is a special field that displays the last user that edited a record. To include system edits as well (such as those performed as an Autofield action), clear the Display the most recent non-system user who modified the Issue check box.
Line
Break—Insert
a line break (Wrapped style only).
Description—Select which
descriptions to include in the report and when to wrap the data (only
applies if Description
is included in the Selected
Fields box). You
can include all descriptions, the original, newest, two most recent, or three most recent
descriptions in your report.
Multi-line field wrapping—Select Don't Wrap and the data is displayed on a single line. Otherwise, to wrap lines, choose Wrap Every X Characters and enter the number of characters at which to wrap in the text field.
Process/Phase Voting Details—If Change Manager is enabled, you may have options to display information regarding Change Manager approvals in the report. Select one or both checkboxes to display the information. Check the box for Display Final Decision information for each Issue to display whether or not the proposed changes were approved or denied. Check the box for Display Voting History for each Issue to display the record of voting on each issue.
Filter Voting History As Follows—If the Voting History checkbox is checked, select the voting history to be displayed from the drop-down field. Options are: All Processes/Phases, Current Process/All Phases, Current Process/Current Phase [AllVotes], Current Process/Current Phase [Recent Vote].
Assignees—If Assignees
is selected, the full names of the assignees are displayed in the report
(e.g., Bob
Smith). This is not suitable for importing the report output
into another Workspace, as user ID’s must be specified in a data import
file. To create a file that includes assignees user IDs (e.g., Bob
Smith), use the System Administration Export
Workspace Data option.
Sort Results By—Select how
the issues are sorted in the output. The issues can be sorted by up to three levels of criteria and in ascending (from lowest to highest) or descending (from highest to lowest) order. In the Field drop-down, select the field on which the issues are to be sorted. If a text field is selected, the issues are sorted alphabetically based on the first character in the field. If you select a number field, such as Issue Number, the issues are sorted numerically. If the sort is by Status, then the data is sorted according to the Status number, regardless of the label that is displayed in the Status field. For subsequent levels of sorting, the issues are sorted within each field of the preceding sort. For example, if issues are sorted first based on the Status field and a secondary sort is performed according to Issue Number, the all of the issues with a Status of Urgent might be displayed first, starting with the lowest Issue Number up to the highest within that group of Urgent issues. With regard to the Heading checkboxes, if a Heading checkbox is checked, a heading is displayed in the report to indicate how the issues were sorted. For example, if Status was selected, then a heading would be displayed at the beginning of the list indicating which Status was used in sorting the issues that followed. A new heading would then be displayed to indicate when the next set of Statuses began.
Metrics—Create custom metrics and graphs of counts,
averages, and sums on any field. The option is available for Metric style,
and for Column and Wrapped style if the Combo checkbox is checked. Refer to Metrics
and Graphics for details on Metrics options.
Note
This section only determines which fields
to display; it does not determine the selection criteria for the report.
The criteria are chosen later in the report.
Issue Criteria tab—Select the criteria, using issue fields, for the report. Only select the criteria you want to search on. It is important to understand the meaning of relative periods
and aging in order to obtain accurate information, especially as the searching
and reporting functions of FootPrints
rely on the same types of criteria. If
a search is requested on Issues for "the previous three months,"
and the date is the 15th of May, then the period searched or reported
on will be from February 15th through May 14th, inclusive. That
is, the report or search will exclude the current date and give the three
month period prior to the current date. This
is to ensure that reports and searches yield consistent results. If
reports and searches included the current date, then the results might
differ depending on the time of day at which the search or report was
performed.
Contact Criteria tab— Select any additional criteria, using address book fields, for the report. Only select the criteria you want to search on.
Advanced Criteria tab— The FootPrints Advanced Reporting criteria section uses the same mechanism as the Advanced Search. Refer to the topic on Advanced Search for detailed explanation of criteria.
NOTE
It is important to understand the meaning of relative periods and aging in order to obtain accurate information, especially as the searching and reporting functions of FootPrints rely on the same types of criteria. If a search is requested on Issues for "the previous three months," and the date is the 15th of May, then the period searched or reported on will be from February 15th through May 14th, inclusive. That is, the report or search will exclude the current date and give the three month period prior to the current date. This is to ensure that reports and searches yield consistent results. If reports and searches included the current date, then the results might differ depending on the time of day at which the search or report was performed.
Save/Run
tab—Click
GO to run the
report. To save the report, enter a name before you run it. Select
Personal
to save the report for yourself. Select Shared/Internal
to share your report template with other internal FootPrints users.
Shared/Public
reports are available to all users including customers (the report only
contains data the user is allowed to see). Shared/Public
reports appear on the customer Pre-Defined
Reports page. Each time a saved report template is run, it
returns the latest matching data.
Note
Saving the report here only saves the report formatting options
and criteria chosen in this form, not the results of the report. This feature can be used to run the
same report in the future, for example, once a week. Each time the
report is run, it returns the latest data from the current Workspace.
Saving report output is covered in the topic on Saving
and Printing Report Data.
After you click GO,
the report is displayed in a separate browser window. Large reports
sometimes take a few minutes to run. To view the details of an Issue,
click the Issue number (or whatever field is in the first column) in the
report. This displays the Details page for that Issue in the main
frame.
The report can be saved or printed from the browser window.
If the Export style was selected,
a Save
As dialog box is displayed. Save and name the report to your
local hard drive.
Note on Permissions
Reports can be restricted based on a user's RoleA user type assigned to one or more users to define permissions. Both built-in roles and custom roles can be assigned to users. Examples of built-in roles include Agent, Customer Read/Submit, and Workspace Administrator..
Custom Reports may not be available or some options may not appear if
your role does not allow access. Please
consult your FootPrints administrator
for more information.
.
Custom Reports may not be available or some options may not appear if
your role does not allow access. Please
consult your FootPrints administrator
for more information.