Creating Templates

A report template is a pre-formatted file that serves as a starting point to create a new report. When you save a file created from a template, you are prompted to save a copy of the file so that you do not overwrite the template. Templates are provided within a software or a program or it is created by the user.

Most major software support templates. If you want to create a similar document or report over and over again, it is a good idea to save one of them as a template. You can open the report template and start creating reports from there. Parameters in the report template are specified when the report is created or run. You can save the criteria as a template, after creating the report criteria.

You can create a report template for any type of a report. In this example, you will create a report template for Change History Report. To create a report template, do the following:

1. Select Reports from the Navigation pane.
2. Select Change History Report and click Create Change History Report in the Actions pane. The Create Change History Report wizard is displayed.
3. Define the report parameters:

   • Report Name: The name of the report.

   • Description: A description of the report.

   • Date Range: Specify the start date and end date between which the report will cover.

   • Actions: Select the actions to be reported. You can select Install, Uninstall or both.

   • Schedule: Select Create Schedule to schedule the report.

   • Output Format: Select the output format of the report result. CSV and PDF formats are available.

   • Select Targets: Add the targets by selecting them from the list of Available Items by clicking Add to Target List.

4. Click Next to schedule the report.
5. Select a desired schedule to run and generate the report.
6. Click Next to display the Summary.
7. Review the report parameters and click Save Template and Close to save the report template.

   The created report template is displayed in Report Templates in the center pane.