|
Reports > Step 2: Creating Layouts
Step 2: Creating Layouts
After you define the criteria, you should create the layout for your report. In this step, you can add more views to your layout. These initially show up at the bottom of your layout. You can also add subtotals and totals to your columns.
Views use the presentation capabilities to help you look at results in meaningful, intuitive ways. You can add a variety of views to results, such as charts and pivot tables that allow drilling down to more detailed information, explanatory text, a list of filters that were used to limit the results, and more.
When you run a new report, Oracle CRM On Demand Answers initially displays results in a table, with a title preceding the table. It does this by including a Title view, which displays the name of the saved report, and a Table view, which displays the results in a basic table that inherits the formats, sorting and other options specified in the Define Criteria step. You can customize or delete these existing views for a report, add other views, and combine and position views anywhere in the workspace.
Preparing multiple views of results can help you identify trends and relationships in data. You can then save the report with the collection of views.
You define the layout of your reports in the Create Layout page in Oracle CRM On Demand Answers. To access the Create Layout page, either create a new analysis, as described in Getting Started with Answers (Custom Reports), or open an existing analysis in Oracle CRM On Demand Answers.
Your layout can include any views shown in the following table.
Layout
|
Description
|
Title
|
Use this view to include a title and subtitle, a saved name for the results, and a custom logo to identify the results. For result-specific help, you can include a help icon that links to any HTML page or site that contains information about the report or the results.
|
Table
|
Use this view to display data in a column format. You can select to display a page of information at a time, which is convenient for larger result sets, and control the size of the page and the position of the paging controls. Tables are supported in a wide variety of formats and can include graphics, links, and so on, using custom formatters. Using Table view, users can also change the format of the table headings.
|
Chart
|
Use this view to drag and drop columns to a layout chart. You have complete control over the title, the location of the legend, axis titles and data labels. You can control the size and scale of the chart, and control colors using a style sheet. In addition, you can drill down into the results. Supported chart types include bar charts, column charts, line charts, area charts, pie charts, scatter charts, bubble charts, and custom subtypes including 2D, 3D, absolute, clustered, stacked, combination, and custom.
|
Pivot table
|
Use this view if you want to be able to take row, column and section headings and swap them around to obtain different perspectives. You can drag and drop headings to pivot results, preview them, and apply the settings. Users can navigate through pivot tables and drill down into information. Users can create complex pivot tables that show aggregate and nonrelated totals next to the pivoted data, allowing for flexible analysis. For an interactive result set, elements can be placed in pages, allowing users to select elements. Like the Table view, elements can be formatted using custom formatters.
|
Gauge
|
Use the gauge view to show results as gauges, such as dial, bar, and bulb-style gauges.
|
Active filters
|
Use this view to show the filters in effect for a report.
|
Static text
|
Use this view to include static text in the results. You can use HTML to include banners, tickers, Active-X objects, Java applets, links, instructions, descriptions, graphics, and so on, in the results.
|
Legend
|
Use the Legend view to document the meaning of special formatting used in results, such as the meaning of custom colors applied to gauges.
|
Column selector
|
Use column selectors to allow users to dynamically change which columns are displayed in the analysis. This allows users to analyze data along several dimensions and dynamically alter the content of the results.
|
View Selector
|
Use the View Selector view to select a specific view of the results from among the saved views. When placed on a dashboard, the view selector appears as a drop-down list where users can make a selection.
|
Funnel chart
|
Use this view to display a three-dimensional chart that represents target and actual values using volume, level and color. It is useful for depicting target values that decline over time, such as a sales pipeline.
|
Narrative
|
Use this view to display the results as one or more paragraphs of text. You can enter in a sentence with placeholders for each column in the results, and specify how rows should be separated. You can incorporate custom HTML or JavaScript to specify how information is displayed.
|
Ticker
|
Use this view to display the results of a report as a ticker or marquee, similar in style to the stock tickers that run across many financial sites on the Web. This view is useful for calling attention to results and for late-breaking information. You can control what information is presented and how it scrolls across the page. This view supports a variety of formats and can include graphics, links, and so on, using custom formatters.
|
No Results
|
Use this view to specify explanatory text to appear if the report does not return any results.
|
Printing Controls
You can specify the print settings for the report in the Layout tab by clicking the hand icon to the left of the Layout Views control. In the dialog box of printing controls, you can adjust the following:
Page Settings:
- Paper Size (User Default, US Letter, A4. A3, A5, Folio, and Legal)
- Orientation (Portrait, Landscape)
- Print Rows (Visible Rows, All)
- Maximum Width (Check box for using margin space)
Header and Footer:
- Include and Edit Header
- Specify the Header text and choose appropriate formats
- Include and Edit Footer
- Specify the Footer text and choose appropriate formats
For More Information
Click a topic to see step-by-step instructions to do the following:
|
