4 Creating Reports

This chapter describes the process for creating new reports.

The Reports module is supplied with a suite of core reports that cover various areas of the Supplier Evaluation data. The core reports cannot be changed, but can be copied to form variants, and new custom reports can be created.

Reports are run from templates that define the layout and data content of the report. Each report has a template that is configured by combining a Data Source and Report Template as a Report Design (see Report Administration). New report templates can be configured by users with the Advanced Reporting Administrator authority profile.

Reports layouts can be configured to include sorting, grouping, conditional logic, totalling, and charts.

Once a report template has been created, it is scheduled to run (see Scheduling Reports), at which point the actual report output is generated (see Viewing Reports). The report outputs may be generated as PDF, Excel, RTF, or HTML documents.

Building New Templates

The general process for creating a new template is as follows:

1. Determine the Record Type.

   First determine the type of report to be built, that is, is it a tabular report, a form report or simply a KPI measure:

   • The majority of the supplied reports present data in a tabular format where each row of the table represents an item at the level of the report's granularity, such as a row per supplier.

   • Some reports present the data in a form layout, where each page or set of pages represents an item. The pages of the form can contain individual fields as well as tables. Examples of form reports are the Audit Certificate report, where details of a supplier's latest audit and any non-conformances are presented as a document.

   • An alternative to a report is a KPI, which measures a single value, typically over a period of time. These can be reports, or represented as a dashboard table or chart. KPI templates are configured in a similar way to report templates.

   If a template does not already exist for the report, check if there is a similar template either in terms of report layout or data content. Copying an existing template and adapting it is usually quicker than building from scratch. For details of the reports supplied as part of the core suite, see Appendix: Report Layouts.

2. Identify the Data Source.

   Report data sources (see Data Sources) provide the domains of data that can be used within reports. Each data source represents a set of columns from one of the predefined queries that expose the Supplier Evaluation data for reporting purposes.

   If a suitable data source exists, it can be used for the report design. Otherwise, create a new data source, selecting the required columns and applying any filters.

3. Build the RTF Template.

   The actual contents and layout of the report are defined by its RTF template. The RTF templates can be built using a word processor such as Microsoft Word, that has a purpose-built Template Builder plug-in. For information on building RTF templates, see Appendix: Designing RTF Templates.

4. Create the Report Template.

   Report templates (see Report Templates) act as a container for the RTF template.

   Create a new Report Template record and attach the RTF file as an attachment.

5. Create the Report Design.

   Report designs (see Report Designs) combine a data source and report template together to provide the means of scheduling the report.

   Create a new Report Design record and select the report's data source and report template.

6. Apply Filters.

   Filters are used to refine the data source to a subset that is appropriate for the purpose of the report.

   Filters can be applied as selection criteria at three levels: directly to the date source, to the report design, or when the report is scheduled to run. The filters can be fixed values, or can be a runtime prompt to the user to enter the value when they schedule the report.

   Filters can be added to fields without actually including the field itself in the report layout.

   In order to minimize the impact of users submitting reports that result in high volumes of processing or content, a means of assigning a cost to the columns added to a report design is used to limit the content. A maximum limit of 200,000 rows within a report is also imposed.

7. Test the Report.

   Before deploying the new report, test the layout, content, and any filters. Some considerations are as follows:

   • Identify a specific record that you expect to appear in the report, so that you can use this as a marker to filter the report and check that the report output is as expected.

   • Apply an initial filter which limits the report output to just the marker record you have identified, for example, the particular type of Audit. The filter can be removed once you have finished designing the report.

   • For reports that are expected to return a large number of records, which could exceed the allowed size of the report, it is useful to add filters that can limit the number of records a particular instance of the report will return. For example, limit the records by Audit type and status.

   • Where filters have been applied, initially test using a minimal set of data.

   • For reports that routinely require different values to be selected for a particular filter (such as the same report filtered and run for different business categories), use runtime filters.