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Report Wizard User Guide

Report Wizard User Guide

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Report Wizard Overview

The Report Wizard provides the capability to design and run reports based on data stored in the IFS IDEAS database. This comes as an additional reporting tool to the existing standard reports in every module and to the Financial Report Writer module.

If you have the Enhanced Security module, you must allow permission to the views by selecting the Defaults Permitted option for the Report Wizard Views. You can locate this option by logging into the Enhanced Security module and going to the Functions > Default Setting > Reporting Tab.

The Report W izard is accessible from all IFS IDEAS modules. To access the Report Wizard you will need to locate the  icon on the module tool bar.

 

Using the Report Wizard Screens

The Report W izard is a powerful reporting tool because it allows you to create reports using Views of the IFS IDEAS data. The Report Wizard screen is made up of 8 tabs in the main screen; these tabs will be used to define your report. Prior to selecting the Views you must first create a report or select an existing report you may have previously created. To select an existing report, either click the Spyglass next to the Report Name text field to select a report from a list or use the tree on the left panel of the screen to expand to the report desired.

Standard database Views are provided. You may also create your own Views in SQL Server and they will become available in the Source drop-down box. 

  • Report Name In this field you can enter in a new report name or select an existing report name by clicking the Spyglass icon.

  • Report Heading – The report name will default in this field. If you would like to put in a description of the report you may do so in this field.

  • Orientation – Allows you to choose the layout of the report to be Portrait or Landscape.

  • Show Criteria on Report – Allows you to display the selection criteria used to generate the report on the report.



Report Source Tab

Once you have created a report name the Source section will populate.

The first step in the report definition is to specify the source of your report.

  • Source – Select the source that is going to be used for this report from the spyglass drop-down list.



Reports Column Tab

Once you have selected the View that you will be using in your report, you will be able to see all the fields available on that View.

The next step would be to select the fields that you want to see reflected as columns.

Finally, you will have to go through reviewing the column format definition. Basically, this consists of specifying five options:

  • Column Heading – The program defaults to the column name. You are able to replace this name with one of your choosing.

  • Columns Width – The program defaults to 1 inch (2.5 centimeters). You are able to change the column width.

  • Space After Column – The program defaults to 0.00 inches. You are able to change the amount of space in between the columns.

  • Justification – The program defaults to either right or left based on the type of data in the column. You are able to change the justification to Left, Right or Center.

  • Precision – Adjust the decimal precision for numeric columns.



Selection Criteria Tab

Depending on the data source that you have selected, you are able to filter your report using the fields that exist in the selected source data.

You may use the Selection Criteria to filter the report results. For example, you could limit your report to all check amounts greater than $10,000.

As shown in the illustration below, defining the selection criteria’s formula consists of combining the following three elements:  Field, Operator, and Criteria.

  • Field Select a field from the drop-down list you wish to use a basis for the filter

  • Operator – Select an operator from the drop-down list:

    • Equals

    • Greater than

    • Greater than or equal to

    • In

    • Less than

    • Less than or equal to

    • Like

    • Not equal

    • Not in

    • Not like

  • Criteria the drop-down list will contain values from the database for the selected field. You may select a database value or type in a value. You may select only one value for operators other than In and Not In.  For these operators, you may select multiple values. Select multiple values by using the Shift or Control keys on your keyboard.

To add, delete, or insert rows in the grid, right-click in the far left grid border to access a drop-down menu of options.



Sort by Columns Tab

Select the fields you want to sort by using this tab. You can sort by more than one field and you can choose any one of the fields. There are no restrictions.



Group by Columns Tab

This tab allows you to create grouping in your report using one of your columns. Group By will group your report by the fields specified on this tab. You may include multiple groups. You may only Group By columns that were included in the report on the Report Columns tab.



Summary Columns Tab

The Summary Columns tab enables you to define which report columns should be subtotaled when Group By has been selected. Multiple columns may be included. You may only choose numeric columns for subtotaling.



Free Form Headings Tab

The Free Form Headings Tab allows you to add up to four lines of heading and four lines of footer information. This is free-form text. The heading and footer information is left-justified on the report.



Report Options Tab

The Report Options tab gives additional formatting options for the report.

  • Summary Description This allows you to specify the text that will print on the lines that have subtotals in the report.

  • Suppress Run Date and Time By default, the system date and time print in the upper left-hand corner of the header. Selecting this option will suppress this information.

  • Suppress Group By Heading  – By default, group headings print on the report before and after the data contained in the group. This option suppresses those labels on the report.

  • Logo Logos are stored as part of the company or entity element in Element Maintenance in GL. If logos are defined, they will be listed in this drop-down box. When a logo is chosen, the logo will print on the report in the upper left-hand corner of each page of the report.



Toolbar

The Toolbar at the top of the screen has the following options

  • New Opens a new Report Definition screen. 

  • Save Saves the information for the current report definition displayed.

  • Save As – Opens a new dialog window to indicate a source and new report name. All report definitions from the source report are copied to the new report. This is helpful for creating similar reports. 

  • Print Preview Generates the report in a Crystal Report. This can be used during the definition of the report to help with formatting.

  • Print Sends the report directly to the printer, bypassing the preview.

  • Delete Deletes the report currently displayed in the Definition screen.

  • Exit Exits the Definition screen.






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