Refine report results with Report Designer
Overview
Using Report Designer, you can analyze data in a standard or custom report. Data analysis methods allow you to refine your results and uncover the data you need to justify a decision or determine the next steps.
Apply conditional formatting rules to report data
Using Report Designer, you can create, apply, and manage conditional formatting rules. Conditional formatting rules can be used to format the following report elements:
- Columns in a vertical table
- Rows in a horizontal table
- Section headers
- Free-standing cells
Create a conditional formatting rule
- Click Reading in the upper-right corner of the open report to switch the report display to Design mode.
- Navigate to Analyze > More (
) > Formatting Rules.... The Manage Formatting Rules dialog opens.
- From the Manage Formatting Rules dialog:
- Click the Add Rule button (
) to open the Create Rule dialog.
- Enter a name for the conditional formatting rule.
- (Optional) Enter a description for the conditional formatting rule.
- Click the Select Object button (
) and select what you want to apply the conditional formatting rule to:
- Object or variable - If selected, the Available Objects dialog opens. Select a report object and then click OK.
- Cell Contents - If selected, the conditional formatting will be applied to any cells whose contents match the conditional formatting rule.
- Select a query operator from the Operator drop-down list.
- Enter or select the value that triggers the conditional formatting rule in the Operands text field. To select an operand:
- Click the Select operand button (same as select-object-button) and then select Object or variable or Value.
- If you selected Object or variable, select a report object from the Available Objects dialog and click OK.
- If you selected Value, select the radio button for the value that will trigger the conditional formatting from the List of values dialog and click OK.
- Click the Select operand button (same as select-object-button) and then select Object or variable or Value.
- (Opzionale)
- Click the Add condition after current condition button (
) to add additional conditions to the formatting rule. You can remove a condition by clicking the Delete condition button (
).
- Click Add Condition to add an additional conditional formatting rule.
- Click the Add condition after current condition button (
- Click Format ... to open the Formatting Rules Display dialog.
- From the Formatting Rules Display dialog, set the format that appears when the rule is triggered.
- Click OK when the format has been set.
- Click OK to save the conditional formatting rule.
- Click the Add Rule button (
Apply a conditional formatting rule
You can apply conditional formatting rules from the Analyze tab or the right-click menu.
Apply a conditional formatting rule from the Analyze tab
- Click Reading in the upper-right corner of the open report to switch the report display to Design mode.
- Select the report element you want to format conditionally.
- Navigate to Analyze > More (
) > Formatting Rules....
- Click the rule you want to apply from the drop-down menu. The conditional formatting rule is applied to the report.
Apply a conditional formatting rule from the right-click menu
Note: You must create a conditional formatting rule to enable the right-click menu Formatting Rules option.
- Click Reading in the upper-right corner of the open report to switch the report display to Design mode.
- Right-click the report element you want to format.
- Click Formatting Rules..., select the checkbox for the rule you want to apply, and then click OK. The conditional formatting rule is applied to the report.
Manage conditional formatting rules
- Click Reading in the upper-right corner of the open report to switch the report display to Design mode.
- You can manage conditional formatting rules from the:
- Analyze tab - Navigate to Analyze > More (
) > Formatting Rules.... The Manage Formatting Rules dialog opens.
- Right-click menu - Right-click in a report and then click Formatting Rules.... The Apply Formatting Rules dialog opens.
Note: You must create a conditional formatting rule to enable the right-click menu Formatting Rules option.
- Analyze tab - Navigate to Analyze > More (
The Manage Formatting Rules and Apply Formatting Rules dialogs allow you to add, edit, duplicate, and remove formatting rules.
Edit conditional formatting rules
From the Manage Formatting Rules or Apply Formatting Rules dialog:
- Click the formatting rule you want to edit and then click the Edit button (
). The Create Rule dialog opens.
- Edit the formatting rule as desired.
- Click OK to save your changes. If the formatting rule has already been applied to the report, the edits will be applied immediately.
Duplicate conditional formatting rules
From the Manage Formatting Rules or Apply Formatting Rules dialog, click the formatting rule you want to edit and then click the Duplicate button (). A new rule appears with the same name followed by a (1).
You can select and edit the duplicate rule before applying it to the report.
Remove conditional formatting rules
From the Manage Formatting Rules or Apply Formatting Rules dialog:
- Click the formatting rule you want to delete and then click the Remove button (
). The formatting rule is automatically removed from the dialog.
- Click OK to close the dialog. If the formatting rule has been applied to the report, it will be removed immediately.
Apply an input control
Input controls are used to filter and analyze report results. You define input controls using text boxes and radio buttons. Input controls are associated with report elements, like tables and section headers, and use control to apply a filter on report elements.
When you select a value for input control, it filters the values in the report element that are associated with input control by the selected value.
Define an input control
Note: If a button is greyed out, it is unavailable.
You can create four types of input controls in WorldShare Report Designer:
- Calendar -This input control type allows you to directly enter a value in a text field or select a value using a calendar button for a dimension date report object.
- Multi-List - This input control type displays a list of all available values for a dimension report object and allows you to select multiple values.
- List—This input control type displays a list of all available values for a dimension report object and allows you to select one value.
- Entry field - This input control type creates a text field where you can directly enter a value name for either report object type.
Create a calendar input control
Note: Calendar input controls can only be created using report objects that contain Date in the name.
- Click Reading in the upper-right corner of the open report to switch the report display to Design mode.
- Click the Show filter bar button in the Analyze tab.
- Click the Manage filters button and select New Input Control from the drop-down menu. The New Control dialog opens.
- Select the report object you want to assign to the input control from the Object drop-down list. The name of the report object you chose automatically populates in the Name text field.
- (Opzionale)
- Edit the name of the input control.
- Enter a description for the input control.
- From the Input Control Properties area:
- Select Calendar from the Type drop-down list.
- Select an input control operator from the Operator drop-down list.
- Equal (default)
- Not Equal
- Greater Than
- Greater Than or Equal to
- Less Than
- Less Than or Equal to
- (Optional) Click the Reset on refresh radio button to reset the default value of the input control automatically when you refresh the report. By default, Reset on Refresh is turned off, and you'll have to manually edit the input control after running a report.
- Click OK. The input control you've created now appears in the filter bar.
Create a multi-list input control
- Click Reading in the upper-right corner of the open report to switch the report display to Design mode.
- Click the Show filter bar button in the Analyze tab.
- Click the Manage filters button and select New Input Control from the drop-down menu. The New Control dialog opens.
- Select the report object you want to assign to the input control from the Object drop-down list. The name of the report object you chose automatically populates in the Name text field.
- (Opzionale)
- Edit the name of the input control.
- Enter a description for the input control.
- From the Input Control Properties area:
- Select Multi-List from the Type drop-down list.
- Select an input control operator from the Operator drop-down list.
- In List (default) - Select this operator to retrieve data corresponding to values in a list of values.
- Not In List - Select this operator to retrieve data that does not correspond to multiple values.
- (Optional) By default, all available values for an input control are selectable. If you only want selected values for the selected object to appear:
- Click Select values.
- Select the values you want to include with the input control.
- Click OK to return to the New Control dialog. The Use restricted list of values toggle will be on.
- Select how you want your list of values to be sorted.
- None (default)
- Sort ascending
- Sort descending
- (Optional) Null values are not included in an input control by default. To turn this on, click the Allow selection of null values toggle.
- (Optional) By default, the input control's default value doesn't automatically reset when the report is refreshed. To turn this on, click the Reset on refresh toggle.
- (Optional) By default, input controls do not have default values. To set the default value the input control users to filter the report object:
- Click the down arrow (reports-down-arrow) and then select Select value from the drop-down list.
- Select one or more values you want to set as the default.
- Click OK to return to the New Control dialog.
- Click OK to save the input control and add it to the report.
Create a list input control
- Click Reading in the upper-right corner of the open report to switch the report display to Design mode.
- Click the Show filter bar button in the Analyze tab.
- Click the Manage filters button and select New Input Control from the drop-down menu. The New Control dialog opens.
- Select the report object you want to assign to the input control from the Object drop-down list. The name of the report object you chose automatically populates in the Name text field.
- (Opzionale)
- Edit the name of the input control.
- Enter a description for the input control.
- From the Input Control Properties area:
- Select List from the Type drop-down list.
- Select an input control operator from the Operator drop-down list.
- Equal (default)
- Not Equal
- Greater Than
- Greater Than or Equal to
- Less Than
- Less Than or Equal to
- (Optional) By default, all available values for an input control are selectable. If you only want selected values for the selected object to appear:
- Click Select values.
- Select the values you want to include with the input control.
- Click OK to return to the New Control dialog. The Use restricted list of values toggle will be on.
- Select how you want your list of values to be sorted.
- None (default)
- Sort ascending
- Sort descending
- (Optional) Null values are not included in an input control by default. To turn this on, click the Allow selection of null values toggle.
- (Optional) By default, the input control's default value doesn't automatically reset when the report is refreshed. To turn this on, click the Reset on refresh toggle.
- (Optional) By default, input controls do not have default values. To set the default value the input control users to filter the report object:
- Click the down arrow (reports-down-arrow) and then select Select value from the drop-down list.
- Select one or more values you want to set as the default.
- Click OK to return to the New Control dialog.
- Click OK to save the input control and add it to the report.
Create an entry field input control
- Click Reading in the upper-right corner of the open report to switch the report display to Design mode.
- Click the Show filter bar button in the Analyze tab.
- Click the Manage filters button and select New Input Control from the drop-down menu. The New Control dialog opens.
- Select the report object you want to assign to the input control from the Object drop-down list. The name of the report object you chose automatically populates in the Name text field.
- (Opzionale)
- Edit the name of the input control.
- Enter a description for the input control.
- From the Input Control Properties area:
- Select Entry Field from the Type drop-down list.
- Select an input control operator from the Operator drop-down list.
- Equal (default)
- Not Equal
- Greater Than
- Greater Than or Equal to
- Less Than
- Less Than or Equal to
- (Optional) By default, the input control's default value doesn't automatically reset when the report is refreshed. To turn this on, click the Reset on refresh toggle.
- (Optional) By default, input controls do not have default values. To set the default value the input control users to filter the report object:
- Click the down arrow (reports-down-arrow) and then select Select value from the drop-down list.
- Select one or more values you want to set as the default.
- Click OK to return to the New Control dialog.
- Click OK to save the input control and add it to the report.
Edit an input control
- From the open report, click Reading to display the report in Design mode.
- Open the Build side panel (
). The Report element data panel should open by default. If it doesn't, click the Show report element data button (
).
- Click the Input Controls button (
) to view all input controls currently assigned to the report.
- Locate the input control you want to edit and click the Edit button (
) to open the Edit Control dialog.
- From the Edit Input Control dialog, update the appropriate fields and information.
- Click OK to save your edits.
Remove an input control
- Click Reading in the upper-right corner of the open report to switch the report display to Design mode.
- Click the Show filter bar button in the Analyze tab.
- Click the Manage filters button and select Manage Filter Bar from the drop-down menu. The New Control dialog opens.
- Locate the input control you want to edit and click the Delete input control button (
). The input control will be deleted immediately.
- Click OK to close the Manage Filter Bar dialog.
Filter report data
You can filter reports to limit report results from the Build side panel or the right-click menu. The data you filter out remains in the document but is hidden from view.
You can apply different filters to different parts of a report (e.g., limit results in the entire report to a specific product and then limit results in the table to focus on a specific material format or customer type).
Add a filter
- Open the Build side panel (
). The Report element data panel should open by default. If it doesn't, click the Show report element data button (
).
- Click the Edit filters button (
) and then select Manage filters from the pop-up menu in the Filters section. The Report Filter dialog opens.
- From the Report Filter dialog, click the Add Filter button (
). The Available Objects dialog opens.
- Select the report object you want to add as a filter to the report and click OK to close the Available Objects dialog. All available values for the report object you selected as a filter are visible in the Report Filter dialog.
- Select one or more of the available values using the checkboxes.
- Repeat steps 2-5 to apply additional filters to the report. When you apply additional filters, they are joined with an AND.
Apply a conditional formatting rule
You can apply conditional formatting rules to a specific column.
- Select the column From the open report to which you want to apply a filter.
- From the Report element data panel, click the Edit filters button (
) and then select Manage filters from the pop-up menu in the Filters section. The Report Filter dialog opens.
- From the Report Filter dialog, click the Add Filter button (
). The Available Objects dialog opens.
- Select the report object for your selected column (e.g., Event Day name of Week) and click OK to close the Available Objects dialog. All available values for the report object you selected as a filter are visible in the Report Filter dialog.
- Select one or more of the available values using the checkboxes.
- Click OK. The column you selected will update to reflect only results that match the filter criteria.
Add a nested filter
Nested query filters allow you to create more complex filter conditions than is possible when you combine filters at the same level.
When you nest filters, you set the order in which they are evaluated. For example, you can return the data given by two query filters joined in an OR relationship (where either one filter condition or the other is true) and then further restrict this data by applying another filter to it. In this case, the two filters in an OR relationship are nested and then compared with the other filter in an AND relationship.
Example: Filter all checked out and returned items from a specific temporary or permanent shelving location by the date the item was checked out or returned.
- Select the column From the open report to which you want to apply a filter.
- From the Report element data panel, click the Edit filters button (
) and then select Manage filters from the pop-up menu in the Filters section. The Report Filter dialog opens.
- From the Report Filter dialog, click the Add Filter button (
). The Available Objects dialog opens.
- Select Event Date and then click OK.
- Select the Event Data checkbox under Available Values to add all values to the filter, and then click Apply.
- Click the Add nested filter button (
) to add a nested filter. By default, nested filters are joined with OR. Double-click the OR to change it to an AND.
- Click the Add Filter button (
), select Item Temporary Shelving Location, and then click OK.
- Select the values you want to include in the filter and then click Apply.
- Click the Add Filter button (
), select Item Permanent Shelving Location, and then click OK.
- Select the values you want to include in the filter and then click Apply.
- Click OK to close the Report Filter dialog.
Edit a filter
- Click Reading to display the report in Design mode from the open report.
- Open the Build side panel (
). The Report element data panel should open by default. If it doesn't, click the Show report element data button (
).
- Click the More button (
) for the filter you want to edit. The Report Filter dialog opens.
- Update the existing filter as needed or add an additional filter.
- Click Apply to save your edits and apply them to the open report.
Remove a filter
- Click Reading to display the report in Design mode from the open report.
- Open the Build side panel (
). The Report element data panel should open by default. If it doesn't, click the Show report element data button (
).
- Locate the filter you want to delete and click the Delete Filter button (
). The filter is deleted automatically.
Rank report data
You can apply a rank to limit report results to only the top or bottom results from the Build side panel or the right-click menu.
Note: Only measures can be ranked in a report.
Add a ranking
- Click Reading to display the report in Design mode from the open report.
- Open the Build side panel (
). The Report element data panel should open by default. If it doesn't, click the Show report element data button (
).
- Click anywhere in the report and then click the Display the ranking panel button (
) in the Report element data panel.
Or
Right-click anywhere in the report and then click Data > Add Rank. - Click Add a rank in the Ranking panel.
- From the Ranking panel:
- Select Top and enter the number of values you want to rank to rank the highest values in the column.
Or
Select Bottom and enter the number of values you want to rank to rank the lowest values in the column.
Note: By default, Top is selected and 3 is entered as the number of values when the Ranking dialog opens. - Select the measure on which the ranking is based from the Based on drop-down list.
- Select a dimension from the Ranked by drop-down list to rank by a particular dimension rather than all dimensions in the report.
- If you specify a ranking dimension, the aggregated values of the Based on parameter, calculated for the dimension, determine the ranking.
- If you do not specify a ranking dimension, the ranking returns the top/bottom rows in the report based on the measure.
- Select a rank calculation mode from the Calculation mode drop-down list.
- Count (default) - The ranking returns the top/bottom records based on the measure specified as the Based on parameter (e.g., the top 3 countries by revenue generated, the bottom 3 year/quarter combinations by revenue generated).
- Percentage - The ranking returns the top/bottom percent of the total number of records based on the measure specified as the Based on parameter (e.g., if there are 100 records and you rank the top 10%, the ranking returns the top 10 records).
- Cumulative Sum - The ranking returns the top/bottom records, for which the cumulative sum of the measure specified as the Based on parameter does not exceed the value specified in the top/bottom.
- Cumulative Percentage - The ranking returns the top/bottom records, for which the cumulative sum of the measure specified as the Based on parameter does not exceed n% of the measure's total, specified in the top/bottom.
- Select Top and enter the number of values you want to rank to rank the highest values in the column.
- Click OK.
Remove a ranking
- Click Reading to display the report in Design mode from the open report.
- Open the Build side panel (
). The Report element data panel should open by default. If it doesn't, click the Show report element data button (
).
- Click anywhere in the report and then click the Display the ranking panel button (
) in the Report element data panel.
- Click the Remove Ranking button (
). The ranking is removed automatically.
Oppure
Right-click anywhere in the report and then click Data > Remove Rank. The applied ranking is immediately removed.
Visualize data with a chart
You can add a chart to your report to help visualize the report data.
Create a chart
- Click Reading to display the report in Design mode from the open report.
- Click the Insert chart button (
) in the Insert tab and select the type of chart you want to insert.
- Click in the report pane to insert your selected chart.
- Click the Display the feeding panel button (
) to assign objects to the chart.
- Drag the desired report objects from the Document dictionary panel to the relevant area in the Filter panel.
Turn a table into a chart
You can turn a table into a chart to visualize the report data.
- Click Reading to display the report in Design mode from the open report.
- Click the table to select it and then open the Build side panel (
). The Data tab should display by default. The Show report element format panel opens.
- Click the Show report element format button (
) to open the Report element data panel.
- Click the Display the feeding panel button (
) to open the Feeding panel.
- Under the Turn Into... section, select the type of chart you want to turn the table into.
Note: The Turn Into function includes all data from the table in the chart type you selected. - (Optional) Click the chart to select it. The Report element data panel displays in the Data/Format panel. From the Report element data panel, you can click the Display the feeding panel button to:
- Remove any Category Axis values you do not want to include in the chart. To remove, hover over the value and click the Delete this object button (
).
- Change the type of chart you want to display.
- Remove any Category Axis values you do not want to include in the chart. To remove, hover over the value and click the Delete this object button (
Style a chart
You can choose from several formatting options, including color palettes, chart styles, and detailed formatting options. The formatting options available depend on the type of chart you selected.
- Click Reading to display the report in Design mode from the open report.
- Click the chart to select it and then click the Build side panel (
) to open the Data/Format panel.
- Click the Show report element format button (
) to open the Report Element Format pane.
- Use the following buttons to style the chart:
- Display Settings (default)
- Appearance Settings
- Style Settings
- Layout Settings
- Click Apply to apply your changes.
Remove a chart
- Click Reading to display the report in Design mode from the open report.
- Right-click the chart and then select Delete from the right-click menu. The chart is deleted automatically.