AX1701

Creating custom templates for web reports

You can create custom templates and make them available to users who are creating new web reports in the Report Designer. You might create custom templates in order to provide different formats and layouts for web reports, or to provide "starter" reports that are already set up with some of your system's data structures.

To create a custom template for web reports and make it available to users, you must:

  • Create an Axiom form that uses supported web report components.
  • Save the Axiom form to the Report Builder folder in the Axiom System Document Templates library.

Although any user can create the Axiom form to be used as the template, only administrators have access to the Axiom System area.

NOTE: This process can only be completed in the Desktop Client (Excel or Windows). For more information see Axiom forms and Managing files using Axiom Explorer.

Designing an Axiom form as a web report template

Web report templates are created using Axiom forms. When designing an Axiom form to be used as a template, the form can only use certain supported components:

  • Data Grids
  • Hyperlinks
  • KPI Panels
  • Labels
  • Panels

Place the desired components on the canvas, and set their size and position as desired. Remember that web report creators cannot change the size and position of components, and cannot add or delete any components. The components will be used "as is" in the report, except for certain exposed component properties.

Generally speaking, all other form properties should not be changed from the default settings. In most cases these properties do not apply to the web report and will be ignored. However, we recommend leaving any unsupported properties at their default settings in case of unexpected behavior in the web report environment.

NOTE: Currently, there is no way to set a File Group Context in a web report template. The user must manually set this in the Report Designer if they want to use it.

Data grids

The Data Grid component is the primary means of displaying data in a web report. Note the following design considerations:

  • You can create and assign a [DataGridColumns] data source to the grid or not. If assigned, the current columns in the data source will be present in web reports created from the template, and these columns can be configured or deleted from the grid as desired.

    If no data source is present, the grid starts with no columns. The data source is created within the web report as the user adds columns.

  • If the data grid has an assigned Primary Table and Data Filter, these settings will be added to the default data source (Datasource 1) in web reports created from the template. This is the only way to predefine a data source for the template. If these settings are not present in the template, the user must complete these settings for the data source before they can configure the data grid.

  • You can enable various supported settings for the data grid—such as Show Hierarchical Data or Enable Excel Export—and these settings will start as enabled in reports created from the template. Unsupported settings, such as icons or Enable Row Selection, will be ignored. However, we recommend leaving any unsupported settings disabled in case of unexpected behavior in web reports. For more information on supported settings for web report data grids, see Data Grid component for web reports.

Hyperlinks

In the Report Designer, users can only configure the text and the URL of the hyperlink. All other component settings will be applied as is.

KPI Panels

In the Report Designer, KPI Panel components must use KPI tables to provide the KPI data. KPISource data sources are not supported. Users can configure the KPI table for the component, as well as an optional filter and sort column.

You must specify the desired KPI Size in the component properties and design the layout to handle that size. Users cannot change the KPI Size in the Report Designer.

Labels

In the Report Designer, users can only configure the text and the tooltip of the label. All other component settings will be applied as is, except for icons, which are unsupported and will be ignored.

Panels

Panel components can be used in the Axiom form to assist with positioning components. For example, you can start with a Titled Panel, and then replace the default Formatted Grid component with a Data Grid component. However, panels are not configurable in the Report Designer and will be used entirely as is. Users do not see panels listed as configurable components.

Refresh variables

If desired, you can define a [RefreshVariables] data source in the template, so that web reports created from the template start out with predefined variables. These variables can then be configured or deleted from the report as desired. Users can create their own refresh variables in the Report Designer as needed, so it is not necessary to predefine refresh variables for users unless it makes sense to do so for a particular template.

If you define refresh variables in the template, keep in mind the following:

  • Only ComboBox, Grid, and HierarchyFilter variables are supported for use in web reports. For more information, see Configuring refresh variables for web reports.

  • You do not need to set up the Axiom form to respond to the variable selection using formulas (and this will not be supported in the Report Designer if it is done). Instead, the report creator must define refresh variable dependencies for the data source in the Report Designer. Currently, it is not possible to predefine these dependencies in a template.

Publishing the template to users

To publish a web report template to users, you must copy and paste the Axiom form to the following location:

\Axiom\Axiom System\Document Templates\Report Builder

Only administrators have access to this location. Note that you cannot use Save As to save the form directly to this location. You must use Axiom Explorer to copy and paste the file.

All form-enabled files in this location are presented to users as templates when they create a new web report in the Report Designer. When a web report is created from the template, the form-based elements in the file are converted to the XML format of the web report. The user then uses the Report Designer to configure the web report.

If desired, you can copy and paste a PNG image to this location with the same name as the template, and that image will display as the thumbnail image for the template when users create new web reports. If no matching PNG file is present, the default thumbnail image is used.

See also