AX1838
Using the Intelligence Center, you can create new web reports from scratch so that you can build the report as needed.
In order to create a web report, you must be an administrator or have the Create Web Reports security permission. In order to save the new report you must have read/write access to at least one folder in the Reports Library or access to the My Documents folder. If you do not have permission to create web reports, then the option to create a new web report will not be available from the Create button in the Intelligence Center.
To create a new web report:
-
In the Intelligence Center, click Create > Create web report.
NOTE: The Reports area must be selected in the left-hand panel of the Intelligence Center in order to create a new web report.
The Report Builder opens in the current browser tab, displaying a new blank report.
-
In the Select Table dialog, select a primary table to determine the data context for the report, then click OK.
The data context determines the overall pool of data that is eligible to be included in the report. The selected primary table determines which other tables are eligible for inclusion in the report, based on lookup relationships and shared dimensions. All table columns and filters used in the report must be compatible in the context of the primary table.
You can select a table from the drop-down list directly, or type into the box to search for a table name. The search uses "contains" matching to return any tables that contain the search text within the table name. Tables that start with the search text are listed first, followed by tables that contain the search text anywhere in the table name. In the following screenshot, the text
2022has been used to search for tables with the year 2022 in the name.
Selecting a primary table for the data context
Once a table is selected for the data context, you can work with the report in the Report Builder. The Build tab of the Report Builder is where most of the report creation occurs. The Build tab is organized into three main areas as follows:
-
The Data Panel on the left side is where you select the data to include in your report.
-
The Report Canvas in the middle is where you build the report. Columns can be dragged and dropped from the Data Panel to the Report Canvas. You can also create calculations to display in the report columns, and define column groups.
-
The Configuration Panel on the right side is where you define properties for the report, the data grid, and the individual columns. You can configure properties such as report titles, drilling options, and column formatting.
For more information on using the Report Builder, see Using the Report Builder.
-
-
At the top of the Report Canvas, click inside the title boxes and define the title text as desired. You can also optionally edit the title text within the Report Configuration panel. For more information, see Defining report titles and other web report properties.
Defining titles for the report
-
Define the rows of the report by doing one of the following, depending on whether you want to generate the rows dynamically or use a fixed row structure:
-
Dynamic rows: In the Data Panel, locate the table column that you want to use as the row dimension. Drag and drop the column to the Row Dimensions box in the Report Canvas. For more information, see Specifying the row dimension for a web report.
Dragging and dropping a column to use as the row dimension
-
Fixed rows: Select the grid placeholder text in the Report Canvas so that the Grid Configuration properties load into the Configuration Panel. On the General tab, enable Use fixed rows then select an existing Fixed row structure. For more information, see Specifying the fixed row structure for a web report.
Specifying a fixed row structure to define the rows
-
-
Use the Data Panel to locate the data columns that you want to display in the report, then drag and drop those columns out to the Column Definitions box in the Report Canvas. Once the columns are added to the grid, you can configure data and display properties for each column.
For more information, see Adding data columns and calculated columns to a web report and Configuring column properties for a web report.
Adding and configuring data columns
NOTE: To populate the grid with data after adding columns to the Column Definitions box, click the Refresh Data button. By default, the Report Builder uses live data, but you must manually refresh in order to see the result of any data changes. For more information, see Changing data display options for the Report Builder.
-
Select the grid in the report canvas so that the configuration panel changes to show the Grid Configuration settings. Define the grid settings as needed, such as to enable the total row or enable drilling options. For more information, see Configuring grid properties in a web report.
In the following example, the total row was enabled for the grid.
Configuring grid properties
-
Click the Filters tab along the top of the page to define report-level filters as needed, to limit the data shown in the report. For more information, see Filtering data in web reports.
In the following example, a general filter was added to exclude the Corporate world region value from the report and to only show data for revenue accounts.
Defining a report-level filter to limit data in the report
-
Return to the Build tab, then use the plus icon at the top right of the Column Definitions box to add calculated columns to the grid as needed. For more information, see Adding data columns and calculated columns to a web report.
Click the plus icon to add a calculated column
In the following example, two calculated columns have been added to calculate the difference between actuals and budget for each quarter.
Adding and configuring calculated columns
-
Use the plus icon at the top right of the Column Definitions box to add column groups to the grid as needed. Using column groups, you can display multiple columns grouped underneath a header. For more information, see Defining column groups for a web report.
Click the plus icon to add a column group
In the following example, two column groups have been added for Q1 and Q2.
Adding and configuring column groups
-
Optional. If you want the report to dynamically change data based on user selections, then click the Parameters tab to add report parameters to the report. For more information, see Using report parameters in web reports.
-
Click Save to save the report.
-
In the Save Report As dialog, complete the following fields and then click Save:
Item Description File name
The name of the report file. This is the name that users will see in the Intelligence Center.
Description
Optional. A description of the report. Currently, descriptions do not display in the Intelligence Center, but they can be viewed in the Axiom Desktop Client using Axiom Explorer.
Save to folder
The folder in the Axiom repository where you want to save the report.
-
Click the folder icon
to the right of the field. -
In the Choose output folder dialog, select a folder in the Reports Library. You can only select folders where you have read/write access to the folder. If a folder name displays with a lock icon, this means you have read-only access to that folder and therefore cannot save a new report there.
NOTE: If you have access to the My Documents folder, then you can also save reports to that location for your personal use.
-
Click OK to choose the folder and return to the save dialog.
The path to your selected folder now displays in the field.
If you use a file name that already exists in the target folder, you will be prompted to choose whether or not to overwrite the existing file. If you choose not to overwrite, the save operation is canceled and you are returned to the Report Builder.
-
Keep in mind that many of these steps can be done in any order. You can configure the grid settings before defining report titles, and so on. The main dependency is that you must select a primary table for the data context before you can begin adding columns to the report.
