Creating Reports and Templates
Creating reports is a function of the administrator or Report Manager role. To enable the Report tab for another role, the administrator must make the tab available to that role (see About Roles).
Reports in HEAT are created from report templates. Report Managers can create Report templates using the report builder control in the SQL Server Reporting Service (SSRS). SSRS is integrated with HEAT to facilitate building templates.
|
|
After you create the template, you upload it to HEAT. Using the report template you created using SSRS, you can create new reports. In addition, by default, HEAT has defined report templates that you can use to create reports for the HEAT users.
The main steps in creating a custom report are:
1. Create a Report Template
Before you can create a custom report, you must have a report template. The template contains the search parameters, filters, and layout of a report. When you run a report, the data is organized according to the definition of the template.
The Report Manager creates report templates using the Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Service (SSRS), which is integrated with HEAT. You can go directly to the database and build your own datasets in SSRSMicrosoft SQL Server Reporting Service. An application developed by Microsoft from which you can build templates to run custom reports within HEAT., or use the report model provided and build a dataset in SSRS. For more information on installing Report Builder, view the Microsoft website at http://www.microsoft.com/.
| 1. | Log into the Service Desk as a Report Manager and open the Report Templates workspace. A list of report templates appears. |
| 2. | Click New Report Template. The report builder application opens. |
The First Time you Use the Report Builder
- In the Application Run window, click Run. The report builder starts to download. This might take a few minutes.
|
|
When working with the report builder, if you are inactive for 180 minutes or longer, the report builder will timeout and you will see the following error: Object moved ReportServer Logon.aspx. |
- In the Connect to Report Server login window, enter the following:
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Username | Enter <userID>#<Tenant ID>. |
| Password | Enter the application password. |
- Click OK. The Microsoft SQL Server report builder appears.
| 3. | From the left Report Data pane, from Data Sources, right-click SaaSAppmodel, then choose Add Dataset. The Dataset Properties window appears. |
| 4. | Click Query Designer, located below the Query field. The Enter Data Source Credentials window appears. |
| 5. | Enter your SSRS user name and password, then click OK. The Query Designer window appears. |
| 6. | Right-click the Parameters folder and choose Add Parameter. Enter your parameters. |
Report parameter values do not support angle brackets (<>). Microsoft has implemented this feature in SSRS for security reasons.
See Data Security for Report Templates. Click the Help button on the window for more information on how to create a parameter.
| 7. | Select the fields you want in the report template and then design the appearance of the template. |
- Click to expand the Tables folder, select the fields that are to appear on the report template, then click OK.
- Click OK to close the Dataset Properties window.
- Design the template by dragging and dropping the fields you selected to the right pane.
- Click the field that you dropped so that its edges are highlighted, right-click and select Insert, then insert any of the design items.
- Click Run to preview the template.
| 8. | When you have finished designing the template, click Save As and save the template locally. |
|
Do not click the Save button; use Save As. |
2. Upload a Report Template
After creating a report, the RDL file is uploaded into the Report Templates workspace.
| 1. | Within the Report Templates workspace, click Upload Report. |
| 2. | In the Upload Report Template window, enter the following: |
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Report Template Name | Enter a descriptive name for this template. |
| Report Template | Click Browse to navigate to the RDL file. Select it, then click Open. |
| 3. | Click Save. |
| 4. | Click OK to dismiss the message that the report has been successfully published to the server. |
The newly uploaded report template appears in the Template Name column. Go to the Report workspace to create a report. See 3. Create a Report below.
3. Create a Report
After creating a custom report template, you are ready to create a report.
| 1. | Within the Service Desk console, open the Report workspace. A list of Reports appears. |
| 2. | Click New Report. A blank report form appears. |
| 3. | Enter information into the fields. |
--fields--
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Report Template | Choose your template from the drop-down list. The template you imported should automatically appear in the list. |
| Display Name | Enter a descriptive name that will appear on the Reports list. |
| Description | Enter a brief description of the report. |
| Category | Choose a category from the drop-down list. |
| Publish Report to | Choose the roles that will receive this report. |
| Allow Run Now | Check to enable users to run the report immediately. |
| Can Run from Run Report Quick Action | Check to enable the report to be run from the Run Report quick action. See Run Report Quick Action quick action parameters. When checked, the report appears in the quick action report list. The report must be published to the role using the quick action. |
| Can Run from Export Data Quick Action | Check to enable the report to be run from the Export Data quick action. See Export Data Quick Action parameters. The report must be published to the role using the quick action. |
| Parameter Information |
Not all reports have parameter options, and they vary for each report. Under the Hidden column, choose Yes or No next to the specified parameter. If you select No, the parameter field is visible to the user to select when they run the report. If you select Yes, the parameter field is hidden to the user, although the report will run according to the parameter you set up. For example, if you want to limit a user to viewing only their incidents, you could create a report template that included a parameter that limited the results to incidents where the incident owner is the logged in user or owner = $(CurrentloginId()). If you select Yes for this parameter, a user is not able to change this filter when running the report. |
| No Schedule | Check to NOT run the report on a schedule. |
| Run once on | See Scheduling a Report for information on using the scheduler. |
|
Daily at |
|
|
Weekly on |
|
|
Monthly (by Week) on |
|
| Monthly (by Day) on | |
| Report format |
Choose the format of the report from the drop-down list. Available formats are:
|
| No Distribution | Check to NOT automatically distribute this report. |
| Download | Check to make this report available for download from the report link on the users workspace. |
| Check to send the report by email, and enter the email addresses, subject line, and descriptive text. |
| 4. | Click Preview  from the toolbar to preview the report. |
| 5. |
Click Save  from the toolbar.
The report now appears on the Report list. |
Other Report Actions
Modify a Report Template
After creating a report template, you might want to edit it or create a duplicate report template.
| 1. | Log into the Service Desk as Report Manager and open the Report Templates workspace. The list of Report templates appears. |
| 2. | Click Edit next to the template you want to edit. The Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Service (SSRS) launches. |
| 3. | Log into the Report Builder and select the template you want to modify. |
| 4. | Make your changes as needed. |
| 5. | Click Save As to save your report locally. |
|
|
Do not click the Save button; use Save As. |
- To overwrite the existing report, click Save As.
- To create a duplicate report, enter a new name, then click Save As.
Save a Report Template
You can save a report template from one instance of HEAT to use in another instance. For example, if you create report templates in your staging environment, you can easily save the templates to your local machine and upload them to your production environment without logging into SSRS.
| 1. | Log into HEAT as Report Manager. |
| 2. | Click the Report Templates tab. The list of Report templates appears. |
| 3. | Click Download  next to the template you want to save. The Open Report dialog box appears. |
| 4. | Choose Save File and click OK. The report is saved to your Downloads folder in XML format. |
| 5. | Log into a new instance of HEAT and open the Report Templates workspace again. |
| 6. | Click Upload Report. |
| 7. | In the Upload Report Template window, fill in the following fields: |
- Report Template Name. Re-enter the report name or enter a new name.
- Select Data Source. Select the source of the report (either report model or database).
| 8. | Click Browse, then navigate to the saved report. |
| 9. | Click Save, then click OK. |
The report template is saved and ready to use.
Browser Issues with Report Templates
When you click the New Report Template link, SSRS opens. However, you might encounter the following browser-specific issues when trying to open SSRS:
- If you are using Firefox, install Microsoft .NETThe Microsoft framework is a web-oriented software architecture for Internet services and application software. Based on Internet standards such as HTTP, XML, SOAP, and UDDI, .NET enables Internet users to integrate fax, email, and phone services, centralize data storage, and synchronize all of a user's computing devices for automatic update. Framework Assistant 1.2.1 (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/9449/) to open SSRS.
- If you are using Chrome, install ClickOnce for Google Chrome (https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/eeifaoomkminpbeebjdmdojbhmagnncl#) to open SSRS.
- If you are using Internet Explorer, SSRS might not launch because of your Internet Explorer security settings. To allow SSRS to open,
- In Internet Explorer, go to the Tools menu and select Internet Options.
- From the Security tab, c lick Trusted Sites > Sites.
- Click Add to add the current website to your trusted site.
- Click Close.
- If you are using Internet Explorer 9, you might not be able to create or edit your report templates using SSRS.
Allow Internet Explorer 9 to Automatically Prompt for Downloads
| 1. | From the Start menu, enter Emmc in the Run field and press Enter. |
| 2. | In the Console, add the Group Policy snap-in, if it is not already there. |
- From the File menu, select Add/Remove Snap-Ins.
- In the window, select Group Policy from the Available snap-ins and click Add.
- Click OK.
- Click Finish in the Group Policy Wizard that launches.
- Click OK to close the window.
| 3. | In the Configuration Console, click the Local Computer Policy, then navigate to the following folder: |
User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Internet Explorer > Internet Control Panel > Security Page
| 4. | Select the zone in which the reporting server is located, for example, the Internet Zone or the Trusted Sites Zone. |
| 5. | From the right column, double-click Automatic prompting for file downloads. |
| 6. | In the Automatic prompting for file downloads window, |
- Select the Enabled option.
- Under Options, from the drop-down list, select Enable.
Automatic Prompting for File Downloads
- Click OK.
Data Security for Report Templates
When creating a report template, you can add parameters to the template to make the report data secure or to give users options in selecting the data they can view. When you use the report template to create a report, you can make these parameter fields hidden or visible.
- For reports where you want to restrict the data, you can make the Parameter fields hidden. For example, the parameter Owner =$(CurrentLoginID()) restricts the report data to the logged in user, so the user can only view a report of records where the logged in user is the Owner. If you make the parameter hidden, the user does not have the option to change the parameter. In the same way, you can restrict reports to generate data limited to the logged in user's team or organization unit.
- For reports where you want users to be able to make selections to the report data, you make the Parameter fields visible. For example, the parameters Start Date and End Date allow the user to select a date range for the report data.
|
|
Parameters that specify context (for example, logged in user) do not work if a report is scheduled to run. |