Report Element
The Report Element is the most important page element. It is, essentially, a report definition. To insert a report element, drag-and-drop the report element resource from the page resources pane into the desired location on the page. An empty report setup will appear on the page as a result. Highlight a report element on the page by clicking on it. You will then see all the report-related resources (bottom left pane) and property editors (bottom pane).
Let' s have a look at the user interface features available in the setup.
Setup/Cell Properties
Open Data Source
Browse Data
Change Layout Type
Change Report Type
Run Report
Help
Show setup format property editor
Connect to a data source to get data for your report. See Database Connectivity for details.
Click the (
) browse icon. The TARGET Data Browser will show your input data in a table using your current dictionary and scope. This feature is helpful for quickly reviewing your data.
Change the visual appearance of the report - table, cross tab, bar graph, etc. See Layout types for more info.
Change the way data is aggregated in your report - summary, detailed, summary with details. See Report types.
Use the Run button to render only this report element. See Output Formats.
Context help, which would show this article.
You can connect to an input data source either through the Open Data Source button (
) on the report element itself or by using the Input Data Source Editor from the Property Editors pane.
After the connection to an input data source is set up, you can start designing your report. See Step III. Define reporting fields
- Grouping fields.
- Input data source name
- Reporting fields
- Aggregate functions
- Stratifying Parameters
- Subtotal captions
Grouping fields Grouping fields specify the rules for how to group records for display and aggregate analysis. To create a grouping rule, drag-and-drop any field (including calculated fields) into the grouping section (See Input Dictionary Editor). By default, this will result in grouping together all records that have the same value for the dropped field. To modify the grouping rule, open the Group/Scale Editor. Through this editor, TARGET Reports introduces a unique feature called scales, which is an ability to generate group ranges based on additional rules (See Group/Scale Editor).
Reporting fields specify the fields and their aggregate functions to be calculated and/or displayed. The reporting fields can be of any data type. There are, however some limitations on the aggregate analysis that can take place. For instance, SUM can not be calculated on non-numeric data types.
Aggregate functions supported by TARGET Reports vary from the basic SQL functions like COUNT, MIN, MAX, AVG, SUM to more complex like Median, Count% etc. See Aggregate Functions for a complete description. Aggregate function customization through scripting is available for advanced calculations.
Parameters (stratifying parameters) are used with scale-based grouping for stratification analysis. With this analysis, it is possible use separate grouping criteria for different columns by adjusting their stratifying parameters. For example, suppose that we have a table of transactions with two date fields: Date Bought and Date Sold. Suppose that for every quarter we would like to see the number of buy transactions and the number of sell transactions. Then, what we do is set up a date scale using Date Bought and set it to quarters. Then we show the Count for Date Bought linked to the scale by Date Bought as a stratifying parameter and Count for Date Sold linked to the scale by Date Sold as a stratifying parameter.
You can adjust stratifying parameters by dragging field resources into sections 5 shown on the picture above.
All fields in the report element can be drag-and-dropped to adjust the report. Highlight a field (by clicking on it) to see and change its properties in the property editors. Click the "Delete" button or drag a field into the garbage can on the toolbar to dispose of it.
To edit field and column properties in place (rather than using the property editors), click on the active areas indicated below:
- Grouping field properties
- Subtotal properties
- Column properties
1. Grouping field properties
Caption - the grouping element name as it will appear in the output report. This property allows the column name to be different from the database field name.
Show Column - turns subtotal column on and off .
Show subtotal - turns subtotal calculation on and off for this grouping level.
Top N Reporting - when checked, indicates that this grouping level will show the top N groups with all the remaining data to be accumulated into a pseudo-group "Other".
Page Break - guarantees that every group on this level will begin on a new page.
Enumerate Groups - when checked, all groups on this level have a sequential number displayed.
Alignment - Choose Left, Right, or Center.
Field Name - the name of the database field from which this grouping field is retrieved. Use the Dictionary Editor to change this property.
Grouping - a grouping algorithm type. Can be Unique values, auto scale or manual scale. Use the Group/Scale Editor to change this property.
2. Subtotal properties
Show Subtotal - turns on/off subtotal calculation for a particular column and grouping level.
3. Reporting field/function properties
Caption - column header
Show function name - hides the function name from the column header when unselected.
Show subtotals - turns subtotal calculation on and off for this item.
Format - the output format for the date and numeric fields. See the Numeric and Date formats for details.
Alignment - Choose Left, Right, or Center.
Field Name - the name of the database field from which this grouping field is retrieved. Use the Dictionary Editor to change this property.
Function - name of an aggregate function used for this reporting field.
Related Sections
Report Page