Please note that the features concerning the saving, loading, scheduling and commentary of reports are only available to users with the relevant permissions.

Saving Reports

To save a report, click the Save (star) icon at the top of the screen in any area of functionality. This will present the Save Report window.

Fill the Report Name text box to name the report. The Description text box is optional and allows a description of the report to be added. The Description can also be dynamic. See the Reporting Guide for information on how to implement a dynamic description.

The Save in Folder text box is automatically populated when a folder is selected and cannot be entered manually. Not selecting a folder will automatically select the My Reports folder.

Click the desired folder and then Save to complete the process. 

Click Save and Archive to take a snapshot of the report at the current time, saving it as an archived report. This cannot be edited and is used for historical analysis or version control. Reports that have archived versions are marked by a Star that reveals the archived versions once clicked.

Creating New Folders

To create a new folder, click the Cog icon next to any previously created folder and click New Folder. This will result in the new folder being created inside the selected folder. Reports and folders saved in the My Reports folder will not be visible to any other user.

Fill the Folder Name text box to name the folder. The Description text box is optional and allows a summary of the folder to be added. Click Create to complete the process, or Cancel to discard changes.

To save the report in the newly created folder, click the folder then click Save.

Loading Reports

To load a report, click Load at the top of the screen in any area of functionality. This will present the Saved Reports window. All reports from the currently selected Search Engine are displayed.

The view can be changed using the drop-down list at the top of the window, with Viewer offering a Report Viewer style display of saved reports, for example.

To combine filters or search terms with an existing report, select the required reports using the relevant checkbox and click Combine Filters or Combine Queries prior to loading a saved report.

Click the name of the report or the Run icon next to a saved report to load it. The report is always ran against the latest data in the index.

Use the search bar at the top of the window to search for a report by name. If no results are found, click the Search in Other Search Engines to conduct a system-wide search.

Click View next to a saved report to load it. The report will always run against the latest data in the index.

Managing Saved Reports

The Saved Reports window will list all available reports, and the results can be filtered using the query bar or by clicking a letter from the alphabet below. When searching for a report, report names and descriptions are included in matches, with the results updated dynamically as the query is typed.

Click the Favourite icon to add the report to the Favourites list. Use the view drop-down list at the top of the window to access this list. In the Favourites view, any reports that are not specified as a favourite are located in the Not Favourites folder.

To edit a Crosstab or Pages report without first running the report, click the Cog icon next to the relevant report and click Open Report in Edit Mode. 

The Show options allow the type of report to be filtered. Selected report types are underlined once selected. By default, all report types are displayed. Click the Folder icon to show or hide empty folders. By default, folders are only displayed if they contain saved reports.

The order and grouping of saved reports can be changed using the Order drop-down list. Folder is the default option, displaying reports in folder order starting with the My Reports folder. Owner displays a folder for each user, listed alphabetically. Selecting Modified will display the folders as dates listed in descending order. Last Used displays the folders as dates and lists them in descending order while Most Used displays the folders as numbers and lists them in descending order. The Index option alphabetically displays a folder for each index that exists in the current search engine and the Schedule option displays two folders to group reports based on whether they are scheduled or not. The Tags and Templates options will display only reports that contain tags and have been saved as templates, respectively.

To rename a report or folder, click the Cog icon next to the relevant item and click Rename Report or Rename Folder. This will open the Report Details window, where the Name and Description textbox can be modified. Click Save to apply any changes, or Cancel to discard changes.

To delete a report or folder, click the Cog icon next to the relevant item and click Remove Report or Remove Folder.

Click the Cog icon and select Generate Report Specification to download a PDF file detailing the technical components that constitute the report. This includes the Data Sources, Data Source Groups and Indexes used when the report was created along with any logic used during the creation process.

To set the default export options for a report, click the Cog icon and select Export Options to open the Default Export Options window. Select the relevant options, as detailed in the Importing and Exporting chapter, and click Save to set the options as the default settings that will appear whenever a user clicks Export while viewing the report.

To create a preview image of the report that is visible when using Report Viewer or in the Viewer Load Screen view, when enabled by the system administrator, click the Cog icon next to a report and click Generate Report Preview. If changes are made to the report and the preview is no longer accurate, click Update Report Preview to generate a new image.

To upload a custom image file for reports or folders, Click the Cog icon next to a report or folder and click Upload Report Preview or Upload Image. Clicking  Remove Report Preview or  Remove Image will delete all previews from the report or folder.

Clicking the Cog icon then Toggle Template will allow other users to use the saved report as a template when creating new reports. When toggled, the icon will fade to denote that it is currently being used as a template. To build a report using a template when in the Pages or Crosstab screen, clicking New Report will display every available template for the currently loaded index in a drop-down list.

Selected Reports

Click the checkbox next to one or more saved report to activate the Selected Reports tab. Click this tab to access the Selection Options.

The Copy option allows the selected items to be copied to another location without moving the source files, while the Move option will change the location of the original files. Clicking either option will display the current folder structure where clicking the relevant checkbox will select the new location. Alternatively, click Cancel to return to the previous screen.

The Remove option allows multiple files and folders to be deleted at once. Once selected, click OK to remove the process or Cancel to return to the previous screen. Removed files and folders will not be permanently deleted using this method, but instead moved to the Recycle Bin folder.

The Recycle Bin folder is only visible when reports or folders have been removed and is located as the first folder in the Saved Reports screen when using the Tree view. To remove all of the contained files, click Empty. To remove individual files, click the X icon next to the relevant item. Restore files and folders to their original location by clicking Restore. 

Clicking Clone allows an independent copy of a report or folder to be created. The cloned items are created in the source folder, suffixed with a number.

The Switch Index option provides the option to run a report against a different index, reducing report creation time by making use of indexes that contain common fields. Select the required index from the To Index drop-down list and click Switch Index to complete the process, or Cancel to return to the previous screen. This option is disabled for Dashboards due to the option to already create multi-index reports.

Clicking Export will download the selected files and folders through the currently used web browser as a .cxairreports file that can be imported into other CXAIR instances.

By selecting multiple schedules and clicking Update Filters, the filter values that are used across separate schedules can be updated. Click Edit next to the relevant filter to make changes and click Apply to save them, or Close to cancel the process.

Clicking Generate External URL allows the creation of a Report Viewer link. Enable the Run as Self option for the reports to load using the current user configuration and control whether the generated link will be active using the Enabled option. After saving the output, the link is available to access to the selected reports in Report Viewer.

To deselect all entries in the Selected Reports tab, click Clear.

Report Scheduling

Using the scheduling features, reports and folders can be scheduled for automatic execution. When a folder has been scheduled, the settings will apply to all contained reports. 

To begin the process, click + next to the Schedule icon to open the New Schedule window.

Creating a New Schedule

A standard report schedule is configured in three steps. Additional steps are made available depending on the contents of the report.

Click Next to proceed to the next step or Back to return to the previous step. To abort the schedule process, click Close to discard changes and return to the Saved Reports screen.

Schedule Details

In this step, the schedule name and report destination will be specified.

Type a name in the Schedule Name textbox to label the schedule. To schedule an export to a folder on disk, enable the Output to Folder options and specify the location using the Output Folder option. Please note that only Administrator users can export to folders outside of the CXAIR installation path. Once set, use the Format drop-down list to specify the file format.

Enable the Run For Each User option to create a folder for each user specified in the final step. If this option is enabled, the following User drop-down list is disabled.

The User drop-down list allows the report to be run as specific users. This is important when realms and groups are used, as the report will be executed using any rules associated with the selected user account.

To stop the date appearing in the filename, enable the Do Not Include The Date In The File Name option and to combine the contents of multiple Excel Sheets, enable the Concatenate Excel Sheets into one option.

At the bottom of the window, This report has alerts will be visible if Conditional Formatting is present and the Alert option is enabled. Please refer to the Crosstab chapter for more information.

Filters

If the report contains saved filters, the second step will contain options to configure the values used.

Select the Filter Group from the first drop-down list, and select the relevant filter values from the drop-down list below. Filters are applied at run time, and will account for any changes following an Index refresh.

Timing

This step allows the complete configuration of report frequency.

Select an option from the Frequency of Execution drop-down list to specify when the report will be run.

Selecting Immediately will run the report once, as soon as the schedule has been set. One Off will run the report once at the specified Start Date option at the bottom of the screen.

The Every, Every Hour, Every Day, Every Week, Every Month and Every Week Day options, once selected, provide a textbox that allows the time specification that the report will be run, from the Start Date option. 

Selecting the Multiple Week Days option will reveal the days of the week as checkboxes, allowing multiple days to be selected.

The Last Day of Month option specifies that the report will run on the last day of every month until stopped. Selecting Last Week Day of Month or First Week Day of Month will reveal a drop-down list that allows the specification of a particular day.

Selecting Dependant as a frequency allows the schedule to be triggered once a specific Index or report schedule takes place. Select individual dependencies from the Dependant Index Schedules and Dependant Report Schedules drop-down lists, or click All to add every created schedule. Remove individual selections using the relevant X icon, or click None to remove all selected schedules.

Selecting Monthly Working Days as a frequency, the number of Days that the schedule will run for can be set, along with the time the schedule will execute in Hours and Minutes. The working days are configured by the system administrator.

The Start Date and End Date options apply to the selected frequency option and control the date and time when the report will be run for the first time and when the schedule will terminate. If the Execute Continuously option is enabled, the schedule will continue to run until it is manually stopped or removed.

Recipient Selection

This step allows the configuration of how and where the report will be distributed. If an Output Folder was selected in the first step, specifying recipients is not required.

Select the Groups or Individuals the report will be distributed to by selecting the relevant tab and selecting the group or user from the list. Filter the list by using the search bar under the relevant tab. Please note that only email addresses associated with an active user can be used. For more information concerning external email addresses, please refer to the  the Importing and Exporting chapter.

The Selected Recipients box will populate as selections are made. The Delivery Method can be either an Email Attachment, Report Viewer Link or, if the Run For Each User option was enabled in step one, File. This option will create a folder for each user where a copy of the scheduled report will be stored.

Every recipient of the scheduled report, either as an individual or as part of a group, can be configured separately.

To modify the email template that will be used when reports are distributed via email, click the Edit Email Template button found at the top-right of the popup during this step. If the Use Default Email Text checkbox is enabled in the subsequent pop-up window, the template can be viewed but not modified. To deviate from the administrator-set default template, disable this option to reveal the text editing options. Click Apply to save any changes made, or Close to close the popup and discard any changes.

Complete the schedule building process by clicking Save. The schedule will now be active and the Schedule icon will be emboldened in the Saved Reports window.

Alerts

This step allows the configuration of when the alert will be sent and under what circumstances.

Select an instance from the Send When options, or select Not Used to export the report using the previous schedule settings regardless of whether the alert is triggered.

The Name specifies the name given to the alert during the Conditional Formatting setup. Multiple alerts can be set for a single report, with different users receiving notifications when different conditions are triggered.

Viewing and Editing a Schedule

To view or edit a configured schedule, click the bold Schedule icon next to the relevant report and click the schedule name to open the Schedule Details window.

The previously configured steps are summarised and can be reconfigured by clicking Edit next to the relevant section. Click Save to apply any changes, or Cancel to discard.

To copy a schedule, click Copy at the top of the Schedule Details window and make the required changes. To remove a schedule, click Remove. Confirm the removal by clicking OK in the subsequent window, or click Cancel to abort the removal.

Tagging

Tagging the results of a query allows users to quickly access a record or groups of records.

To tag a query, carry out a search in the Query screen and click the Tag icon to open the Save Tag window.

Enter a label in the Tag Name textbox and enter any optional information in the Description textbox. Click Save to complete the process, or Close to cancel.

Saved tags are located at the bottom of the Saved Reports screen, accessed by clicking Load in any area of functionality. To rename a tag, click the Cog icon next to the relevant entry and click Rename Tag. The Name and Description textboxes are available for customisation and changes are applied by clicking Save, or discarded by clicking Cancel. Delete a tag by clicking Remove Tag. Click OK to confirm or Cancel to abort the process.

Commentary

Commentary can be added to track changes and to provide a social interface for users across shared reports.

Commentary is added by clicking the Comment icon when running a report. This will display the Comments window, where every comment is displayed. Type a comment in the text box and click Add Comment to save it. When done, click the X icon to return to the report.

Comments are updated in real time. Saved reports can be stored with a snapshot of the comments at the time of saving or with new comments since the report was exported. Archived reports wipe comments, leaving them intact on the original report.