Custom Reports

The Custom Reports feature allows you to create report templates based on any combination of criteria, with many formatting options.  Formatting options include headings, columns, sorting, and color graphs.  Single and two-level metrics based on any fields can be included.  Report output can be exported to another application (such as Excel) and can be scheduled to be run on a regular basis.

Report Options

Note

The names of many of the fields in FootPrints can be changed by the administrator (Title, Priority, Status, Description, etc.), as well as the name of the records (Issue).  Custom fields can also be created.  For clarity, this manual always refers to FootPrints records as “Issues” and uses the default terms for the other field names.

To create a custom report, select Reports | New Report from the FootPrints Toolbar. The Custom Report Wizard is displayed:

1. Style tab—Select the output style of the report.  Choices are:
2. Columns—Issue data is displayed in fixed columns. One Issue is displayed per row. Columns can be selected from any available fields.
3. Wrapped—Each Issue returned is displayed in its own mini-table. Line breaks can be used to wrap data to multiple rows, for example, to place the Description in its own row. This style is useful for printing reports that contain many fields.
4. Metrics and Graphics—Create custom metrics and graphs of counts, averages and sums on any field. Single and two-level metrics are supported. Output options include table, bar, and pie charts.
5. Export—Export data to a text file that can be saved to your local desktop. Use this format to import FootPrints data into a spreadsheet or other programs 
6. Include metrics...—Column and Wrapped reports can also contain metric charts and graphs. Check this box to include metrics in a Column or Wrapped report (not available for Export option).

2. Heading tab—Define what is included in the heading at the top of the report output. Available for all styles except Export. Options include:

• Title—This is displayed at the top of the report.
• Date—The date the report is run (updates each time the report template is re-run).
• Time—The time the report is run (updates each time the report template is re-run).
• Workspace name—The name of the Workspace.
• Logo graphic—The logo image displayed in the current Workspace.

3. Formatting tab—There are two possible sets of options for the Formatting tab. One is for column and wrapped reports and the other is for metric reports and combo reports.
1. Column and wrapped reports—Select the issue information to display in the report. All fields are available. This option is available for all styles except Metrics.
2. Type of Field—Select the types of fields you can select to be displayed in the report by clicking on a radio button. Options are Server fields, Issue Information fields, and Contact Information fields. You can select fields from any or all of these options at any time by selecting the appropriate radio button. Once a radio button has been selected, click on a field in the Fields list and then click the Add Field button to display the field in the Selected Fields list. Selected Fields are displayed in the report in the order in which they appear in the list. Change the order by clicking on the field in the Selected Fields list and then clicking the Up or Down Change Order button. Remove a field from the Selected Fields list by clicking on the field and then clicking the Remove button. The Reset button allows you to reset the Selected Fields list to its default state and will do so regardless of which radio button has been selected (in other words, if you added Issue Information fields and then clicked the Contact Information button and added contact fields, then clicked Reset, all of the added fields, both Issue Information and Contact Information, are removed). Some fields have special characteristics:
   4. Email History—The Email History field is a special field that includes the email history in the report.  This provides an audit trail in reporting.  Because this type of report searches every record included in the report for every email notification, using this field can cause a slowdown in the reporting.
   5. History—The History field is a special field that includes the Issue history in the report.  This provides an audit trail in reporting.  Because this type of report searches every record of every change to the Issues that are being reported, using this field can cause a slowdown in the reporting.
3. Line Break—Insert a line break (Wrapped style only).
4. Description—Choose which descriptions to include in the report and when to wrap the data (only applies if  Description is included in the Selected Fields box).  You can include all descriptions, the original, newest, two most recent, or three most recent descriptions in your report.
5. Multi-line field wrapping—Choose Don't Wrap and the data is displayed on a single line. Otherwise, to wrap lines, choose Wrap Every X Characters and enter the number of characters at which to wrap in the text field.
6. Process/Phase Voting Details—If Change Management is enabled, you may have options to display information regarding Change Management approvals in the report. Select one or both checkboxes to display the information. Check the box for Display Final Decision information for each Issue to display whether or not the proposed changes were approved or denied. Check the box for Display Voting History for each Issue to display the record of voting on each issue.

• Filter Voting History As FollowsIf the Voting History checkbox is checked, select the voting history to be displayed from the drop-down field. Options are: All Processes/Phases, Current Process/All Phases, Current Process/Current Phase [AllVotes], Current Process/Current Phase [Recent Vote].

4. Assignees—If Assignees is selected, the full names of the assignees are displayed in the report (e.g., Bob Smith).  This is not suitable for importing the report output into another Workspace, as user ID’s must be specified in a data import file.  To create a file that includes assignees user IDs (e.g., Bob Smith), use the System Administration Export Workspace Data option.
5. Sort Results By—Select how the issues are sorted in the output. The issues can be sorted by up to three levels of criteria and in ascending (from lowest to highest) or descending (from highest to lowest) order. In the Field drop-down, select the field on which the issues are to be sorted. If a text field is selected, the issues are sorted alphabetically based on the first character in the field. If you select a number field, such as Issue Number, the issues are sorted numerically. If the sort is by Status, then the data is sorted according to the Status number, regardless of the label that is displayed in the Status field. For subsequent levels of sorting, the issues are sorted within each field of the preceding sort. For example, if issues are sorted first based on the Status field and a secondary sort is performed according to Issue Number, the all of the issues with a Status of Urgent might be displayed first, starting with the lowest Issue Number up to the highest within that group of Urgent issues. With regard to the Heading checkboxes, if a Heading checkbox is checked, a heading is displayed in the report to indicate how the issues were sorted.  For example, if Status was selected, then a heading would be displayed at the beginning of the list indicating which Status was used in sorting the issues that followed. A new heading would then be displayed to indicate when the next set of Statuses began.
2. Metrics—Create custom metrics and graphs of counts, averages, and sums on any field. The option is available for Metric style, and for Column and Wrapped style if the Combo checkbox is checked. Refer to Metrics and Graphics for details on Metrics options.

Note

This section only determines which fields to display; it does not determine the selection criteria for the report.  The criteria are chosen later in the report.

4. Criteria tab—Choose the criteria, using issue fields, for the report. Only select the criteria you want to search on.It is important to understand the meaning of relative periods and aging in order to obtain accurate information, especially as the searching and reporting functions of FootPrints rely on the same types of criteria.  If a search is requested on Issues for "the previous three months," and the date is the 15th of May, then the period searched or reported on will be from February 15th through May 14th, inclusive.  That is, the report or search will exclude the current date and give the three month period prior to the current date.  This is to ensure that reports and searches yield consistent results.  If reports and searches included the current date, then the results might differ depending on the time of day at which the search or report was performed.
5. Contact Criteria tab— Choose any additional criteria, using address book fields, for the report. Only select the criteria you want to search on.
6. Advanced Criteria tab— The FootPrints Advanced Reporting criteria section uses the same mechanism as the Advanced Search. Refer to the topic on Advanced Search for detailed explanation of criteria.

NOTE

It is important to understand the meaning of relative periods and aging in order to obtain accurate information, especially as the searching and reporting functions of FootPrints rely on the same types of criteria. If a search is requested on Issues for "the previous three months," and the date is the 15th of May, then the period searched or reported on will be from February 15th through May 14th, inclusive. That is, the report or search will exclude the current date and give the three month period prior to the current date. This is to ensure that reports and searches yield consistent results. If reports and searches included the current date, then the results might differ depending on the time of day at which the search or report was performed.

7. Save/Run tab—Click GO to run the report. To save the report, enter a name before you run it.  Choose Personal to save the report for yourself.  Choose Shared/Internal to share your report template with other internal FootPrints users. Shared/Public reports are available to all users including customers (the report only contains data the user is allowed to see).  Shared/Public reports appear on the customer Pre-Defined Reports page.  Each time a saved report template is run, it returns the latest matching data.

Note

Saving the report here only saves the report formatting options and criteria chosen in this form, not the results of the report.  This feature can be used to run the same report in the future, for example, once a week.  Each time the report is run, it returns the latest data from the current Workspace.  Saving report output is covered in the topic on Saving and Printing Report Data.

After clicking GO, the report is displayed in a separate browser window.  Large reports sometimes take a few minutes to run.  To view the details of an Issue, click the Issue number (or whatever field is in the first column) in the report.  This displays the Details page for that Issue in the main FootPrints frame.

The report can be saved or printed from the browser window.  If the Export style was selected, a Save As dialog box is displayed.  Save and name the report to your local hard drive.

Note on Permissions

Reports can be restricted based on a user's RoleA user type assigned to one or more users to define permissions. Both built-in roles and custom roles can be assigned to users. Examples of built-in roles include Agent, Customer Read/Submit, and Project Administrator.. Custom Reports may not be available or some options may not appear if your role does not allow access.  Please consult your FootPrints administrator for more information.