The new Reporting feature has been designed to make it much easier for Users to create, edit and run a report within intelligentcontract.  This article will explain in detail all the features of the screen, how to navigate and use the tools and features to create a report for your organisation.


Generating a New Report

Navigate to Reports - [New]


When you press the [New] button to create a new report the first decision to make is what Data Set do you wish to base your report on, a Data Set is a collection of all the fields that are available in the selected option.  If you wish to create a report and use the field values found on your Contract form then you would select the 'Contract' Data Set.


Fig 1 - Data Sets


Choose the Data Set by clicking on the relevant box, this will immediately open up the Report Creation screen.  In the below examples we are going to use the 'Contract' Data Set.


Report Creation screen

The Report Creation screen is made up of a series of panels which group together various functions to enable the creation of a report.  The Reporting screen uses drag and drop functionality allowing the user easily create a report and adjust accordingly.


Fig 2 - Report Creation Screen


Data Set Fields

As you have already selected your Data Set in the previous screen then the Data Set Field panel will be populated with all the corresponding fields, our selection was 'Contract' so the title of the Field panel title is 'Contracts' and displayed below are all the fields available within the Contract form.  

Note: The fields that are displayed are all fields available for the form, even if you have differing Layouts based upon Type or have removed some fields from your form ALL fields will be displayed.  This will also include any Custom Fields that you have created and placed on the form.

Fig 3 - Data Set Fields

Sub Fields

When you create any record within intelligentcontract after saving you are presented with one or more tabs at the bottom of the record, these tabs allow you to add or view relevant and additional information regarding the record.


Fig 4 - Contract Sub Tabs


The information held within these tabs can also be selected for your report, within the Field panel use the scroll bar to move down, a series of Sub Titles will be displayed at the bottom, these are the corresponding Sub Tabs for your chosen dataset, click on one of the Sub Titles and it will open up to display the corresponding fields available within that Sub Tab.  To close the list, click on the Sub Title again.


Fig 5 - Sub tab fields in Reporting


The Field panel displays in a hierarchy structure, so at first you will see all the immediate fields for your chosen dataset, at the bottom of in this all the Data Set Sub Titles, click on the Sub Title to see all the available fields for selection.  If any of these Sub Titles also have sub information then these will be displayed a Sub Titles below it, click on the Sub Title to see all the available fields for selection. 


The below example shows that within the Contract Dataset there is a link to People which is also has a link to Parties.  This means that we can generate a report of all Contracts for a specific Person and also display on the report the Party that they work for.

Fig 6 - Sub field tree


The information held within the Sub Titles are directly related to its Master record, the above example will display Parties that the Contract People work for, note that these Parties may not necessarily be associated to the Contract.


If you wish to have a report that displays the the People and the Parties directly linked to a Contract then you should select the People and Parties Sub Titles directly descending from the Contract Data Set and choose the relevant fields for your report.


Fig 7 - Sub Titles

Note: - The hierarchy structure only goes down 3 levels - Contract -> Contract People -> Contract People Parties

There is also a search box on the top of the panel, here you can type in text to try and find a field, the system will display all matching fields including any that appear in the Sub Titles, to view these fields click on the Sub Title and it will open up displaying the corresponding field.


Fig 7 - Searching for fields


To start creating your report, the first thing to do is to select the fields that you wish to include in your report, to do this tick the checkbox next to the relevant field.  As you tick the box's you will see the blue Column panel fill up with your selected fields and also the Preview panel will update to display how your report will look.  You can select any field including those within the Sub Titles.


If you wish to remove a field then just uncheck the box, the field will be removed from the Column panel and the Preview panel will update accordingly.


Fig 8 - Adding fields to a report

Column Panel

The Column panel displays all the fields that you have selected to appear on your report, the fields in the Column panel can be moved to order the field data, top to bottom is left to right on the report, click on a field and drag it to the correct position.  If you have many fields within the panel then a scroll bar will appear to allow you to find the field you require.  The Preview panel will update to show the new column order.


Fig 9 - Moving the order of fields


You can also use the 'X' at the end of a field in the Column panel to remove it, the Preview panel will update accordingly.


Fig 10 - Removing fields in the Column panel


Edit Field Names

The Column panel also allows you to rename the selected field, the value entered here will be reflected as the column title, this is a useful feature if you have selected multiple fields with the same name.  If you hover over the field in the blue Column panel and you have changed the text, then a pop up will appear displaying the original name.


Fig 11 - Editing Field names


Filter Panel

Once you have selected all the fields you need on your report, you may wish to filter the information.  Any field can be used as a filter, there are 5 types, Text, Numeric, Date, Type and Value.  


NOTE: There is a separate article about Working with Filters explaining how each filter works and how to use the various options available, please read this article to understand how to use a filter.


Adding a Filter

Select the field you wish to use as a filter from the Field panel and drag over to the orange Filter panel.  As soon as you drop the field then the filter pop up will appear for you to enter your filter requirements.  Enter your details and then press [Save], the pop up will then close and the Preview panel will update to reflect the new filter requirements.


If you press [Cancel] the the pop up will close and the field will be removed from the Filter panel.

Note: The field you select as a filter does not have to be previously selected in the Column panel, any field can be used as a filter.

Fig 12 - Adding a Filter


Removing a filter

To remove a filter, click the 'X' on the field in the Filter panel and the field will be removed, the Preview panel will adjust accordingly.


Editing a Filter

If you wish to Edit a filter value then click the cog icon on the field and the filter pop up will appear again for you to amend your values.


Multiple Filters

You can add as many filters as you like, each time a filter is added then AND and OR drop down fields are added to allow you to select the order in which the filters are to apply, you can change the order by adjusting the value using the AND/OR drop down.  The Preview panel will adjust accordingly.


Fig 13 - Using the AND OR feature

Adjusting Multiple Filters

If you wish to change the order of the filters click on the relevant field in the Filter panel and move it to the correct position, just the same as moving fields in the Column panel, the Preview panel will adjust accordingly.  If you do this then you may need to adjust your AND/OR values.


Filter Value Details

You can see all your filters and their values at the top of the Preview panel screen or by clicking the information icon on the field in the Filter panel.  If you make any adjustments to the filters then this information will update accordingly.


Sorting Panel

The Sorting panel allows you to stipulate how you wish the report to be sorted, depending on the field you have selected, the data will sort ascending or descending.  By default the ID field placed in this panel in ascending order, but you can replace it with one or more sorting fields if required.  Drag the relevant field from the Field panel to the green Sort panel.


Fig 14 - Adjusting Sort Options


  • Use the arrow to define ascending or descending on each field placed in the Sorting panel
  • Remove an unwanted fields by clicking the 'X' on the field in the Sorting panel
  • Change the order of the sort by clicking on the field and moving it into another position just like moving field in the Column and Filter panels.

Note: The fields you select to Sort by do not have to be previously selected in the column panel, any field can be used as a Sort by option.

Preview Panel

The Preview panel is there as an aide to help you stylise your report, based upon your Column, Filter and Sorting specifications, the Preview panel will display an example of how the report will look. 


Within the Preview panel there is a Report Title field, click in this field to give your report a Title, the Title value is mandatory if you try to [Save] the report.

As a report may be made up of many field columns the Preview screen will display a scroll bar on the bottom to allow you to scroll across to the end of the report to view all your field columns.



Fig 15 - Reporting Title and scroll

Note:  The Preview panel is only a guide to the look of the report, the panel is limited to the number of records that it displays, not all of your records may appear in the Preview panel but they will be present on your report.

Sliders

To make is easier to see all your report data, just like on the Navigation bar we have placed sliders within the Reporting screen to allow you collapse panels, this will increase the size of the Preview panel allowing more columns to be viewed.

Fig 16 - Using the Sliders

 

Report Options

The Report Options panel allows you to change the behaviour of your report. There are 2 panels : Security Groups and Display Options.


Security Groups

You can specify which Security Groups can view and generate a report, the default is set to Everyone.  Use the drop down list to add or remove Security Groups


Fig 17 - Report Security Groups

Note : To understand how to use security groups please see the  article : Security Groups for more information

Display Options

You can add additional information to be displayed on your report, there are various options such as add Header and Footer text.


Fig 18 - Report Display Options

  • Display 'Date Run'
  • Display 'Run By'
  • Display Filters
  • Display Page Number
  • Show Headers on each page
  • Header text
  • Footer text
  • Don't show repeating values for the same record - please see the following article for more information https://support.intelligentcontract.com/a/solutions/
  • Don't show blank rows


Select your values and press [Save], when you generate your report these details will be displayed, they will not be apparent in the Preview panel.




Once you have completed all your reporting parameters, use the orange [Save] button to save your report.


The report screen will stay open, you can make any amendments to your report settings by using the information as described above to make adjustments.  If you make an adjustment then you must press [Save] again to update with the changes.


To close the screen you can either press the orange [Cancel] or [Close] button or use the back button to go back to the Report Summary screen.  Your report will be listed in the Summary screen and you can now run your report, please refer to Running a Report article which explains this feature.