CRYSTAL REPORTS

Designing a report from A-Z

Part 2

TODAY’S TOPICS

Preparing a report planThe report canvasChoosing a ViewChoosing the fieldsUsing Groups/SummariesSelection criteria, creating parametersFormatting – Text, adding logos, Headers/FootersReport standardsVerifying/Validating results

PREPARING A REPORT PLAN

Report planPlan the content of your report. What do you want to accomplish with this report ? Who is your audience?

Develop a prototype. Draw your report on paper

Choose a View – ask yourself “What view contains the information for the report?”

Choose the fields – ask yourself “What fields do I want to see on my report?”

Select criteria – ask yourself “What fields do I need to select from to get the information I need?”

Grouping – ask yourself “Does the report need to group the data?” If yes how “Which field(s) need to be grouped?”yes, how. Which field(s) need to be grouped?

Sub- Totals/Totals/Summaries/Counts – ask yourself “Does the report need sub totals/totals, count, distinct counts?” If yes, which fields will be used?

Presentation – how do you want the report to look. Choose your fonts, titles, text , etc..

Verification – Always verify your results. Make sure the data is 100 % accurate. Where can you verify this? Banner form?

THE REPORT CANVAS

Report Canvas SectionsReport Header - Appears only on the first pagePage Header -Appears at the top of each pageg pp p p gDetails - Contains the dataReport Footer - Appears only on the last pagePage Footer - Appears at the bottom of each page

Navigating the CanvasDesign/Preview tabShow First/Last PageShow First/Last PageShow Previous/Next Page

Retrieving dataRefresh iconStop button

THE REPORT CANVAS

HOW TO CHOOSE A VIEW

The view documentation is meant as a tool to help report developers understand the structure help report developers understand the structure of the Finance data warehouse. Ask questions

What type of information do you want?What type of data are you looking for? i.e. HR, FIS or SISFiscal year, Academic Year, Payroll YearDetails or SummariesGrants or Non-GrantsCourse schedulesStudent ApplicationsAcademic/Non-academic Salaries

DATA WAREHOUSE DETAILS –IMPORTANT LINKS

For more information about:FIS data , refer to http://knowledgebase.mcgill.ca/fskb/easylink/article.html?id=p g g y5098

Provides information about getting access and where to get additional help;

https://home.mcgill.ca/financialservices/reporting/Contains individual report help for each template available to you

SIS data, refer to http://www.mcgill.ca/es/dwh/Provides an overview of the data, how to get access and details about the views and the fields available to you

HRIS data, refer to http://www.mcgill.ca/files/hr/data_model_hr_general_user_w_data_dictionary.xls

This provide you details information of the fields available to you and where they are taken from in the Banner HR forms

BANNER MINVERA DATA WAREHOUSEUse your Banner forms or Minerva Menus to help you decide what data you needIf you see it in the system, you can usually get it out of the data warehouseof the data warehouse

FGIBDST Budget Query Periodic Operating StatementFGITRND Budget Query Drill down Transaction Details OperatingFRIGITD Budget Query for Fund Holders Grant Summary StatementFRIGTRD Budget Query for Fund Holders Drill down

Grant Transaction DetailsFTMFUND Fund Profile/Statement Heading

NOTE: If the month is still open, you can encounter discrepancies

USING YOUR REPORT PLAN

Now that you have planned out your report, what’s nextUse your report design grid and prototype to:

Select a ViewSelect FieldsAdd Selection criteriaCreate Groups/SummariesF t th tFormat the reportUse Report standardsVerify/Validate results

SELECT A VIEW

First, you need to connect to the database containing the data needed for your report

Connect to the database

1. Click on the '+' located to the left of ‘Create New Connection’

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2. Click on the '+' next to the location of your database (Oracle server for Banner)

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LOGIN TO THE DATA WAREHOUSE

Enter your credentials to log into the database

Log into the Banner data warehouse

1. Service: banrep

2 Enter your Banner User ID2. Enter your Banner User ID and Password

3. Click on Finish

CHOOSE THE VIEW

Views are made of fields extracted from multiple tables to help you create a report

>

tables to help you create a report

Select a view

1. Select a view from the list of views in the left panel.

2. Click on the Arrow button t th i i th

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2

to move the view in the right panel.

3. Click Next3

Finance

HR

Student

PICK THE FIELDS

Once you have your view, select the fields you would like to see displayed in your reportwould like to see displayed in your reportClick, Drag and Drop into your report canvas

SELECTION CRITERIA

Used to specify the records you want included in your reportyour reportRecord selection

Apply criteria to specified fieldsGroup selection

Apply criteria to specified summary fields

GROUPING DATA

Grouping refers to the gathering of records relating to one another relating to one another Grouping records within a report enables you to perform calculations on each group of recordsChanging Groups

No need to delete and begin againSimply right click on group to changeS l t Ch GSelect Change Group

GROUPING DATA

TOTALS AND SUBTOTALS

SubtotalsTotals the sum of numeric values within a groupTotals the sum of numeric values within a group

Grand TotalsTotals numeric values for entire report

OTHER SUMMARIES

Summaries perform actions on groupsSome examples are:Some examples are:

Minimum MaximumAverageCountDistinct count

FORMAT THE REPORT

Cosmetic touch upsFields can be suppressed Fields can be set to ‘Can Grow’Fields can be set to Can GrowFields can be set to be suppressed if duplicated

Change Fonts, Add Color, etc…Add Report TitlesAdd LogosGroup together/repeat on next pageGroup together/repeat on next pageUsing Special FieldsUsing Section Expert

REPORT STANDARDS

All reports should include the following information:

Report TitleReport TitleAn AuthorA Printed dateA report location (file path)Use standard fontsLogoLogo

VERIFYING THE RESULTS

Always verify that your reports are accurateWhere to lookWhere to look

Use Banner or Minerva on-line queries to ensure accuracy.

Change the view the report runs fromSummary view vs Detail view

EXERCISEChoose your view (pick one)

SRU_ACADEMICHR_JOBFG_BALANCES_TRANSACTION_DET

Pick your fieldsDrag & drop them in the Details section of you canvas

Choose your selection criteriai.e. Fiscal Year, Fiscal Period, Fund Codei.e. Person ID, ORGN Code,i.e. Term Code, ID, PRIM Faculty Code/PRIM Dept Code (looks like Org with one less zero)

Refresh your dataCreate a group

Summary/ Distinct Count

QUESTIONS?