remedy web searches and reporting

8/17/2019 Remedy Web Searches and Reporting

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Appendix B For your end users: Running and saving searches on the Web 137

Appendix

BFor your end users: Runningand saving searches on theWeb

This section describes how to save and run searches on the web.

The following topics are provided:

Types of searches (page 138)

Running searches (page 138)

Finding a request by example (page 139)

Using the advanced search bar (page 142)

Saving searches (page 151)

Running a saved, recent, or defined search (page 152)

Loading search criteria without execution (page 153)

Managing saved searches (page 153)


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138 BMC Remedy Mid Tier Guide

BMC Remedy Action Request System 7.6.04

Types of searches

The following types of searches are available on the Web:

Saved searches—Searches that you can create and save for a form.

Recent searches—Searches that you have executed recently.

Defined searches—Searches defined by your administrator.

Running searches

You can save searches in a browser and run them at any time by selecting Searchesfrom a toolbar menu in a form. You can also make recent searches and definedsearches available in a browser. You can load each type of search criteria into aform, and update the search criteria before you execute a search. You can run allsearches across multiple sessions.

The Searches button opens a menu for you to save and open searches.

Figure B-1: Searches button in toolbar

You can run a search using any combination of the following methods:

Finding a request by example—The easiest way to specify search criteria is tofill in fields and select choices and option buttons to match the requests that youwant to find. You can specify values for more than one field. The more fields that

you fill in, the more specific your search becomes. The system searches forrequests that meet all the criteria and displays them in the Results pane. Formore information, see “Finding a request by example” on page 139.

Advanced search bar—You can use the advanced search bar to define a morecomplex set of search criteria. For example, you can search for all requests withtwo different values in the same field. You can use the search bar together withfields in a form to specify search criteria.

The advanced search bar appears at the bottom of the browser window whenyou click the Advanced Search button on the toolbar. For more information, see“Using the advanced search bar” on page 142.


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Finding a request by example

Parameters—Enter a parameter enclosed in dollar signs ($) in the field. Forexample, so that you can specify the submitter each time that you run the savedreport, enter the prompt text $Enter User Name$ instead of a specific name inthe Submitter field.

When you click Search, you are prompted to enter a sample value for this

parameter.A parameterized search works best when it is saved. Saving the search enablesyou to enter different values each time a search is performed.

To run a search

1 Open a form in Search mode.

2 Enter the search criteria in the form fields, in the advanced search bar, or acombination of both.

3 Click Search.


Finding a request by example enables you to enter information directly into theform to use as a search.

1 In Search mode, open the form for which you want to find requests.

2 In the appropriate fields, specify the search criteria that the requests must match.

You cannot specify search criteria for attachment fields.

You can enter values for more than one field, creating a logical AND for the search

criteria. The more fields that you fill in, the more specific your search becomes.3 Click Search.

You can modify the requests, or you can run a report. For more information, seeAppendix C, “For your end users: Creating reports in a browser.”

Search styles in character fields

Each character field on a form is assigned a specific search style that determineshow it finds matching requests. Your administrator will set these for you. Threesearch styles are available:

Equal—Searches for exactly what you entered in the field. For example, if youenter Bob Smith in the Created By field, you find all requests created by BobSmith, but none created by Bob Smithe.

Leading—Searches for the entered sequence of characters only at the beginningof the field, ignoring any subsequent characters. The search will return everyrequest with this field that contains the first characters exactly as you enteredplus any following characters.


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For example, if you enter Bob in the Created By field, you find all requestscreated by Bob Smith, as well as those created by Bob Smithe and Bobby Jones.You will not find any created by Jill Bobbington. (The characters Bob in the name Jill Bobbington are not leading characters.)

Anywhere—Searches for the entered sequence of characters anywhere in the

field.For example, if you enter Bob in the Created By field, you find all requestscreated by Bob Smith, as well as those created by Bob Smithe, Bobby Jones, and Jill Bobbington.

Equal and Leading searches are faster than Anywhere searches becauseAnywhere searches compare each character in the field while Equal andLeading searches do not.

Overriding the predefined search style

To override the default search style for a character field, enter exactly what you are

searching for in the field, and include a relational operator or wildcard character.For example, you can use an equal sign (=) to search for an exact match even if thefield has a search style of Anywhere. Thus, if you enter =Bob Jones in the CreatedBy field of a form, the search will find all the requests created by Bob Jones. Thesearch will not find requests created by Bob Joneson.

You can also use the advanced search bar to override a field’s search style. Forexample, to override the Created By field in the previous example with a Leadingsearch, you would specify the following criteria in the advanced search bar:

’Created By’ LIKE “Bob Jones%”

Using relational operators in a searchRelational operators are useful in nontext fields (such as date and time fields) whenyou want to search for a value within a numerical range.

You can use the following relational operators as leading characters in fields in aform and in the advanced search bar.

Table B-1: Relational operators

Operator Action

< Matches contents that are less than the value.

> Matches contents that are greater than the value.

= Matches contents that are greater than or equal to the value.

= Matches contents that are exactly equal to the value.

!= Matches contents that are not equal to the value.


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For example, to search for all requests created after a certain date, use the greaterthan (>) relational operator and specify a date and time format. For example, >“July 5, 2008” in the Create Date field finds all requests created after July 5, 2008.(Leaving out the time defaults the search criteria to 0:00:00, the start of the day.)

Using wildcard symbols in a searchWhen you specify search criteria to find requests, you can use the followingwildcard symbols anywhere in a form to indicate one or more characters.

NOTE

Square brackets and the symbols associated with them do not work with Oracle®

or Informix databases.

Use the percent symbol (%) to include leading or trailing characters in your search.For example, to find all requests submitted by Jill Bobbington, Bobby Fenton, andBob Comptonson with an Anywhere search, enter Bob%ton in the Submitter field.The search returns all requests for which the Submitter field contains the strings“Bob” and “ton” in that order with any number of characters leading, trailing, and

in between.

When used in a form, the percent sign (%), underscore (_), and open bracket ([)symbols always function as wildcard symbols except as follows, where theyfunction as explicit characters:

When you specify a relational operator (for example, > or =).

When the field’s default search style is Equal and you do not use a leading ortrailing percent sign (%).

Table B-2: Wildcard symbols for searches

Wildcard Function

% (Percent) Matches any string of 0 or more characters.For example: J%son matches Jackson, Johnson, Jason, and Json.

_ (Underscore) Matches any single character.

For example: B_b matches Bab, Bob, and Bub.

- (Hyphen) Indicates a range. Always use within square brackets ([ ]).

[ ] (Square brackets) Matches any single character within a specifiedrange or set.

For example, [a-f] matches the range of charactersa through f, and [abcf] matches the set of

characters a, b, c, or f.[^] (Square bracketswith caret)

Matches any single character not within a specifiedrange or set.

For example, [^a-f] matches all characters exceptthe range a through f, and [^abcf] matches allcharacters except a, b, c, or f.


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NOTE

You can override a field’s search style by using a leading percent sign. Forexample, if the field’s search style is Equal and you enter %Rob into the Submitterfield, your search finds Robert Smith and Jim Robertson (not only equal matchesto %Rob). However, if you use a leading percent sign, you lose any faster searchtimes that would result from using the Equal or Leading search styles. See “Search

styles in character fields” on page 139.

Using wildcard symbols as explicit characters in a form

To search for the actual characters that serve as wildcard symbols, you must forcethe system to interpret these wildcard characters as explicit characters. Forexample, you might need to search for all instances of the percent sign instead ofusing the percent sign as a wildcard symbol.

To search for the percent sign (%), underscore (_), or open bracket ([) as an explicitcharacter, enclose the character in square brackets. For example, if you enter the

percent sign in square brackets ([%]), the system searches for instances of thepercent sign instead of using it as a wildcard character.

The close bracket (]) functions as a wildcard only when it is accompanied by anopen bracket ([). The hyphen (-) functions as a wildcard character only whenpreceded by an open bracket ([) or an open bracket with a caret ([^).

Using the advanced search bar

You can use the advanced search bar to define a more complex set of criteria thanyou can specify by using only fields in a form. For example, you can search for all

requests with two different values in the same field. Thus, you could search for allrequests that have a status of Fixed or Closed.

To show or hide the advanced search bar, click the Advanced Search button in asearch window. When visible, it appears at the bottom of the browser window.

When you specify search criteria in the advanced search bar, you can use the sameoperators as in the form, and several more. See “Using relational operators in theadvanced search bar” on page 147.

For more information, see “Examples of advanced search bar statements” onpage 150.

NOTE

If you enter search criteria in the advanced search bar and then hide the advancedsearch bar, the criteria is still used to find matching requests. If you have enteredcriteria in the advanced search bar and then decide not to use it, you must clear theadvanced search bar before you hide it.


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To build an advanced search

1 Click the Advanced Search button in a search window.

2 Define a search statement in the Advanced Search bar.

If you use relational operators, observe the appropriate operator precedence. (See

“Using relational operators in a search” on page 140.)3 Click Search.

Advanced search bar conventions

The easiest way to build your search in the advanced search bar is to select thefields, status history fields, keywords, values, currency codes, currency fieldsubvalues, and selection field values directly from the Fields menu to the right ofthe bar. When you choose items directly from this menu, the correct syntax isautomatically entered.

You can also type the information directly into the advanced search bar. If you

choose this option, observe the conventions listed in the following sections.

Fields

Enclose field labels in single quotation marks. For example:

’Short Description’

If a field name contains a single quotation mark (such as an apostrophe), addanother single quotation mark next to it. For example, if the field is namedSubmitter’s Phone Number, enter it as ’Submitter’’s Phone Number’.

To search on a field that does not have a label, see your administrator for the fieldID. Use this ID instead of the name enclosed in single quotation marks.

NOTE

Instead of entering the field label and the quotation marks into the advancedsearch bar, click the field’s label in the form, or select the field from the Field Listdialog box. The field name is automatically added, with the correct syntax, to thesearch statement.

Status history fields

Status history fields must have all of the following information enclosed withinsingle quotation marks:

The name or ID of the status history field followed by a period. The name or index of the status value that you want to match followed by a

period.

The keyword USER (for the user who changed the request to that status) or TIME(for the time last changed to that status).

The following example uses names:

’Status History.Fixed.TIME’ < “07/01/08”


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Currency fields

For currency fields, you must enclose one of the following items in single quotationmarks:

The name or ID of the currency field. For example:

’Currency Field’ = $NULL$

The name of the currency field, followed by a period, followed by a specificportion of the currency field’s value, such as the date or a functional currencyvalue. For example:

’Currency Field.VALUE’ < 5000

Keywords

You can use keywords anywhere that you can enter character values.

You can use the $NULL$ keyword to search for requests that have no value in a field.For example, to search for requests that have not been assigned (requests with no

value in the Assigned to field), enter ’Assigned to’ = $NULL$.

The most commonly used keywords are: $DATE$, $NULL$, $TIME$, $TIMESTAMP$,$USER$, and $WEEKDAY$.

NOTE

Keywords are case-sensitive. Use only UPPERCASE, as shown in the followingtable.

Table B-3: Keywords (Sheet 1 of 3)

Keyword Substituted value

$APPLICATION$ The application name if the application is running; $NULL$when no application is running.

$BROWSER$ The browser (Internet Explorer or Netscape) being used in thecurrent session. If the browser is anything other than InternetExplorer or Netscape, Netscape is returned. ForBMC Remedy User, an empty string ("") is returned.

$CLIENT-TYPE$ The client type of the API program. AR Systemadministrators use this keyword.

$CURRENTWINID$ The window ID that uniquely identifies the current windowin the client environment. AR System administrators use thiskeyword.

$DATABASE$The name of the database on which the current form’s data isstored.

$DATE$ In a character field, the current date is displayed. In a date/time field, the time defaults to midnight (00:00:00).

$DEFAULT$ The default value for the associated field (used only whenassigning a value to a field).

$ERRNO When an error is encountered, the number of the error that just occurred.


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$ERRMSG$ The message for the error that just occurred.

$ERRAPPENDMSG$ The appended message, if any, for the error that justoccurred.

$EVENTSRCWINID$ The window ID that uniquely identifies the event sourcewindow in the client environment. AR System administratorsuse this keyword.

$EVENTDATA$ The value that identifies the data of the event. AR Systemadministrators use this keyword.

$EVENTTYPE$ The value that identifies the type of the event. AR Systemadministrators use this keyword.

$FIELDHELP$ The field help text for the currently selected field.

$FIELDID$ The ID of the field that is currently selected. If the field is notselected, it returns NULL.

$FIELDLABEL$ The label of the field that is currently selected, If the field is

not selected, it returns NULL.$FIELDNAME$ The name of the field that is currently selected. If the field is

not selected, it returns NULL.

$GROUPIDS$ The group IDs of which the current user is a member. If thereare no groups, the keyword returns a value of NULL.

$GROUPS$ The groups to which the current user belongs.

$GUIDE$ The guide name if the guide is running; NULL if the guide isnot running.

$GUIDETEXT$ Help text that provides instructions when a guide is running.

$HARDWARE$ The hardware platform on which the current process isrunning.

$HOMEURL$ The URL of the current page. This option is only valid on webpages. If it is used in BMC Remedy User, it will return a NULLvalue. AR System administrators use this keyword.

$INBULKTRANSACTION$ Indicates whether you are in a bulk transaction.

This keyword is not supported and is reserved for future use.

$LASTCOUNT$ The number of matches found in the most recent search.

$LASTID$ The ID of the last successfully created request.

$LASTOPENEDWINID$ The Send Event keyword that resolves to the ID of thewindow that was last opened. AR System administrators usethis keyword.

$LOCALE$ The language and country code for the specified locale, in theformat language_COUNTRYCODE , for example, en_US.

$NULL$ A null value.




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$OPERATION$ The current mode or operation being performed. One of thefollowing values is returned:

CREATE—For a Create request operation.

DELETE—For a Delete operation. DIALOG—When a form is opened as a dialog box.

GET—For a Get Entry operation.

MERGE—For a Merge operation.

QUERY—For a database search.

SET—For a Modify operation.

SET ALL—For a Modify All operation.

$OS$ The operating system under which the current process isrunning.

$ROLES$ For a deployable application, returns the list of roles that mapto groups to which the current user belongs.

$ROWCHANGED$ Evaluates whether a row in a table field has changed in a tableloop guide.

0 = Not changed

1 = Changed

$ROWSELECTED$ Evaluates whether a row in a table field is selected in a tableloop guide.

0 = Not selected.

1 = Highlighted as the secondary selection.

2 = Highlighted as the primary selection.

$SCHEMA$ The form on which you are currently operating.

$SCHEMA-ALIAS$ The singular alias used for a form.

$SERVER$ The AR System server on which the current form is defined.

$SERVERTIMESTAMP$ The current date, time, or both on the AR System server. Thekeyword is used with the following fields:

Date/Time

Time

Date

$TCPPORT$ The TCP/IP port of the local AR System server. AR Systemadministrators use this keyword.

$TIME$ In a character field, the current time is displayed. In a date/time field, the date defaults to the current date.

$TIMESTAMP$ The current date/time stamp.$USER$ The name of the user who is currently logged in.

$VERSION$ The version of BMC Remedy User. If the version includes apatch, it is also included.

$VUI$ The name of the view of the current active window.

$VUI-TYPE$ The views platform (such as Web or Windows).

$WEEKDAY$ The current day of the week.




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Values

Enclose nonnumeric values (including time, selection, and currency values) indouble quotation marks (for example, “07/01/08” for July 1, 2008).

Selection field values

Selection field values can be specified as text values in quotation marks or numericvalues or indexes not in quotation marks. For example, if you have a Status fieldwith the option buttons labeled Open, Fixed, and Verified, you can enter either“Open” or 0 to specify the value of Open, because Open is the first selection valuein the selection field.

Currency field values

For currency fields, use the Currency Codes submenu to choose an availablecurrency code. When you choose a currency code, the double quotation marks areautomatically entered (such as “USD"). Add the currency value within the doublequotation marks (for example, “100 USD").

If you do not specify a currency code, the primary allowable currency type isassumed.

Using relational operators in the advanced search bar

Relational operators are useful especially in nontext fields (such as date and timefields) when you want to search for a value within a numerical range.

You can use the following relational operators only in the advanced search bar.You cannot use them in a form. See Using relational operators in a search.

Table B-4: Operators (Sheet 1 of 3)

Operator Action

( ) Use parentheses to control the order in which the expression is carriedout. Operations found within parentheses are executed together as aunit.

For example, in the operation ’Gross Income’ ñ (’UnemploymentInsurance’ + ’Pension Plan Contributions’ + ’Income Tax’) ,the items within the parentheses are added before they are subtractedfrom Gross Income.

AND && Logical AND of the result of two conditions. The result is true only if bothconditions are true. For example, ’Status’="New” AND ’Assignedto’="Andy” finds all new requests assigned to Andy.

You can use two ampersands (&&) instead of the word AND.OR || Logical OR of the result of two conditions. The result is true if either

condition is true. For example, ’Status’="New” OR ’Assignedto’="Andy” finds all new requests (regardless of who they are assignedto) and all requests assigned to Andy (no matter what their status).

You can use two vertical lines (||) instead of the word OR.


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NOT ! Negates the condition that follows. If the condition is false, the result istrue. For example, NOT ’Status’="New” finds all requests that are notnew.

You can use an exclamation point (!) instead of the word NOT.LIKE Performs a pattern search. For example, ’Submitter’ LIKE “Bob%ton”

finds all requests with a submitter name that begins with the letters Boband ends with the letters ton—such as Bob Compton and Bobby Fenton.The LIKE operator is useful only with character and diary fields.

Use square brackets and the LIKE operator for Sybase databases. Square brackets and the LIKE operator do not work with Oracle or Informixdatabases. See the Database Reference, “Using relational databases withAR System,” page 13, and the Workflow Objects Guide, “Operators,”page 216.

+ Adds two numerical values (integer, real values, or decimal).

Adds an integer interval to a date/time value.

Adds two character strings.

For example, ’Create date’ > $DATE$ + (8*60*60) finds all requeststhat were created after 8:00 a.m. today. (8*60*60 is the number ofseconds in 8 hours.)

- Subtracts two numerical values (integer, real values, or decimal).

Subtracts two date/time values (resulting in an integer). Subtracts aninteger interval from a date/time value.

For example, ’Create date’ > $TIMESTAMP$ - (7*24*60*60) findsall requests that were created within the past week. (7*24*60*60 is thenumber of seconds in one week.) This is useful to include in a customreport of all requests created in that week.

* Multiplies two numeric values. For example, ’Quantity’ * ’Price’ >50 finds all requests where the contents of the Quantity field multiplied by the contents of the Price field is over 50.

/ Divides two numeric values. For example, ’Total Expenses’ /’Total Income’ = 2 finds all requests where the total amount spentfor expenses is twice the total amount of income.

% Modulo of two integer values (the remainder of a division of the values).Because a percent sign is also a valid wildcard symbol, the contextdetermines how it is interpreted. When used as part of a searchstatement, it is interpreted as a wildcard symbol; when used in theexpression where an operator is expected, it is interpreted as modulo.

Note: Use the modulo operator only with fields whose data type is

integer. If you use this operator with fields that have other data types,such as Date/Time, an error occurs.

< Matches contents that are less than the value. For example, ’Createdate’ < ($TIMESTAMP$ - 24*60*60) finds all requests created morethan 24 hours ago. ([24*60*60] or 86400, is the number of seconds in 24hours.)


Operator Action


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When you use multiple operators to construct qualification criteria, they areexecuted in the following order of precedence:

1 ( )

2 NOT (!) - (unary minus)

3 * / %

4 + -

5 < >= = != LIKE

6 AND (&&)

7 OR (||)

If the qualification contains multiple operators of the same precedence value, theyare executed in the order that they occur (from left to right). For example, in theexpression A + (B*C), the multiplication takes first precedence because it occurswithin parentheses, which are of a higher precedence than addition.

Using wildcard symbols in the advanced search bar

When you specify search criteria to find requests, you can use wildcard symbols asshown in the following table to indicate one or more characters:

> Matches contents that are greater than the value. For example, ’Createdate’ > “09/24/07 00:00:00” finds all requests with Create dates thatare newer than midnight September 24, 2007.

!= Matches contents that are not equal to the value. For example, ’Status’!= “Closed” finds all requests that are not closed.

= “09/30/07” finds all requests with Createdates equal to or more recent than September 30, 2007.

= Matches contents that are exactly equal to the value. For example,’Status’ = 0 finds all requests with a status value equal to the firstselection value.


Operator Action

Table B-5: Wildcards (Sheet 1 of 2)

Use this wildcard: To match these characters:% (Percent) Matches any string of 0 or more characters.

For example: J%son matches Jackson, Johnson, Jason, and Json.

_ (Underscore) Matches any single character.

For example: B_b matches Bab, Bob, and Bub.

- (Hyphen) Indicates a range. Always use within square brackets ([]).


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In the advanced search bar, wildcard symbols are interpreted as wildcards onlywhen used with the LIKE operator; otherwise, they are interpreted as explicitcharacters. You must use the percent symbol (%) when you want to include leadingor trailing characters in your search. For example, if you want to find all requests

submitted by Jill Bobbington, Bobby Fenton, and Bob Comptonson, enter thefollowing text in the advanced search bar:

’Submitter’ LIKE “%Bob%ton%”

NOTE

Square brackets and the symbols associated with them do not work with Oracle orInformix databases.

Examples of advanced search bar statements

The following statements illustrate ways you can use the advanced search bar to

build complex searches.

To find all requests that were created by someone other than the currentuser

Enter

’Submitter’ != $USER$

This example uses the not equal to operator (!=) to find instances where the valuein the Submitter field is not equal to the user who is currently logged in. Notice theuse of the $USER$ keyword.

To find all requests that were created after 10:00 a.m. on the current dayEnter

’Create date’ > “10:00:00”

The example uses the greater than operator (>) to find requests where the value ofthe Create date field is greater than the current day at 10:00 a.m.

[ ] (Square brackets) Matches any single character within a specified range or set.

For example, [a-f] matches the range of characters athrough f, and [abcf] matches the set of characters a, b, c,

or f.[^] (Square brackets withcaret)

Matches any single character not within a specified range orset.

For example, [^a-f] matches all characters except the rangea through f, and [^abcf] matches all characters except a, b,c, or f.

Table B-5: Wildcards (Sheet 2 of 2)

Use this wildcard: To match these characters:


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Saving searches

To find all requests that have been created for any problem that involvesprinting

Enter

’Submitted Problem Type’ LIKE “%print%”

The example uses the LIKE operator to perform a pattern search that finds requestswith the word print anywhere in the Submitted Problem Type field.

To find all requests with a status of released

Enter

’Status ’ = “Released”

Notice the spaces after the word Status in the field specification. The spaces existin the field label on the form being used. If you use the Field List dialog box byselecting the Fields button on the advanced search bar, the spaces (and singlequotation marks) are added automatically.

NOTE A search statement that includes a not equal to operator (!=) might returnunexpected results because the advanced search bar complies with ANSI SQLstandards. One of these standards distinguishes between fields that contain dataand fields that have never contained data.

For example, the following statement does not return requests whereCharacterField is empty:

’CharacterField’ != “one”

To include requests where CharacterField is empty, enter the search statementlike this:

’CharacterField’ != “one” OR ’CharacterField’ = $NULL$

Saving searches

The following procedures detail how to save and run searches from a form viewedin a browser.

NOTE

You must execute a search before you can save it.

To save a search that you have created

1 Run a search. (See “Running searches” on page 138.)

2 From the toolbar, choose Searches > Save Search.

The Save or Redefine Search dialog box appears.


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3 In the Search Name field, enter a name for the search, or select one from the list ofexisting saved searches.

This is the name that will appear in the saved search list. If the name you enteralready exists, the search criteria under the existing name will be overwritten.

4 Click OK.

The new and refined search will now be available in the list of saved searches.

Running a saved, recent, or defined search

To run a saved, recent, or defined search

1 From the toolbar, choose Searches > Run My Searches, Run Recent, or RunDefined.

Figure B-2: Searches menu

2 From the list of searches, choose a search to run.

The system executes the search and displays a results list.

Figure B-3: Search results


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Loading search criteria without execution

Loading search criteria without execution

You can load search criteria from saved, recent, or defined searches into a formwithout executing the search. You can then modify the search criteria, or executethe search as it is.

To load search criteria into a form

1 Open a form in Search mode.

2 From the toolbar, choose Searches > Load My Searches, Load Recent, or LoadDefined.

3 From the list of searches, choose the search you want to load into the form.

The search criteria is loaded into the form. You can execute the search by choosingSearch from the toolbar, or you can modify the search criteria.

Managing saved searchesYou can enable, disable, or delete existing saved searches. Disabling a searchremoves it from the list of searches, but keeps the search data.

To enable or disable a search

1 From the toolbar, choose Searches > Manage My Searches.

Figure B-4: Manage Search dialog box

2 In the Manage Search dialog box, select the search you want to enable or disable,and click the Enable/Disable button.

If a search is not yet selected in the Manage Search dialog box, the default buttonlabel of Disable is displayed.

The state of the search changes to either Enabled or Disabled, depending on youraction. If the search is disabled, it no longer appears in the search menu on thetoolbar, but the search data is still stored in the AR System Searches Preferenceform.

3 Click Save to save your changes.

The label for this

button changes

depending on

the currently

selected search.

Click Delete to

delete a search.


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To delete a search

1 Select the search you want to delete.

2 Click Delete.

3 Click Save.

The search is deleted from the list in the Manage Searches dialog box, from thesearch menu, and from the AR System Searches Preference form. To restore adeleted search, you must recreate and save it.


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Appendix C For your end users: Creating reports in a browser 155

Appendix

CFor your end users: Creatingreports in a browser

This chapter describes how AR System users create and run reports in a browser.

The following topics are provided:

Reporting on AR System data (page 156)

Running reports (page 159)

Creating reports (page 167)

Export file formats for AR System reports (page 183)


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Reporting on AR System data

The AR System Report Console provides a single interface for all Web-basedreporting functions. You can create and run ad hoc reports based on user-specifiedcriteria, and can also run existing reports that are defined by others or installed

with BMC applications.

To open the Report Console, click the AR System Report Console link in the QuickLinks area of the home page, or click the Report button after running a form searchin a browser. You can also open the Report Console by entering the correct URL tothe AR System Report Console form. BMC Remedy applications provideadditional links that open the Report Console.

About the AR System Report Console

The Report Console includes the report list, where you can select and run reports,and the report designer screen, where you can create and modify reports.

Figure C-1: The Report Console with the report list

The links in the upper right part of the report list screen have the followingfunctions:

For information about using the remaining options in the report list screen to workwith reports, see

“Finding reports” on page 159

“Running reports and saving the output” on page 159

Link name Description

Close Close the Report Console and return to the previous browser window.

Help Open the Report Console help.

Logout Log out of AR System.

Refresh Refresh the list of reports.

New Create a new report. See “Creating reports” on page 167.Delete Delete the selected report.


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Reporting on AR System data

“Adding to or overriding a report query at runtime” on page 163

“Reporting based on a search” on page 165

The report designer screen allows you use to create and edit Web reports. Itdisplays the name of the current report in the upper left and indicates whether itis new or being edited.

The report designer screen includes the Report Definition area, where you definethe report content, and the Filter By area, where you define an optional searchquery to select the records to be included in the report.

Figure C-2: The report designer screen of the Report Console

The buttons in the upper right of the report designer screen have the followingfunctions:

Button name Description

Preview Preview the report

Save Save the report

Save As Save the report with a different name (make a copy)

Back Return to the report list screen of the Report Console


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For information about using the options in the report designer screen, see

“Defining a Web list report” on page 168

“Defining a Web chart report” on page 170

“Using a query in a Web report” on page 173

“Editing and deleting reports” on page 176

Report types

The options available for creating, running, and saving reports vary based on thereport type. AR System includes these report types:

Web reports—The Web report type provides browser users the ability to createnicely formatted reports. Results can be returned in the form of a list, manystyles of charts, or a list and chart together. Web reports can contain links thatallow you to drill down from the report to open AR System records and viewthe data upon which the report is based. Web reports can be saved in several

standard formats, including Adobe PDF and Postscript, and Microsoft Word,Excel, and PowerPoint formats.

Web reports are suitable to use in presentations, documents, email, andprinting, and can transfer data directly to spreadsheet format. Also, becauseeach row in the report output contains a link to the underlying data in the form,you can use Web reports to work interactively with AR System data.

Web reports are not available in BMC Remedy User.

AR System reports—You can use AR System reports to generate output inseveral standard formats, including XML, .arx, and comma-separated value(.csv). AR System reports are typically used to export data in the specifiedformat for use in another application, for importing data into anotherAR System server, and to generate statistics based on the report data.

For information about creating and running reports in BMC Remedy User, seethe BMC Remedy User help. To locate existing reports in BMC Remedy User,use the ReportSelection form rather than the Report Console.

Crystal reports—Some installations of AR System are integrated w ith the SAPBusinessObjects or Crystal Reports reporting tools. If your ad min istrator has

installed one of these produ cts and has d esigned Crystal reports for use with

AR System, you can run Crystal reports from the Report Console.


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Running reports

Running reports

This section describes how to use the Report Console to ru n existing r eports. For

information abou t creating rep orts, see “Creating reports” on page 167.

Finding reports

When you open th e Report Console from th e home p age, all reports to w hich you

have p ermission app ear in the list. You can narrow the list to show only those

repor ts you h ave created, or only reports belonging to a certain category, such as

Incident Management.

When you click the Report bu tton after ru nn ing a search, the Report Con sole lists

only those reports that are based on th e form you searched. In this case, when you

run the report, only the d ata you selected from th e search r esults is included , and

you cannot add to or override the report qu ery.

Use any of the following m ethod s to locate reports in th e Report Con sole list: In the Show field, select Created by Me to list only report s you h ave created.

If repor t categories are defined , select a category from the Category field m enu

to see only the reports assigned to that category.

Sort th e list by clicking an y of the colum n h eadings. For examp le, click th e Form

Nam e colum n head ing to sort the list by the associated forms.

Use the expand and collapse bu ttons located below the list to see a longer or

shorter v iew of the list, or to h ide the list.

Running reports and saving the output

You can ru n AR System, Web, and Crystal reports from the Report Console. The

available outpu t formats and how you select them vary by th e report type. (The

typ e of report is listed in the Report Type column .)

In some cases, you can ad d an additional qualification to the report qu ery at

run time, or override th e built-in qu ery w ith a n ew q ualification.

NOTE

In order to ru n a rep ort, you m ust have p ermissions to the form an d to th e fields

included in the report. If you d o not h ave permission to th e form, the report d oes

not ap pear in th e list of available reports. If you have perm ission to th e form but

do n ot have p ermission to a field includ ed in th e report, that column is blank w hen

you run the report.


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Running reports

TIP

Although you cannot save a Web rep ort directly to .csv format, you can still usethis format to transfer the data from a Web report to an other ap plication. To do so,

export th e Web repor t to Microsoft Excel, and then use Excel fun ctions to save the

data in .csv format.

To export a Web report

1 Run the rep ort as described in “To run a report” on page 160.

2 In the repor t viewer, click Export Report .

3 In the Export Report d ialog box, select the format for the exported report .

4 (Optional) Select w hich pages of the report to export. By d efau lt, all pages are

selected.

5 (Optional) For PDF, PostScript, and PowerPoint form ats, select Au to, Actual Size,

or Fit to Page.

These options help control how large reports are p aginated in the selected ou tpu tfile type.

6 Click OK.

7 In the File Download d ialog box, select wh ether you want to op en or save the file.

Open—The rep ort op ens in the selected app lication, such as Excel. (You mu st

have the app lication installed to u se this option.)

Save—The Save As d ialog box app ears. Navigate to the appropriate location,

enter a file name, and then click Save.

If you select Open, you can then use m enu options in the associated application to

pr int, email, and search the repor t results.

The links to th e un derlying records in a list report remain active w hen you export

the report. This means that other users with access to the AR System server w here

the report was ru n can use the links in the report to drill dow n to the un derlying

records. How ever, if a user w ithou t access to the AR System server clicks on the

link in the exported report, the u ser will see a browser “page not foun d” error.

NOTE

Chart d rill-dow n is d eactivated in an exported report. Only list report links remain

active.

To print a Web report


2 In the repor t viewer, click Print Repor t .

3 In the Print Repor t dialog box, ind icate wh ich pages you w ant to p rint.

4 Click OK.


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TIP

You can also export th e report as d escribed in “To export a Web repor t”, and th en

prin t the repor t from th e selected ap plication.

Opening the records in the report

Web reports can contain links to the un derlying d ata. This allows you to “d rilldow n” by clicking the links to open th e un derlying records an d work interactively

with the d ata in the report.

In a list report, each row rep resents a single request and contains a link to th at

request. The link appears in the Request ID colum n if it is includ ed in the report. If

the Request ID field is not includ ed, the link is created on th e Short Description

field, if includ ed, or on the first field in the rep ort (the left-most colum n). When you

click the link, the request u nd erlying that row of the list opens.

In a chart r eport, elements of the chart reflect a group of one or m ore un derlying

records. For example, the bars in a bar chart migh t represent the num ber of

stud ents enrolled in each class in th e Samp le app lications. Clicking on a bar in th e

chart opens the form, and the records su mm arized in that bar of the chart are listedin the resu lts list.

There are some restrictions on u sing the d rill-dow n feature of Web reports. These

include:

The form m ust allow d rilling d own from a report. If the adm inistrator has

turn ed off the “Allow Drill Down from Web Report” form p roperty, reports on

that form do not allow you to d rill down to the und erlying requests.

If the form is a vendor form, the associated p lug-in mu st includ e the fields used

in the report q uery. If not, AR System error 3355, “Illegal fieldencountered in the qualifier,” appears.

In a chart report, you cannot drill down in the following situations:

The report w as run from a search results list or table field by selecting records

and then clicking Report. In this case, the chart d rill-dow n links are not

available, because th e record s represented in the chart are already available

in the search results.

The selected field is a field typ e that contains grou p IDs, includ ing the Grou p

List field on the User form , the Assignee Grou p field, or a d ynam ic field (field

ID in the ra nge 60000 - 69999). In th is case, AR System rep orts “No matchingrequests (or no permission to requests) for qualificationcriteria. (ARWARN 9296).”

The field u sed for the Category axis contains record s with a n ull value. In thiscase, AR System reports “No matching requests (or no permission torequests) for qualification criteria. (ARWARN 9296).”

The Category axis is based on a grou p field. This includ es the Group List field

in the User form (field 104), the Assignee Grou p field in an y form (field 112),

or any dynam ic grou p field (field ID in range 60000 – 69999).

The chart is in an exported r eport.


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Running reports

Exporting AR System reports

You can expor t the results of an AR System rep ort to the following file form ats:

AR System export (file extension .arx)

AR System XML (file extens ion .xml)

Comm a-Separated Value (file extension .csv)

All of these formats can be used to import data to an AR System form w ith BMC

Remedy Data Imp ort. CSV files can also be impor ted to other app lications, such as

Microsoft Excel.

For more information abou t the AR System report file types, see “Export file

formats for AR System reports” on page 183.

To export an AR System report

1 Select the report from the list.

2 In the Destination field , select whether to send the rep ort to th e screen, to a file, or

to a printer.

3 In the Format field, select the ou tput forma t for the report.


Adding to or overriding a report query at runtime

When you open th e Report Console to run a report, AR System uses the report’s

bu ilt-in query to select the records includ ed in the repor t. Two add itional option s

allow you to add a qu alification to narrow the report results (Show Add itional

Filter) or override the built-in query to w iden or change the report resu lts

(Override).

If the “edit” icon app ears next to a repor t entry in the Report Console, you can

open the report definition to examine the built-in qu ery.

This section briefly explains how to use th ese two op tions, describes example

situations to illustra te their use, and explains wh y they are sometimes un available

or might p rodu ce un expected search results.

Adding a qualification at runtime

A “qu alification” is any qu ery statement, such as “N um ber enrolled is greater than

0”. When you enter an ad ditional qualification using Show Ad d itional Filter, and

do not select Overr ide, your q ualification is added to the report’s built-in qu ery(using the AN D operator ). If you ad d a qu alification and select Override, then your

qualification replaces the report’s built-in qu ery. If you select Override but d o not

add a qu alification, then the report’s bu ilt-in qu ery is ignor ed.

To add a qualification at runtime

1 Open the Report Console and select the repor t to run from th e list of repor ts.

2 Click Show Ad ditional Filter.


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WARNING

If the report includ es a pr imary and secondary form, the filter show s only fields

that are included in the primary form.

3 Build th e add itional qualification, using either the Simp le Query Builder or th e

Advanced Qu ery Builder, as described in “Using a query in a Web report” on

page 173.

4 (Optional) Select Override to rep lace the report’s built-in qu ery with the ad ded

qualification.

If the Ov erride check box is not available, overrides are d isabled for this repor t. In

that case you can on ly add your qualification to the report an d cannot override th e

built-in query.

5 Click Run to run the report w ith the ad ded qualification.

Example of adding a qualification to narrow a report

An examp le report nam ed Class Registration, based on the Samp le:Classes form,

has a bu ilt-in query stating “N um ber enrolled is greater than 0”. The reportnorm ally includes all classes for w hich at least one stud ent is enrolled. An

instructor, Peter Thom as, needs to see th is list, but on ly for the courses he teaches.

Peter could use the Class Registration report and add a qualification before

run ning th e report, such as “Instru ctor is equal to Peter Thom as” or “Instructor is

myself”. His add itional qualification is add ed to the bu ilt-in qu ery, and the

resulting report show s only those cour ses for which he is the instru ctor and at least

one stud ent is enrolled. In other w ords, he narrow s the report results from all

classes with enrolled stud ents to only those h e teaches that h ave enrolled stu dents.

Examples of overriding a report query

A man ager for the training p rogram , on the other hand , need s to see a list of allclasses, includ ing those where the enrollment is zero. Instead of writing a new

report , she could u se the Class Registration repor t, but override the built-in qu ery.

By overriding the bu ilt-in qu ery and add ing no ad ditional cond itions, she

eliminates the built-in qu ery. Thu s she widens the report results to includ e those

classes that h ave no enrollees.

You can also use the Override and Show Ad d itional Filter options together to

replace any bu ilt-in qu ery in th e repor t. For examp le, to see a list of all classes in

Madrid w ith or without stud ents enrolled, the training program manager could

use the Class Registration report, ad d th e query “Location is LIKE Madrid%”, and

click Overrid e. The add itional query nar row s the report to includ e only classes in

Madrid, and the overrid e causes the report to include classes w ith no enrollees aswell as those with stud ents enrolled.


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Running reports

Restrictions on modifying queries at runtime

Some reports do not allow m odification at run time. These options are unavailable

in th e following cases:

If you search a form an d th en use the Repor t but ton in th e search resu lts list to

create a repor t, the record s that you selected in the search results are passed to

the Report Console as a pred efined query. In th is case, the Show Ad ditionalFilter and Override op tions are not available.

The adm inistrator can configur e a repor t to disallow overr ides, add itional

qualifications, or both . In case, either or both op tions are u navailable.

Override does n ot override the “base qualification” used in AR System reports. A

base qualification is defined by the ad ministrator an d is outside of the repor t

definition. If the report contains a base qu alification, your qualification is add ed to

the ba se qualification. Base qu alifications are not visible in th e repor t d esigner

screen.

Reporting based on a searchWhen you run a search on an AR System form or view a table in a browser, the

Report bu tton ap pears below the search results or in the table (assuming th e form

or table field is not configured to pr event th is). The Report bu tton allows you to

generate a report based on the search resu lts or table field contents.

Figure C-3: Search results with Report button

When you click Report, the following actions occur:

The Report Con sole opens, listing only those reports that are associated w ith the

form you searched.

You can a lso create a new repor t definition based on th is search. In this case the

report is au toma tically associated w ith the cur rent form. If you select the “Add

default fields an d sort or der” op tion, the results list fields are automaticallyincluded in the report.

The records that a re selected in the search resu lts at the time you click Report,

along with th e sort order, are passed to the Report Console as a predefined

query.


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When you search a form, the first record in th e search results is autom atically

selected. If you click Report w ithou t changing th is selection, on ly the first record

is included in th e report. Use any of the following m ethod s to select the records

you w ant to include in the report:

Select All—Selects all entr ies in the table.

SHIFT-click —To select a range of entries, click an en try an d h old d own th eSHIFT key. Click another entry above or below th e original selection, and

then release the SHIFT key.

CTRL-click —To report on m ultiple entries, click an entry an d th en hold

dow n the CTRL key. Continue to click the entries you want to includ e in the

report w hile holding d own the CTRL key. When you h ave finished selecting

table entries, release the CTRL key.

Deselect All—Clears all selections in the table.

If no ent ries in th e table are selected w hen y ou click Report, the rep ort

includ es all the entr ies in th e search results.

Using the My Reports toolbar button

With the My Reports toolbar button , you can save the sequen ce that generates a

report based on a search. Each n amed report in the My Reports list is uniqu e per

server, per form, and per u ser. The My Reports feature is helpful if you frequ ently

generate reports based on the same search, but d on’t w ant to create a report

definition.

To save a report to the My Reports toolbar menu

1 Run a search on a form.

See Appen d ix B, “For your end users: Running an d saving searches on th e Web.”

2 Run a rep ort based on the search results. See “Reporting based on a search” on

page 165.

3 Close the repor t.

4 In the brow ser wind ow contain ing the search results, choose My Reports > Save.

5 Enter a nam e for the report, and click OK.

To run a saved report from the My Reports toolbar menu

1 Open th e form associated with th e report that you saved.

2 Choose My Reports > Run > reportName.

To manage reports from the My Reports toolbar menu

1 Open th e form associated with th e report that you saved.

2 Choose My Reports > Manage.

Saved rep orts app ear in a d ialog box.


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Creating reports

3 Delete, disable, or enable reports as n eeded .

4 Click Save.

Creating reports

This section d escribes how to d efine a new Web or AR System rep ort. (Crystal

reports are pre-designed and mu st be installed by the ad ministrator.)

Web reports are suitable for prep aring formatted list reports, which are p resented

in a table, and chart rep orts, wh ich allow you to select from v arious typ es of charts

to illustrate the d ata. By using th e preview feature, you can use Web repor ts to

work interactively with th e data in the form.

AR System reports are often used to export dat a in XML, .arx, or.csv format foruse in anoth er app lication or on an other AR System server. In add ition, you can

use AR System reports generate statistical values based on th e data. AR System

reports are can be ru n on the Web and in BMC Remedy User.

Setting up a new report

When you click New to create a report, you m ust first define the type of report, its

associated form, and the report n ame in the N ew Report screen.

Depend ing on the typ e of report you are creating, AR System then opens either the

repor t design screen of the Report Console (for Web reports) or the ReportCreator

form (for AR System reports).

To start a new report

1 In a browser, click the AR System Report Console link on th e home page to open

the Report Console.

2 Click N ew .

3 In the Type field of the New Report w indow , select the Web or AR System report

type. This field is required .

4 In the Form field, enter th e nam e of the form to use for the report. This field is

required.


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Creating reports

Figure C-4: Example list report based on the Sample:Classes form

A link to the u nd erlying d ata app ears in the report results, assuming th e form

pr operties allow th is. The link is created on the Request ID if it is included in the

repor t. If the Requ est ID field is not includ ed, the link is created on the Short

Description field, if includ ed, or on the first field in th e repor t (the left-most

column).

To define a list report

1 Follow the steps described in “To start a new report” on page 167.

2 (Optional) In th e Repor t Definition area, add a brief description of the rep ort in the

Description field.

This description app ears in the list of repor ts in the Report Console. If you d o not

enter a d escription, it is identified as a “Web Report .”

3 In the Conten t field, select List or Char t + List.

List—The report is presented as a table.

Ch art + List—The rep ort is presented as a chart, followed by a table. Use thispr ocedur e to d efine th e list section of the repor t. To d efine the char t, see

“Defining a Web chart rep ort” on page 170.

4 (Optional) To share this report w ith other u sers who sh are at least one perm ission

grou p in comm on w ith you, clear the Private check box.

Other users mu st have also permission to the form in order to run the report, and

they mu st have p ermission to the fields included in the report in order to see the

data in the report.

5 In the Colu mn s tab, select fields from the Available Fields list to includ e in the

repor t, and then click Add, double-click, or drag them to the Colum n list.

You m ust ad d at least one field to th e Column list to be able to save the rep ort.

If you selected “Ad d default fields and sort order” w hen creating th e report, the

defined resu lts list fields for the form are alread y in the Colum n list.

You can select m u ltiple field s at a tim e from the Available Fields list. To add all

fields to th e repor t, click Ad d All.

You can includ e any field type except Diary fields in the rep ort.


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To remove a field from the report , select it in the Colum n list and then click

Remove, dou ble-click the field, or d rag it from the Colum n list back to the

Available Fields list. To remove all fields from the repor t d efinition, click

Remove All.

NOTE

The available fields come from the stand ard view of the form or from the viewdefined as th e Master View for the locale. If the field s that ap pear d o not m atch the

fields you see on the form, there m ight be a Web - Alternate view d efined . Fields

in a Web - Alternate view d o not ap pear in th e Available Fields list.

6 Use the Up and Down buttons n ext to the Column list to change the ord er of the

columns in th e report.

7 (Optional) In th e Sorting an d Grou ping tab, select one or m ore fields on w hich to

sort the rep ort, and then click Ad d, or d rag the selected field to the sorting list area.

If you selected “Ad d default fields and sort order” w hen creating th e report, the

default sort order for the form is already ad ded to the report d efinition.

To change the sort order between ascend ing and descend ing, click the arrow in

the Dir column for each field.

To group repeated values, click the Grou p check box.

8 (Optional) Define a qualification to identify the record s that ap pear in th e report.

See “Using a query in a Web report” on page 173.

9 (Optional) To preview the rep ort before you save it, click Preview.

A sample report run s and ap pears in a separate browser wind ow. The Preview

feature allows you to check and mod ify the r eport d esign u ntil you are satisfied

with th e results.

You can also use the Preview featur e in cases where you wa nt a qu ick view of the

data in a form. You can p rint the report or export d ata from the p review screen.

NOTE

When you pr eview a Report th at has a base qu alification, the base qua lification is

ignored. In th is case, the report p review m ight include more records th an w hen

you ru n th e report from the Report Console list.

10 To save the r eport for futur e u se, click Save.

11 Click Back to retur n to the Report Console repor t list.

Defining a Web chart report

You can generate variou s types of charts and grap hs to illustr ate the report d ata.

You can also generate a chart or grap h together w ith a list report th at shows th e

supporting data.


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To define a chart report

1 Create a new report as d escribed in “To start a new report” on page 167.

2 In the Con tent field, select Char t or Chart + List.

Chart—The report is presented as a chart or grap h of the type you select.

Ch art + List—The rep ort is pr esented as a chart , followed by a table. Use this

pr ocedur e to define the chart section of the report. To define the list, see

“Defining a Web list report” on page 168.

3 In the Chart Options tab, select the chart op tions:

Type—The typ e of chart you wan t to p rodu ce, such as a pie chart or a bar chart.

Category Field—Select the field to sup ply th e category d ata for the chart.

In a p ie chart, the values in the category field become the “slices” of the p ie. Ingrap hs, such as a bar chart, the values in the category field ar e plotted on the X-

axis.

WARNING

Make sure th at the category you selected includ es values. A nu ll value can inhibit

the interactive drill-down fun ctionality of the report.

Category Label—Sup ply a label to app ear on the chart that d escribes the

category d ata.

Aggregation—Select an aggregat ion method th at makes sense for the d ata in the

report.

Count—Reports th e number of existing records for each u niqu e value in the

category field.

Su m—Add s the values in the series field for each un ique value in the

category field.

Average—Calculates an av erage of the v alues in the series field for each

un ique value in the category field.

Meter Meter charts measure the most recent variable value from the

variable associated w ith that m eter. Meters can be configured to

show increasing levels of severity.

Scatter Scatter charts are used to analyze the relationship between two

variables. One va riable is plotted on the horizon tal axis and th e

other is plotted on th e vertical axis.

Tube Tube charts are used to display a comparison of the quant ity of

each variable.

Cone Cone charts are used to for direct comparisons of magnitude

between categories in a cone shap e.

Pyramid Pyramid Charts display variables in a w ay that reveals

hierarchical structu re.

Chart Description


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Creating reports

Minimum—Show s the m inimum of the va lues in the series field for each


Maximum—Show s the m aximum of the values in th e series field for each


Series Field—Select the field to sup ply th e category d ata for the chart.

In a p ie chart, th e values in the series field are u sed to created each “slice” of the

pie. In gr aph s, the values in the series field are p lotted on the Y-axis.

Series Label—Supp ly a label to app ear on the chart th at describes the series

data.

For examp le, to pr odu ce a chart repor t based on the Sample:Classes form that

show s nu mber of stud ents enrolled in each class, select the following chart op tions:

Type—Tube Chart

Category

Field—Class Title*

Label—Class title

Series

Aggregation—Sum

Field—Number Enrolled*

Label—Total enrolled

4 (Optional) To preview the rep ort before you save it, click Preview.

A sample report runs and app ears in a separate browser wind ow.

5 To save the rep ort for futu re u se, click Save.

6 Click Back to retu rn to the Repor t Console report list.

Using a query in a Web report

To control wh ich records from the form w ill app ear in the report, build a query to

select the d ata wh en the rep ort run s. The qu ery is saved as part of the report

definition.

You can use the simple query builder, the advanced qu ery builder, or both. The

simple query bu ilder joins all query statements with the AN D operator.

Alternatively, advanced users can build the qu ery using AR System query syntax

with th e advanced qu ery builder. To use the operator types OR or NOT, you mu st

use the advanced query builder.

Using the simple query builder

The Report Con sole includes a simple query builder th at allows you to qu ickly

construct a simple query . By default, the report d esigner screen open s with the

simple query bu ilder active.


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Figure C-6: The simple query builder, with advanced query builder closed

To build a query using the simple query builder

1 In the Filter By area of th e report d esigner screen, select a field from th e Available

Fields list.

2 Drag th e field to the qu ery area, or click Ad d Field .

3 Select the qu ery operator:

Is equal to—Selects record s in w hich the value in the chosen field m atches

exactly the value entered in the qu ery.

Is not equal to—Selects records in w hich the value in th e chosen field d oes not

match the value entered in the qu ery.

Is emp ty—Selects record s in w hich the chosen field is emp ty.

Is not empty—Selects records in which the chosen field contains som e data.

Is myself —Selects records in which the value in th e chosen field matches the

current user’s login ID.

Is not myself —Selects records in w hich the valu e in the chosen field does n otmatch th e current u ser’s login ID.

Is LIKE—Selects records in w hich the valu e in the chosen field matches the

string defined in the q uery.

The LIKE operator requ ires that you u se the percent (%) wildcard, wh ich

matches an y string of 0 or m ore characters. For examp le, to get a rep ort of classes

for wh ich Teresa Logan is the instru ctor, use one of the following search strings:

Teresa% matches all entries that begin w ith “Teresa”

%Logan m atches all entries that end w ith “Logan”

T%eresa% would find entries that start w ith “Teresa” or “Theresa”4 Type the valu e to search for in th e blank field.

For examp le, to find Teresa Logan’s classes that hav e stud ents enrolled, you could

use the simp le query bu ilder to construct the following q uery:


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For examp le, a Priority field in w hich the u ser selects High , Medium , or Low migh t

have the database values High=0, Mediu m=1, Low=2. In th is case, the qu ery

“Priority is greater than or equal to Medium ” will retur n records with p riority set

to Medium or Low , because in database terms qu alification is seeking valu es

greater than or equal to 1.

If this occur s, try revising th e query to u se the opp osite operation, for examp le

“Priority is less than or equ al to Medium,” and then re-run th e search.

Defining a query

The following pr ocedur e begins in the Repor t Definition screen and assum es that

you h ave already created th e report itself as described in “To start a new report”

on page 167.

To define a report query using the simple query builder

1 In the Filter By area, select the first field tha t you wa nt to u se in the qu ery from th e

Available Fields list.

2 Click Ad d or d rag the field to add it to the simp le query builder.

3 In the simp le query bu ilder, click the d own -arrow an d select from th e list of

operations.

4 Enter the valu e to search for.

For example, to find classes for w hich Teresa Logan is the instructor, select th e

Instructor* field and the is equal to operation, and th en type in TeresaLogan.

5 To add anoth er item to the qu alification, select the ap pr opr iate field from the

Available Fields list, and th en click Add or d rag the field to th e simple query

builder.

The second search criterion is added to the simple query bu ilder w ith an AN D

search. In other word s, a record m ust m atch both cond itions in ord er to app ear in

the report.

For example to find Teresa’s classes that have at least one p erson en rolled, select

Number enrolled and is greater than, and then typ e in 0.

6 Click Save.

Editing and deleting reports

You can ed it or delete any report that you created, and adm inistrators can m odify

or delete any repor t. You cann ot edit or delete reports created by others, but youcan op en them to view the bu ilt-in qu ery and fields u sed in th e report.

You can also create a copy of a report by u sing the Save As button to save the report

with a n ew n ame. In th at case, you are the creator of the new rep ort and can ed it it.


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Creating reports

To edit an existing report

1 Select the r eport in the Repor t Console.

2 Click the Edit Report icon that appears to the left of the repor t nam e in the

console.

3 Make any n ecessary mod ifications to the rep ort as described in:

“Defining a Web list report” on page 168

“Defining a Web chart rep ort” on page 170

“Using a query in a Web report” on page 173

(For AR System repor ts) “Defining AR System reports” on page 177.

4 Click Save to save you r changes.

5 Click Back to retu rn to th e Report Console list.

To delete an existing report

1 Select the r eport in the Repor t Console.

2 Click Delete .

Defining AR System reports

Create an AR System report if you n eed to export data d irectly to AR System

export (.arx), AR System XML, or comm a-separated v alue (.csv) forma t.

To create an AR System report

1 In the Repor t Console, click New .

2 Select the AR System report type.

The ReportCreator opens in New mod e.


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Figure C-8: ReportCreator

3 In the Report Nam e field, enter a u niqu e, locale-specific nam e for the rep ort; for

example, MyReport-en.

4 From the Report Form at d rop -dow n list, select one of the following choices for the

format of the report:

Record—Displays each field of the requ est on a separate line.

Column—Displays each field as a colum n head ing, and d isplays inform ation

from each requ est in a separate row.

Compressed—Compresses the information w ith commas, wh ite space, or anyother specified character between the colum ns. In a brow ser, the compr essed

format is viewed in a colum n format.

5 (For ad min istrators) In th e Locale field, enter the locale of the repor t in th e format

language_Country , for example pt_BR.

The country portion of the locale code is optional, depend ing on w hether you w ant

to allow all country variations of a langu age to use the report. If you enter only the

langu age portion, all countr y variations of a langua ge can u se the report. For

example, an ent ry of pt wou ld include all country variations of Portugu ese, but

pt_BR designa tes only Brazilian Portuguese.

For a list of stand ard choices for th is field, check the Locale view p roperty on any

form in BMC Remedy Developer Studio.

6 In the Report Set field, enter a locale-ind epend ent d escription for the repor t.

The Repor t Set field is used to iden tify locale variants o f the same rep ort. The

combination of Report Set and Locale mu st be uniqu e.

7 Upd ate each tab in th e form a s described in the following sections.


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Creating reports

Entries that are sp ecific to Wind ows repor ts are iden tified in each of the tabs. Those

settings are ignored for Web repor ts.

8 Save the report .

Fields tab

In the Fields tab, define the fields on th e form from which data is being rep orted to

be included in the report.

To specify fields to be included in a report

1 In the Field field, click the m enu button to select which field s on th e specified form

will be displayed on th e report.

2 In the Label field, enter the field nam e as you w ant it disp layed on the report.

3 In the Field to Add Before/ After field, select a field to u se as a reference wh en

clicking the Ad d After or Ad d Before buttons.

4 Click Add Before or Add After to set the positioning of fields in a rep ort, withreference to the Field to Add Before/ After field.

5 Click Modify to u pd ate the selected field label or w idth specification.

6 Click Remove to rem ove a selected field .

7 Click Remove All to rem ove all selections from the field list.

Sorting tab

In the Sorting tab, select fields to sort on and set the sort order and grou ping for

each field for th e report. You can select u p to five fields for sorting.

To specify sorting criteria

1 From the first Field N ame list, select the field on w hich you wa nt to sort .

2 Select Ascending or Descend ing Sort Ord er for the selected field.

3 To group by a field, select the Group check box for the selected field.

4 Repeat steps 1 through 3 for the other fields on w hich you wan t to sort.

Statistics tab

In the Statistics tab, d efine exp ressions that will calculate statistics for the requ ests

contained in the repor t. Use the Statistics tab to sp ecify w hat type of statistics toinclude.

To include statistics in a report

1 From the Operation field, select the app ropriate operation:

Count—Tallies the nu mber of requ ests.

Su m—Add s up sp ecified fields or the arithm etic relationship am ong fields.


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Average—Calculates the average of specified fields.

Minimum—Calculates the minim um value for a specified field.

Maximum—Calculates the maximu m v alue for a specified field.

Except for Count, these operations can be applied only to nu meric and date/ time

fields. Each operation can ap ply to the w hole report, or to a group of requests in a

repor t. Grou ps are defined in the Sorting tab.

2 From the Expression field, select a field from the m enu list to include as par t of a

statistic.

An expr ession is required for all statistical operations except Coun t. Whether you

include an expression for a Count op eration d epends on h ow you wan t rows with

nu ll values to be counted.

If you are defining a Count operation that includ es an expression, only rows with

a value that is not nu ll for the specified expression are counted when th e report is

run. If you ar e defining a Count op eration that d oes not includ e an expr ession, all

rows return ed are counted, including th ose with nu ll values.

The menu list displays all nu meric or date fields in the form. Expr essions can

includ e any of the following values:

Numeric fields

Date fields

Status history fields

Keywords

The most comm only used keyword s are $DATE$, $NULL$, $TIME$,$TIMESTAMP$, $USER$, and $WEEKDAY$. Keyword s are case-sensitive and m ustbe entered in all capital letters. For a comp lete list of AR System keyw ord s, see

th e Workflow Objects Guide, “Keyw ords,” page 221.

NOTE

For reports to run prop erly in a browser, you mu st add a backslash to the keyword

in th e Expression field , for example, $\TIMESTAMP$.

Numbers

You can typ e nu mbers d irectly into the Expr ession field, for examp le, 5.25, 33,

and so on.

Arithm etic operator s (+, -, *, /, and %)

You can type arithm etic operator s d irectly into the Expr ession field, similar tothe way they are entered in the advan ced search bar.

3 In the Label field, type th e label to identify a statistic on th e repor t.


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Creating reports

You can use text, keyword s, or field v alues, and enter as m any as 128 characters.

To use keywords for the Label field, click the m enu list and select the ap pr opr iate

keyw ord . Include one of the following resu lts form ats:

On th e report, the statistic will appear in side the label. For examp le, a label created

as Statistical result is %#% days w ill appear on th e report as Statisticalresult is 123 days.

You can also includ e any of the following control characters in a label field :

4 From th e Comp ute On field, select the scope of a statistic.

You can determ ine wh ether a statistic is calculated for the entire repor t, or for

defined group s within th e report by selecting the app ropriate setting in the

Compu te On field.

Report—Calculates the statistic for all entries in the r eport. The statistic app ears

at the end of the report.

Group N —Calculates a statistic for group s defined in the Sorting tab . The

statistic appears below each grou p.

5 In the Layout field, for the Window s platform only, specify h ow you wan t theresults to be displayed in th e report by choosing one of the following op tions:

Single—Displays all the statistical results on one line.

Multiple—Displays each statistical result on its own line.

Column—Displays the resu lt for each value at the bottom of the colum n of the

field sp ecified in the Expression field. Colum n is valid only for a colum n-

formatted r eport.

The Layout field setting w orks with th e Compu te On setting to d etermine where a

statistic app ears on a report.

Page Setup tab

In the Page Setup tab, you only need to specify the page configuration inform ation

in the General section.

%* % Default form at

%#% Nu merical format (total nu mber of seconds)

%:% Time format (hh :mm :ss; hou rs, minutes, and seconds)

\b Backspace

\n Return

\t Tab

\\ Backslash

\nnn ASCII character


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To specify general page configuration information

1 Enter the nam e of the report in the Title field. The report title appears at the top of

the report.

2 Enter text in the Head er field. The header ap pears at the top of every page.

3 Enter text in the Footer field. The footer app ears at the bottom of every page.

To use keyw ords for the Title, Header, and Footer field s, click the m enu list and

select the appropriate keywor d. The data in th e Title, Header, and Footer fields

mu st be a single line. Embedded carriage return s are not allowed .

The other sections on the Page Setup tab , marked “(wind ows)”, are for u se in BMC

Remedy User only and are not required wh en creating an AR System report on the

Web.

Qualification tab

In the Qualification t ab, specify wh ich r ecord s to includ e in a r eport. If a rep ort is

run from a r esults list, any qu alifications d efined in this tab are ignor ed. See theWorkflow Objects Guide, “Building qualifications and expressions,” pa ge 49.

Description tab

In the Description tab, enter a d escription of the report.

Permissions tab

(For ad min istrators only) In th e Permissions tab, use the Assignee Groups field to

define wh o has access to a report.

If the server is configured to allow mu ltiple group s in the Assignee Group field,then th is field w ill allow mu ltiple group s to be specified, separ ating each group

with a single space. If the server is not configu red to allow m ultiple grou ps, then

only one gr oup can be specified in th is field .

Leaving th e Assignee

remedy web searches and reporting

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