This article details the typical workflow for building an Advanced Report, and it highlights the elements and tools that are important to this process. Our Advanced Report interface is built on DevExpress. Visit the "DevExpress Report Designer" article to learn about the additional tools not covered in this article.

The Advanced Reports interface provides the ability to build and execute ad-hoc queries against all data residing in the STIP/TIP Manager database. This interface can be accessed by selecting the Reports module and clicking the "Advanced Reports" option in the resulting picklist.

Generating a New Advanced Report

To generate a new Advanced Report, the user can follow these steps:

1. Select a STIP/TIP in the STIP/TIP Selection picklist on the Main Menu.
2. Click on the Reports module.
3. Select "Advanced Reports" in the picklist.
4. Click on the "" icon.
5. Select "New via Wizard..." in the sidebar.
6. Select a Report Type: Table or Vertical Report.
7. Click "Next".
8. Select a Data Source: Pending Projects, Approved Projects, or Projects by Revision.
9. Click "Next".
10. Define the Report Layout through the four sections.
    • The user must select one or multiple checkboxes in the "Select queries for the report and its detail reports" section (1) to specify which fields are available in box 2.
    • The user must select one or multiple checkboxes in the "Select data fields to display in the report" section to specify the report columns (2).
    • The user can select the "Add Group" link in the "Add group fields" section (3) to specify how the report will be grouped (OPTIONAL).
    • The user can specify summary fields in the "Add summary fields" section (4) if available (OPTIONAL)
11. Click "Next".
12. Specify page settings, such as the paper size, margin width, and color scheme if desired (OPTIONAL).
13. Click "Finish".
14. Edit the Report Title by clicking into it and typing a new value (OPTIONAL).
15. Click on the "Preview" tab.
16. Click on the Export icon (). 
17. Select a file type for the export: PDF, XLS, XLSX, RTF, DOCX, MHT, HTML, Text, CSV, or Image.
18. Select the downloaded file to open it.

The export step is important to the generation of an Advanced Report because the user will only be able to view the first page of the report in the "Preview" tab.

Design Tab

After completing step 13 above, the user will land on the Design tab. There are many tools on the Design tab which help the user further define and tailor the report output. 

On the left side are elements that can be directly placed on the report builder. The user can simply click, drag, and drop the desired element. These include elements such as pictures, signatures, and charts.

On the right side, the user can change the intricacies of the report. This includes elements such as Report Tasks, Appearance, Behavior, Data, Design, Navigation, Page Settings, and Printing. 

Specifically, the user can enter criteria to further narrow the report output here (Report Tasks > Filter String).

The right sidebar also has three icons (, , ) which open other sets of tools, namely Expressions, Fields, and Report Explorer.

Save the Report

Once a report is created, the user can save the report in order to store it for future access. To save the report, the user can select the "" icon. This will open up the Advanced Report menu, where two save options are available:

To access a saved report, the user can select the "" icon. This will open the "Open Report" pop-up for the user to locate, select, and open a saved report.