CRYSTAL REPORTS

Designing a report from A-Z

Part 2

TODAY’S TOPICS

Preparing a report plan The report canvas Choosing a View Choosing the fields Using Groups/Summaries Selection criteria, creating parameters Formatting – Text, adding logos,

Headers/Footers Report standards Verifying/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?”

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 Sections

Report Header - Appears only on the first page Page Header -Appears at the top of each page Details - Contains the data Report Footer - Appears only on the last page Page Footer - Appears at the bottom of each page

Navigating the Canvas Design/Preview tab Show First/Last Page Show Previous/Next Page

Retrieving data Refresh icon Stop button

THE REPORT CANVAS

HOW TO CHOOSE A VIEW

The view documentation is meant as a tool to 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 SIS

Fiscal year, Academic Year, Payroll Year Details or Summaries Grants or Non-Grants Course schedules Student Applications Academic/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=5098 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

USING YOUR REPORT PLAN

Now that you have planned out your report, what’s next

Use your report design grid and prototype to:Select a ViewSelect FieldsAdd Selection criteriaCreate Groups/SummariesFormat the reportUse Report standardsVerify/Validate results

SELECT A VIEW

Connect to the database

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

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

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

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LOGIN TO THE DATA WAREHOUSE

Log into the Banner data warehouse

1. Service: banrep

2. Enter your Banner User ID and Password

3. Click on Finish

Enter your credentials to log into the database

CHOOSE THE VIEW

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Views are made of fields extracted from multiple 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 to move the view in the right panel.

3. Click Next

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Finance

HR

Student

PICK THE FIELDS

Once you have your view, select the fields you would like to see displayed in your report

Click, Drag and Drop into your report canvas

SELECTION CRITERIA

Used to specify the records you want included in your report

Record selection Apply criteria to specified fields

Group selection Apply criteria to specified summary fields

GROUPING DATA

Grouping refers to the gathering of records relating to one another

Grouping records within a report enables you to perform calculations on each group of records

Changing Groups No need to delete and begin again Simply right click on group to change Select Change Group

GROUPING DATA

TOTALS AND SUBTOTALS

Subtotals Totals the sum of numeric values within a group

Grand Totals Totals numeric values for entire report

OTHER SUMMARIES

Summaries perform actions on groups Some examples are:

Minimum Maximum Average Count Distinct count

FORMAT THE REPORT Cosmetic touch ups

Fields can be suppressed Fields can be set to ‘Can Grow’Fields can be set to be suppressed if

duplicated Change Fonts, Add Color, etc… Add Report Titles Add Logos Group together/repeat on next page Using Special Fields Using Section Expert

REPORT STANDARDS

All reports should include the following information:Report TitleAn AuthorA Printed dateA report location (file path)Use standard fontsLogo

VERIFYING THE RESULTS

Always verify that your reports are accurate Where to look

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

Change the view the report runs from Summary view vs Detail view

EXERCISE Choose your view (pick one)

SRU_ACADEMIC HR_JOB FG_BALANCES_TRANSACTION_DET

Pick your fields Drag & drop them in the Details section of you

canvas Choose your selection criteria

i.e. Fiscal Year, Fiscal Period, Fund Code i.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 data Create a group

Summary/ Distinct Count

QUESTIONS?