Using the Report Browser

The Report Browser provides easy access to all reports available to you, including report definitions, list views, and summary views. The Report Browser lets you:

• Browse and search for existing reports available to you.
• Select and run reports, displaying the results for report definitions in the Report Viewer.
• Create new reports and modify copies of existing reports.
• Share reports with colleagues.
• Re-organize reports within categories you define. Categories you create are Private: the categories and the reports within them are only visible to you. Other categories are Public: they are visible to all application users (except that those created by an end user with limited access privileges are only visible to other users with the same privileges).
• Run reports.
• Schedule reports to run at a certain time, or to run on a recurring basis at regular intervals.
• Subscribe to receive the results of scheduled reports.

When you select a report based on a report definition in the Report Browser, it displays in the Report Viewer in a new tab. The Report Viewer lets you (depending on the permissions the report creator has set):

• View the report's results.
• Modify the filters in the report to refine the results.
• Edit the report using the Report Editor.
• Print the report.
• Export reports to spreadsheets or as PDF files. Note: if you are working in languages other than English, you may need to provide character support for the text in the report. See the PDN article Exporting reports as PDFs in languages other than English.

The Report Browser is available in the Case Manager portal, and is accessed by clicking Reports in the column on the left side of the page. It is also available from Report Definitions in the Designer Studio.

Basic concepts

The Report Browser displays report shortcuts (rules that point to report definitions and allow you to run them), grouped into report categories (rules that contain sets of report shortcuts). While report shortcuts and categories are normally created automatically as users work with the Report Browser, developers can create report shortcuts and categories as required.

Note: you can set categories to not appear in the Report Browser by editing the Category rule.

In the Report Browser, users can copy shortcuts for the same report into different categories to organize reports any way they choose. See About Shortcut rules and About Category rules.

When the Report Browser first appears, it lists the reports you ran most recently in one tab, and all reports to which you have access in a second tab.

• Search for reports by entering text in the search text box at right of the display, then click Enter. By default, Recent reports will be selected, which shows the 10 most recently run reports. Click All reports to show all available reports. Click the X to the right of the search box to remove the search terms and refresh the display.
  
  You can also search for reports by clicking any category that appears to the right of the Report Browser to display the reports whose shortcuts are in that category. The number following each category link shows the number of reports available in that category.
  
  Filter the list of reports currently shown, using the check boxes above the report list, to display a particular type of chart: Lists, Summaries (without charts), and Charts.
• Run a report by clicking anywhere within the shortcut row. Note: if a report contains a property secured using a property security rule, the Report Browser does not display the report and displays an error message: .pyReportDefinition.pyContent: ** You do not have access to the property [.Secured Property] on class [ClassName].
• Click the gear icon at the right of any shortcut row to perform other operations available to you. Depending on your privileges, the options may include:
  • Edit the report's title or change its description.
  • Move the report shortcut to a different category.
  • Copy the report shortcut to a different category.
  • Delete the report shortcut.
    
    If you delete a shortcut and there is no other active shortcut for the associated report definition, the action deletes the report definition as well as its shortcut.
  • Schedule the report to run on a one-time or recurring basis. You can also use this function to subscribe to a scheduled report to receive email notifications with attached report results each time the report runs. See Scheduling reports, below.
• Create a new report by clicking the New Report button. When you create a report, you must save it into one of your private categories. If you have not yet created a private category, the system creates one for you called "My Reports".
  
  In the form that appears, provide the required information:
  
  • Case Type: Select the primary type of data the report will include.
  • Report Type: Select "List", "Summary", or "Chart".

When your entries are complete, click OK.

When you create a new report, the report uses a default format suited to the case type and report type you selected. The system displays the report in the Report Editor, where you can modify it to satisfy your detailed requirements, and save it.

The list of case types available includes all work types within the current application. If the Access of Role to Object instance for the manager’s role specifies a value of 5 (Production Level access) for the Modify Rules and Delete Rules controls, the list of available classes also includes: Assign-Worklist, Assign-WorkBasket, Data-Admin-Organization, Data-Admin-Organization, Data-Admin-OrgDivision, Data-Admin-OrgUnit, and Data-Admin-Operator-ID.

Categories

Categories organize your application's reports. Every report must belong to a category, but shortcuts to the same report can appear in more than one category. There are two types of categories, listed in boxes on the right side of the display:

• Private Categories — Managers create reports and save them in categories for their own use. Other managers cannot see or run the report unless the report owner makes a copy available.  When a manager creates a new report in the Report Browser, it becomes part one of the Private categories. Managers can later add shortcuts to it in their Public categories.
• Public Categories — Application developers provide public reports for use by all work managers of an application and place those shortcuts in their Public categories. The reports are immediately become available to colleagues in the user's access group. This category also includes 90 standard reports provided by Pega 7.

To add a category, click the + Private category or + Public category link. See the contents of a category by clicking its name.

To rename a category, click the gear icon to the right of the category's current name. Provide the new name in the form that appears. You may not have permission to rename certain categories.

Standard reports

The system populates the Report Browser with many standard reports. These reports are found in the following Public categories:

• Monitor Assignments
• Analyze Performance
• Analyze Quality
• Monitor Processes

You can run these reports right away. You can also save copies of the reports into your private categories and modify them to provide the customized view or specific schedule you want.

If you want to remove these reports and their categories from the Report Browser, follow these steps for each report and category:

1. Save a copy of the report's shortcut rule, or the category rule, into your application RuleSet.
2. Set the availability of the rule to Blocked, and save the rule.

Scheduling reports

The Report Browser lets authorized users schedule reports to run on a one-time basis on a selected date and time, and also to run recurrently on a user-defined schedule. When a scheduled report runs, the system sends email notifications to a distribution list.

You can set options to attach report results as an Excel workbook or a PDF file, or to attach the report results to the email itself. You can also opt to store report results on the server and embed a link to the results file within the email message to avoid sending large email attachments.

When scheduling a report, you can manually enter an email distribution list, and can let other users subscribe to or unsubscribe from the scheduled report. See Scheduling reports and Subscribing to reports.

Note: The system prevents delivery of a report to subscribers who lack the privilege required by any properties in the reports. The subscriber instead receives an email with a message indicating the report cannot be attached because it contains data requiring permissions. See About Property Security rules for more information.

Use a dedicated RuleSet version for manager reports

Typically, managers do not need the ability to check in or check out rules; however, in the Report Browser, user actions create report definitions, report shortcuts, and report categories. To allow managers to create and modify these types of rules as they use the Report Browser, complete the following steps:

1. Create a production RuleSet dedicated to manager reports. The RuleSet is of Standard type and must have at least one unlocked version. Do not select the Use check-out? check box.
2. Ensure that the Allow Rule Check-Out check box is not selected on the Security tab of the Operator ID form for each manager.
3. On the Definition tab of the application rule, list this RuleSet version in the Production RuleSets array. Do not list this RuleSet version in the Application RuleSets array.
4. For the access group associated with the managers, on the Advanced tab, list this RuleSet version in the Production RuleSets array and as the Default destination RuleSet.

You can import List View and Summary View reports into the Report Browser, so you can find and run them there. See Add reports to Report Browser.

Working with the Report Viewer Working with the Report Editor About Report Definitions

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