Report Definition rule form

A report definition rule defines a report definition report. This rule generates an SQL query that retrieves and sorts information from the PegaRULES database, an external database, or an Elasticsearch index, and generates HTML that displays the results in a variety of formats. You have a range of options for interacting with the results, depending on the settings on the Report Viewer tab.

Because of the ease-of-use of report definition rules, managers can create, share, modify, and schedule report definition reports with little or no assistance from application developers.

Basic concepts and terms

The two types of report definition reports are summarized reports and list reports.

• Summarized reports – Summarized reports display summary counts, totals, or averages, and you can drill down to supporting information. An example is a line chart showing the number of work items of a given type resolved each week for the last four weeks, broken down by class of customer and work unit. A column shows the average number of complaints entered each month, by severity and product category.
  Summarized reports contain two types of columns: summarized columns and group by columns. At least one of the columns in the report must be a summarized column. A summarized column contains data that is summarized using one of the following built-in functions:  COUNT(), SUM(), AVG(), MIN(), and MAX().  Examples include counts of class instances (or record counts), total dollar amounts, average elapsed time between the start and resolution of a work item, the most recent (maximum) date value, and the earliest (minimum) date value.
  All non-summarized columns on the report are considered group by columns, because the summarized data is grouped by these other columns. For example, you can display summarized values based on numeric properties. 

• List reports – List reports display unsummarized or detailed data for individual cases or other data instances.

The columns in report definitions can contain either property values or the values of expressions using SQL functions.  

Where referenced

Query results for report definitions are stored on a clipboard page (typically of class Code-Pega-List). APIs allow developers to run a report definition and access the data that is returned by its query without needing the report definition itself to display the results. 

Your application can reference a report definition in the following places:

Access

Both developers and managers can create, update, and run report definitions.

• Developers — Can create and update report definitions within the Designer Studio, just like for other types of rules. These rules are available from the Reports category in the Application Explorer.
• Work managers — Can browse and search for existing reports that are available to them, re-organize these reports within user-defined categories, run reports, and create new reports from the Report Browser in the Case Manager portal. Managers need access to a local, unlocked rulesetto work with the Report Browser.

Note: Using one shared, unlocked, local production ruleset for reports for all access groups for an application simplifies the maintenance and migration of report definitions, report categories, and report shortcuts in the Report Browser.

When a report runs, the results display in the Report Viewer. The Report Viewer offers many options for manipulating the displayed report, such as printing it, or exporting it to an Excel workbook or as a PDF file. From the Report Viewer, you can edit a report by using the Report Editor.

You can save the updated report, or save a copy as the basis of a new report.

Completing the rule form

When creating a new report definition using the rule form, complete the tabs in the following order:

• Use the New dialog box to enter a name for the report that describes the purpose of the report, using short words and abbreviations.
• Complete the Query tab to:
  • Define which properties, or expressions using SQL functions, to include as columns in the report, and the settings that control the appearance of each column (heading, width, format, sort order, and so on).
  • Define filtering conditions that define which class instances are included as rows in the report or in summarized data.
• Optional. On the Chart tab use the Chart Editor to design a chart to present the report's data. Charts are only available for summarized reports.
• Optional. Complete the Report Viewer tab to control how users can interact with the report within the Report Viewer, such as:
  • Whether the Report Viewer includes an Actions menu, and which commands are available
  • Whether users can access the column header command menu to delete or reformat column values
  • Whether and how users can modify report filters
  • Whether and how users can drill down in summarized reports
  • General options for controlling the appearance of the report in the Report Viewer, such as the report title, header, and group heading sections.
• Optional. Complete the Data Access tab to:
  • Define joins to other classes, declarative indexes, and reports.
  • Define resource limits for the report that control how many rows of data are returned, and how long the report is allowed to run.
  • Define security restrictions and account access.

    Note: Use the Access Manager to define column-specific security restrictions for individual users or user groups. The restrictions are applied when the report definition runs.

  See Completing the Data Access tab.

• Optional. Complete the Parameters tab to document the name, description, and data type of parameters used in the report definition. See Completing the Parameters tab.
• Enter a Full Description on the History tab that explains the report in more detail. This detailed description is displayed in the Report Browser when the pointer hovers over the report listing.
• Save the rule or run the rule to preview the report in the Report Viewer.

Defining report definitions on abstract classes

You cannot run report definitions that are defined from the following classes from the rule form, but you can run them in the Report Browser:

• Rules defined on Work- or abstract classes derived from Work-
• Rules defined on History-Work- or abstract classes derived from History-Work-
• Rules defined on Assign- or abstract classes derived from Assign-

When you run these rules in the Report Browser, the Applies To class of the report is resolved as follows:

Category

Report definitions are instances of the Rule-Obj-Report-Definition class. They are part of the Reports category.

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