Create and Run Chained Reports

Chained reports give you the ability to save multiple reports in one output file (PDF, Excel, RTF, or CSV). This reduces the time it takes to prepare reports for senior staff and is especially helpful when you need to print reports or dashboards.

For more detailed information on creating Chained reports, click the Get HelpGet Help buttonbutton within the Report Designer.

To create a chained report

  1. Click Reports from the Top Navigation menu.
  2. Click Add BI Report and choose a report type from the following list:
    • Express Views
    • Advanced Reports
    • Dashboard
    • CrossTab Reports
  3. From the toolbar, click the Create New Report icon and select Chained Report.
    A New Chained Report tab is displayed where you can select the reports you want to combine.
  4. On the Name tab, enter a name for the chained report and select a folder to save it in. You can also enter a description of the report here, if needed.
  5. Click the Next button to continue to the next step of the wizard.
  6. On the Reports tab, add the reports to be included in the chained report by clicking and dragging them to the right pane.
    The order of the reports in the list is the order in which they will be displayed in the output. Click and drag a report or use the up or down arrow icons to move a report up or down in the list. Click the delete icon to remove a report from the list.
  7. Click the Edit Report Options icon Edit Report Options icon to access the Report Properties dialog box. Use the Filters and Parameters tabs to set options for handling promptable filters and parameters on the component reports.
  8. Click the Next button to continue to the next step of the wizard.
  9. On the Options tab, use the following settings to set certain report options:
    • Default Export Type: Select the file type to which the chained report will export by default. Choose the Default option to use the environment's default export type.
    • Allowed Export Types: Select which file types the chained report is allowed to export to. At least one type must be selected.
    • No Data Qualified Action: Choose what to display if there is no data to display when the report is executed. You can choose to show a placeholder or skip to the next report in the chain.
    • Collate Reports on: Select this option to collate the chained report. This option is enabled only when all of the reports in the chain share at least one common sort field. The sort field must be a standard column type without a formula.
    • Page break after each report: Select this option to start a new page after every report. This only affects PDF and RTF files.
  10. To export the report, click the Export Report drop-down list and choose the desired output type. The file formats available are Excel, PDF, RTF, CSV.
  11. Click Save and Close to save the report and close the wizard.