Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Advanced Reporting in The Online Report Designer
Advanced Reporting in The Online Report Designer
1 Overview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.1 Capabilities and Limitations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
5 Pivots Overview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
5.1 Creating Pivot Tables. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
5.2 Creating Pivot Charts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
7 Sharing Reports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
7.1 Report Menu Security. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
7.2 Report Ownership, Editing, and Distribution. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
8 Change History. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
This guide describes the best practices for using the Online Report Designer (ORD).
The features offered by the Online Report Designer include the following:
● Self Service: Build your own reports from within the easy to use SFSF Online Report Designer tool.
● Formatted & Presentation Ready: Visualize queries in tabular list format, as pivot tables and in a wide variety of
chart styles.
● Exportable: PPT, PDF, Word, Excel, schedule and e-mail.
● Customization: Re-label fields, custom calculations, and concatenate fields, If/Then/Else statements, hide
duplicates, transpose rows to columns.
This section presents the current capabilites and limitations of the ORD.
Capabilities Limitations
Outputs: Online in browser, or in outputs are PDF, Word, Power Outputs not supported: CSV, multiple worksheets in Excel,
Point and Excel (tables only) graphs not supported in Excel (tables only)
Components:
Customization:
Data Manipulation: Supports If/Then/Else statements Data Manipulation: Does not support the writing of SQL state
ments within the queries
Data Manipulation:
Scheduling/Distribution: Supports scheduling reports offline Scheduling/Distribution: Does not currently support FTP
via email of PDF through Report Distributor (end user facing scheduling or run offline to excel/non-PDF formats
tool)
Publish & Share Reports: Visibility of the reports can be set for
a defined group/role
Procedure
Note
This is an example landing page as it is customizable.
3. In the Manage Reports panel, you can create a new report, or select Add page to either add a new page, or copy
an existing one.
This section describes the list report components and the process for creating a new query or opening and editing
an existing one.
1. Go to Tables List Report , and add the list component to the page.
2. Right click and choose Edit this component.
This section describes in detail the process for creating a new query.
Procedure
1. Add fields - You can drag or double-click fields and see a live preview of your query. You can also drag columns
to reorder them.
4. Person Context - Use person context to enable report filtering on a selected user’s direct and indirect reports.
○ Use Custom Columns - Required if the table does not have inherent effective dating support, otherwise it is
optional. These columns will be used instead of the default columns.
○ Selectable At Runtime - If selected, the user will be allowed to alter the date to use at runtime.
○ Related Table Options - The related table options will be applied to all tables except the driving table. If a
related table has overridden options, then those will take precedence.
7. Calculated & Aggregated Columns - You can insert custom columns to calculate results, concatenate fields,
and write IF/THEN/ELSE statements.
○ Aggregated Calculated Columns - This is a column that is created by aggregating over ALL the values from
a single column, which does not have to pre-exist in the query. For example, the current query might have a
table displaying all departments. In the column we are creating, we might then select the salary column
from the employee table and use the average aggregation. The resulting column will then show the average
salary based on department.
Aggregated Calculated Columns will aggregate data found in multiple rows.
8. Object Relationships - The Object view allows you to show and edit the object joins. Inner: Show all records from
each object that match. Left: Show all records from the left object and only records that match from the other
object.
10. Save and Return- When you are finished defining your query, be sure to select File Save Return .
There are several additional features you can use for list reports.
Change Labels
To change a column heading, right-click the cell and replace the text.
You can append custom rows to the bottom of List Reports by inserting various functions.
Form-Based View
Format your List Report by right-clicking individual column headings or the entire row.
This section describes how to run a List Report, and use filters and date options.
You can quickly jump to individual employee data from the report by using linking to employee details.
There are two options for filtering a report – these can be used individually or together:
● List Report Filters - allows you to filter the report on the available analysis filters – for example, Department,
Division, Gender.
Related Information
Note
Columns that are marked with a green dot are currently filtered.
You can select a currently filtered column and click Clear Filter to remove the filter.
1. Use the Custom Filters tab to set static filters or choose from the available dynamic filters.
2. Use the Report Values tab to choose from the values currently available in the report results.
3. Use the Field Comparison tab to show records where the value in one column is compared to the value in
another column in the same record.
Note
List Report Filters indicate that filters have been applied to the page.
As of Date Option
An As Of Date option allows you to choose a single date to filter the report. Choose from a static date, or from one
of the available dynamic options. Only records that are valid as of the chosen date will be shown in the report.
Note
Date Options indicates that a date filter has been applied to the page.
You can use the Date Range date option to choose a date range to filter the report. Choose from a dynamic date
range, static to/from dates, or dynamic to/from dates. All records that are valid within the chosen dates will be
shown in the report.
Note
Date Options indicates that a date filter has been applied to the page.
A List Report can be pivoted and then displayed as either a Table or Chart visual.
The examples below show the same data being displayed as a chart and a table.
This section describes how to create a pivot table from a saved Advanced Reporting query.
Procedure
1. To Pivot a list of data, open your Advanced Reporting query and choosePivot Query Designer.
3. Decide how you want to pivot the data, for example, Sum, Count, Average, Minimum, or Maximum.
5. Use the Show Design View to edit the Measures, Columns, and Rows.
a. Go to Tables Published Data Table , and add the table component to the page.
b. Right click and choose Edit this component.
c. Select the desired query.
8. Finally, format your pivot table by adjusting the table style, labels, and layout.
This section describes how to create a pivot chart from a saved Advanced Reporting query.
Context
Follow Steps 1 to 6 from here: Creating Pivot Tables [page 36]and then continue as described below.
Procedure
1. To lay out the Pivot on the page, add a Pivot Chart Component, then select the saved query from your List
Report.
a. Go to Charts Published Data Chart , and add the chart component to the page.
b. Right click and choose Edit this component.
c. Select the desired query.
This section provides tips for working with the Report Designer.
Quick Panel
Make quick formatting changes using the panel on the left-hand side.
If you have made a lot of formatting changes to charts and tables and want to save them for future use, save it as a
template.
Note
Headers and footers will only appear when previewing the entire report, not single pages in the Page Designer
mode.
You can share the reports with users who do not have access to Report Designer.
When you are ready to share the report, add the report to a menu folder.
Procedure
1. Click the Admin link in the top right corner, underneath your logo.
2. Go to Roles Maintenance.
You can use User Maintenance if you are unsure of the role that your desired user has.
3. Under Settings, click Edit and refine the list of available published report folders.
This section describes the ownership, editing, and distribution settings for reports.
The reports can be sent one time or on a scheduled basis using the Scheduler.
You can also put reports into Bundles and send them together.
The following table provides a historical overview of the most important changes made to this document since its
initial publication.
Hyperlinks
Some links are classified by an icon and/or a mouseover text. These links provide additional information.
About the icons:
● Links with the icon : You are entering a Web site that is not hosted by SAP. By using such links, you agree (unless expressly stated otherwise in your agreements
with SAP) to this:
● The content of the linked-to site is not SAP documentation. You may not infer any product claims against SAP based on this information.
● SAP does not agree or disagree with the content on the linked-to site, nor does SAP warrant the availability and correctness. SAP shall not be liable for any
damages caused by the use of such content unless damages have been caused by SAP's gross negligence or willful misconduct.
● Links with the icon : You are leaving the documentation for that particular SAP product or service and are entering a SAP-hosted Web site. By using such links, you
agree that (unless expressly stated otherwise in your agreements with SAP) you may not infer any product claims against SAP based on this information.
Example Code
Any software coding and/or code snippets are examples. They are not for productive use. The example code is only intended to better explain and visualize the syntax and
phrasing rules. SAP does not warrant the correctness and completeness of the example code. SAP shall not be liable for errors or damages caused by the use of example
code unless damages have been caused by SAP's gross negligence or willful misconduct.
Gender-Related Language
We try not to use gender-specific word forms and formulations. As appropriate for context and readability, SAP may use masculine word forms to refer to all genders.