Table of Contents
Document Summary
Report Criteria Templates are a saved set of run instructions for a specific report. These templates enable you to apply a saved set of criteria selections to a report prior to processing. Templates are best utilized for consistency with frequently run reports across your organization. Creating a template for reports that require complex or specific criteria selections ensures that the report will process under identical conditions repeatably, even by a different user.
Leveraging a Report Criteria Template will decrease time spent on reporting and improve common workflows for staff members. Front desk users can produce timely reports with minimal training using templates created by RecTrac administrators.
Note:
RecTrac offers you two options for creating a report template: Report Output and Report Templates. The Report Templates option represents the Report Input. As such, when you select Report Templates, you will be selecting specific criteria to funnel your data set for report creation. This document explains how to use Report Templates for report input.
Setup Steps
This document provides the basic setup steps for:
- Creating a Report Criteria Template
- Setting up Dynamic (i.e. rolling) Date Ranges
- Updating Report Template information
- Adjusting an existing Report Criteria Template
- Assigning Template Permissions
- Applying a Report Criteria Template to run a report
Before you Begin
This document is written with the following assumptions. If any of the items listed is NOT true, contact Vermont Systems Support prior to continuing.
- Your organization is running RecTrac 3.1 or greater.
- The User ID you used to sign into RecTrac has the requisite permissions and ability to access all functions pertaining to reporting.
- You understand RecTrac DataGrids and how to maneuver through them.
Note:
All file paths and screen/tab locations in this document refer to file paths and screen/tab locations as they appear in the standard, default Vermont Systems design. Your setup and design may vary.
Choosing your Report and Selecting your Criteria
RecTrac Report Criteria Templates can be created and applied to all report types. There are hundreds of different reports available to you and even more ways to run them. Your business needs will help you determine which report would benefit from template creation. If you are unsure which report to use, reference the Report Output Listing document that includes sample output to verify what data you can expect to see when running the report.
Once you have chosen your report, you are ready to make your criteria selections.
- First, understanding the types of filters found on any report screen will help you select your criteria. For a full description of the various criteria types available when running reports, see the RecTrac Widgets document.
- Second, when selecting the criteria for a report, a key guiding philosophy is to try and produce the desired results using as few criteria selections as possible. View these filters as a funnel for your data, with each criterion selection narrowing the funnel mouth to provide you with a smaller data set. Too many selections will shrink the mouth of the funnel to a point where no data can get through. Remember this minimalist philosophy when selecting report criteria to help prevent any instances of conflicting filters that often result in blank reports.
Using a Dynamic Date Range over a Static Date Range
One of the most common criterion types is Date Range, which is used to limit report results that fall within a specified set of dates. You can configure your date ranges in two ways: A static date range uses the Actual Date operator and always will return records that fall within that specific date range. A dynamic date range will always return a new set of records based on the date range operators established in relation to the date the report was run. To this end, using operator options other than Actual Date will enable you to:
- Report on a rolling or dynamic period. Example: Facility Reservations for the upcoming week, Activity enrollments for last month.
- Process the report promptly without needing to enter a specific date range.
Upon toggling on any Date Range filter, the screen will display the Begin/End Date fields to establish your Date Range. See the Date/Time Select Fields in RecTrac document for examples of the various input types and how they manipulate the date.
Creating a Report Template
Before creating a report template, verifying your report output will ensure that you have set up the report properly. To this end, once you select your criteria, but before you create a report template, test your report to verify that your report output matches your goals. On the Report Options screen, the toggle Print Selection Criteria? facilitates this verification process by enabling you to attach a separate page to the report that lists all criteria selections.
To create a Report Template:
- On the Report Criteria Selection page, click Report Templates on the lower right. Note: The actual page title will vary, based on which report was chosen as a base.
- On the Template Maintenance popup window, click Create New Template.
- Enter a Template Code and Description that will make this template easily identifiable and match the output intention.
- For reports with Report Options selections, a separate section will display at the bottom of the Report Template Update screen. Make any relevant selections here before moving on.
- If desired, set Permissions and Template Notes on this screen.
- Click Save.
Applying a Report Template
Once you create your report template, you and your staff are ready to apply it to a report. Leveraging the newly created template eliminates the need to manually select criteria when running a report, in turn decreasing report processing times and ensuring output result accuracy.
To apply a Report Template:
- On the Report Criteria Selection page, click Report Templates on the lower right. Note: The actual page title will vary, based on which report was chosen as a base.
- On the Template Maintenance popup window, select the template you wish to apply from the DataGrid and click Apply Template Settings.
- The Report Criteria Selection page will reload, and all your criteria selections made prior to creating the report will be applied automatically to the Criteria Selection screen.
You can now process the report efficiently with the applied report template.
Note:
You can apply report templates when selecting a report directly from Report Output Listing. After selecting the report and clicking Run Report, a popup with run options will display that allows you to apply an existing template once the Report Criteria Selection screen loads.
Updating an Existing Report Template
Changing business needs may require you to update an existing report template. For example, you may use an existing template that works well, but want to add a new facility or GL code to it. Instead of starting from scratch with a new template, you can save time by updating an existing template to include the new criterion selections.
To update criteria in an existing Report Template:
- On the Report Criteria Selection screen, click Report Templates on the lower right. Note: The actual page title will vary, based on which report was chosen as a base.
- On the Template Maintenance popup window, select the template you wish to edit and click Apply Template Settings.
- Based on your new business needs for this report template, verify which filters will continue to be useful and which filters need to change or be added, and make the appropriate updates.
- Once the criteria meet the new business needs, click Report Templates on the lower right.
- On the Template Maintenance popup window, select the template you wish to edit and click Save Template Settings.
Your Report Criteria Template has now been updated to include the new criteria information.
Updating Auxiliary Report Template Information
You can edit the auxiliary information within the template itself, such as the description or notes. Completing these fields enables you to attach any further context, run instructions, or report options you may need when applying this template.
To update auxiliary Report Template information:
- On the Report Criteria Selection screen, click Report Templates on the lower right. Note: The actual page title will vary, based on which report was chosen as a base.
- On the Template Maintenance popup window, select the template you wish to update from the DataGrid and click Update Template Info.
- On the Report Template Update screen, choose from the following update options:
- Description
- Permissions
- Notes
- Once you have made your updates, click Save.
Assigning Report Template Permissions
Assigning permissions to Report Criteria Templates can decrease clutter and confusion by displaying only the relevant templates to the relevant user groups. Front desk staff may not need to use administrator-specific templates. Likewise, recreation center staff may not need to use pool-related templates. Just as you would in other areas of RecTrac, you can link established permissions profiles to report templates. See: the Topic Doc - Permissions Profile, Permissions Codes, Override Codes, Sites document for a full breakdown of the Permissions profile and system code setup.
To associate a Report Template with a specific Permissions profile:
- On the Report Criteria Selection screen, click Report Templates on the lower right. Note: The actual page title will vary, based on which report was chosen as a base.
- On the Template Maintenance popup window, select the template you wish to update from the DataGrid and click Update Template Info.
- On the Report Template Update screen, select Permissions and choose the appropriate code associated with the user group to you wish to associate this template.
- Click Save.
You now have linked the report template to the corresponding Permissions code.
Deleting a Report Template
Changing business needs may eliminate your need for a specific report template. For example, your department no long offers summer camp and had created templates for activity roster reports. With a few clicks, you can remove those unused templates, creating a more concise list of available report templates.
To delete a Report Template:
- On the Report Criteria Selection screen, click Report Templates on the lower right. Note: The actual page title will vary, based on which report was chosen as a base.
- On the Template Maintenance popup window, select the template you wish to delete and click Delete Template.
- Answer Yes to the challenge message.