Running Reports

This article covers running reports that have been created by a site's report builders.

If you prefer a video, here you go.

See the Reports Manual for building and editing reports if your role has that permission.

In this Article:

• Main Reports Page
• Filters
• Display Options
• Sorting
• Printing
• Exporting Report Data
• Saving a Report with Changes

Main Reports Page

The main report page typically contains 3 lists of reports:

• Base Reports - reports added by a site's report builders
• Saved Reports - reports saved by users (see Saving a Report below)
• All Reports - a combination of the Base and Saved lists

Your site administrators may have customized the main Reports page to show different lists of reports.

Run a report by clicking on the name in one of the lists.

Filters

Filters let you select a subset of data, for example open cases instead of all cases. The Click here for filter options link will expand the filters available for a given report.

A record will be returned only if meets the criteria set in all the filters. In the example above, a case would be returned only if the Date Opened is in the specified range, and the Intake Type is Outreach, and the Legal Problem Code is Bankruptcy.

For lookup fields, like Legal Problem Code, Gender, Race, Language, etc., a record will be returned if it meets any one of the criteria within that filter. For example, if the filter above specified "01 Bankruptcy" and "09 Other Consumer", a matter would be returned if it had either of those problem codes.

Display Options

Display options let you change the columns that are displayed and the order of the columns. The Click here for data options link will expand the page to show three panes: Available Fields, Add/Remove, and Display Fields.

Available Fields is the list of fields that can be displayed as columns on the report.

Display Fields shows the columns that are currently displayed (or will be displayed after you click the Run Report button).

The order of the fields in Display Fields (top to bottom) corresponds to the order of the columns in the report (left to right). Select a field and use the Up and Down buttons to change the order. You can also drag and drop columns in the data table.

Select fields in either box and use the << and >> buttons to move field(s) to the other box. You can Ctrl+click to select and move multiple fields.

Sorting

You can sort the data in a report by using the triangles that appear in each column heading when you put your mouse cursor over it. The initial sort order is set by the report builder who created the report.

Columns can be sorted ascending or descending by clicking on the corresponding upward or downward pointing triangle.

Reports can be sorted on multiple columns. Apply the sorts in reverse order. For a report sorted by client last name then first name, for example, apply a sort to the first name column then to the last name column.

Printing

A printer icon appears at the top right of the data table in each report. Clicking the icon will open the report in a new browser tab or window, expand the report to show all rows, then open a print dialog. After a report is printed, the browser window or tab can be closed.

Exporting Report Data

Spreadsheet: An Excel icon appears at the top right of the data table on each report. That downloads the data to an XLSX file. Most modern spreadsheet programs can open XLSX files, not just Excel.

CSV: For any given report, your site administrators may have enabled a "Click here to download a CSV file". If enabled, that link appears on the left above the data table. CSV (comma separated values) files contain the same information as the Excel download, but add no formatting. CSV files are often preferable if the data will be imported to another program.

Saving a Report with Changes

An existing report may be suitable for a particular purpose, but require changing filters and data options to get what you want each time your run it. If you do that frequently, you can save the structure of the report (filters and data options) with the Save Report button (if enabled).

For example, there may be a Closed Cases report that displays all cases closed in the current year. Someone wanting a list of cases closed in the previous month for a specific office can open that report, adjust the filters, and make other changes, then click the Save Report button, and save it as something like "Cases Closed in Previous Month in the Main Office", to avoid the need to change the filters and data options on the Closed Cases report each month.

Some Frequently Asked Questions about Saved Reports

• Can I see and run other people's saved reports? Yes.
• Must I see other people's saved reports? No. Mark the ones you want to see as Favorites (see above).
• Can I run someone else's saved report and use that to make my own saved report? Yes.
• If the report I used to make a saved report changes, does that change my saved report? No.
• Can report writers edit my saved reports and mess them up? Yes they can. But surely they wouldn't do that.