Creating New Reports

The four ways  to create a new report:

• "Add New Report" link on the main Reports page
• Using the "Save Report" button when running a report (not in edit mode)
• Using the "Save As" link in edit mode
• Importing an Exported Report

The first method, Add New Report, creates a report "from scratch", while the last three let you create new reports based on existing reports.

Add New Report Link

To start creating a new report from scratch, go to the top level Reports tab then Actions menu > Add New Report.

Step One: Give the report a name (do not use backslashes "\" in the name), select the information to base the report on, and optionally enter notes about the report. The "Information to base report on:" field is a dropdown list of the top level report tables in LegalServer. The most commonly used are Case Data and Timekeeping, but also include System Users, Contact, Activities, and others.

Step Two: Select a few columns (fields and columns are interchangeable terms). Choose columns by checking the box next to each column you want to add, then clicking any of the Add buttons on the right side of the page. You can add and remove columns later after the report is created.

Step Three: Set some initial filters. It is highly recommended to set initial filters that will return a small set of data at first. For example on a case report, set Disposition = Open or Date Opened = Current Month; on a time report, set Date of Service = Current Week, Current Month, or similar. Not setting initial filters could result in your report attempting to return hundreds of thousands of cases, or millions of timeslips.

LegalServer then displays the report in edit mode, where you can use the report editing features to modify it.

"Save Report" Button for a new Saved Report

When you run a report (not in edit mode), there is a Save Report button next to the Run Report button. The Save Report button makes a copy of the current report settings — not the data. The copy will automatically appear on the Saved Reports tab of the main Reports page. A common use of this feature is to save a copy of a report with changes to one or two filters and the default columns that are displayed. For example, you might open a Closed Cases report, select the legal problem codes and funding code that apply to a particular group of cases, adjust the columns that are displayed, then save that as Closed Cases - Domestic Violence Group.

The Save Report button can be disabled per user role by unchecking the Show Save Report Button permission for any desired role on the Admin > User Roles (Permissions) page.

"Save As" Link for a new Base Report

The "Save As" link is available in edit mode. It will save a copy of the current report as a new Base Report, so the report will appear on the Base Reports tab (as opposed to the Saved Reports tab if you used the Save Report).

Importing an Exported Report

You can export the structure of a report in LegalServer to an XML file. Another LegalServer site can upload, or import, the XML file to recreate that report on that site.

To import one of these files, you need to get the file and save it to your computer. Then click on the top level Reports tab and use the "Import Reports" actions menu link. Use the Browse buttons on the import page to upload one or more reports.

To export a report to an XML file, go into edit mode on the report, click the "Export to File" link at the top of the page, then save the XML file to your computer. You can send or transfer this file to someone like any other file.

See Example Reports for several examples you can download and import to your site.