Understanding types of reports

The BMC Client Management console provides two different types of reports:

For both these types, you can preview the defined report before you schedule it to either run only once at a specific time or to have it executed periodically and put at the disposal of specific members of your company.

Style-based Reports

Style-based reports are composed of subreports, of which each can have a different style, that is, it can have a different display format, such as a table, a pie or a bar chart. They are based on a layout type that defines the number of subreports the report contains and how these subreports are ordered on the displayed or printed page. 12 different layout styles are available. The subreport appearance is based on a css style sheet. These reports are individually customizable through the report formatting tab which permits the configuration of the display output of a report in various formats. Style-based reports base their generated data on the results of a query, on the members of a device group or both. Style-based reports can only be generated in HTML format.

Template-based Reports

Template-based reports are not available for all CM object types and functionalities, they are available only for patch, power and application management, asset discovery, virtual devices, security products, diagnostic tools as well as for licensed applications and custom and SCAP compliance. These types of report are completely predefined, that is they cannot be modified, but for specific reports you do have a number of options that can be defined. The can be generated in HTML, XML and PDF format. You can also create your own report templates and import them.