Creating custom reports and charts
You can create both simple and advanced analytical reports by using the drag-and-drop report builder in BMC Helix ITSM: Smart Reporting(Smart Reporting). The steps in the builder are based on the following options:
- The type of builder you use
- The data source you use to build a report
- The fields you use in the report and the layout defined by the fields
- The filters and sections you add to the report
- The addition of related reports, drill functionality, and sub queries
To create a basic report, watch the following video (7:09):
To understand the types of reports you can create, watch the following video (2:20):
Process for creating a report with the report builder
| Task | Action | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Select the type of report you want to run and the data source for the report. Your organization might have many views and data sources, so selecting the correct one is critical prior to building your report. | Select the data source (view) for a custom report |
| 2 | On the Data tab, define the look and feel of your report, including the fields to be displayed, the filters to be used, and whether a chart or drill-through report should be displayed. Select the items from the view that you want to include in your report and drag them into the appropriate section of the screen. Note: Depending on the builder you select, this option may be replaced with alternatives such as CSV, SQL, Jasper, and BIRT. | Define report display options, fields, and filters |
| 3 | On the Charts tab, build visualizations based on the table you created on the Data tab. | Visualize report data in a chart |
| 4 | On the Data tab, create relationships between the draft report and other content using drill-through and co-display reports. | Relate reports and defining drill-down options |
| 5 | On the Design tab, select whether to show or hide information, format the display, apply filters, create KPI or summary reports, annotate a report, or set up a multichart canvas. | Format the draft report |
| 6 | Save the report and add security permissions to the report. | Save and provide access to the report |
Best practices
- Do not modify the out-of-the-box reports provided with Smart Reporting. However, if you choose to modify a report, first create and save a copy of it.
- Create multiple small reports with only a few columns per use case instead of a large report with many columns to solve multiple use cases.
- We recommend not using more than 5 reports in a co-display report.
- While designing a report, we recommend using filter with smaller time frames, for example, 1 day or 1 week.
- We recommend designing a report by using a database with less data in a test environment first, and then importing the report to the production environment.
- We recommend not using Smart Reporting as an ETL tool which typically deals with high data volume.
For more information on best practices for using Smart Reporting, see the Yellowfin knowledgebase article at Report Builder.
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