Designing and generating reports

Benefits of reports

Reports help you solve important business needs and help you make informed decisions. You can use reports to:

• Keep track of your SLAs, milestones, and work targets.
• Keep track of the response and resolution time of tickets and assignments.
• Streamline processes to reduce costs and improve efficiency.
• Improve benchmarks and performance based on historic data.
• Generate reports from different time periods to measure performance.
• Plan future strategies and policies.

Types of reports

The following table provides information about the types of reports that are available:

Out-of-the-box reports

The following table provides information about the out-of-the-box reports in Track-It!:

Key features and considerations

• You can print a report, save it as PDF, or export the report in various formats such as XLS, CSV, HTML, and so on.
• You can edit fields in the report by using the Properties panel. When you click a field in the report, it shows you the details on the Properties panel.
  For example, you can select the Ticket ID field, on the Data Binding page, and specify the field you want to associate with it. If you use the report wizard, it automatically associates the Ticket ID field with the Ticket Source.
• After you select a report on the report grid, the relevant toolbar options are enabled.
  For example, the Edit and Delete buttons are enabled after you select a user-generated report. However, these buttons are disabled for an out-of-the-box report.
• The report designer enables you to use the Calculated fields to generate a report.
• You can use the advanced features in the report designer to customize your reports. For more information, visit DevExpress.
• Rich text content might not properly appear on reports because its HTML styling is restricted.
• If you create a report with Date as the parameter Type and clear the Allow Null check box, you must enter appropriate parameter values. You cannot leave the parameters blank. Track-It! sets the minimum date and time as the default parameter value in these reports.

To create a report

1. On the header bar, expand the hamburger menu  and select Reports.
2. On the Reports page, click New.
3. In the New Report dialog box, in the Report Title field, enter a name for the report.
4. (Optional) In the Report Description field, enter a suitable description about the report.

5. From the Data Source list, select the relevant data sources for the selected report type.
   (2023 Release 01) These data sources are the relevant modules and sub-modules for the selected report type. In this field, you can select multiple data sources. For example, if you select the report type as Help Desk, you can select the report data source as Ticket or Ticket Notes or Assignment or Assignment Notes or Ticket and Assignment, or any other combination of data sources.
   You cannot select multiple data sources for the Asset Management reports. To use both asset and BCM asset data sources for Asset Management reports, add the BCM asset sub-report to the asset report and then select the report data source as Asset.

   Important

   We recommend you to select fewer data sources to improve the report performance. Please review the selected data sources before designing the report. 

6. Click Design Report.
   For new reports, this button first saves the report and then launches the Report Designer. The Report Designer has the following components:

   View descriptions of the Report Designer components

   Component	Description
   Hamburger Menu	Enables you to design the report by using the Design in Report Wizard feature, set Localization, and exit the report designer.
   Horizontal Toolbar	Provides the following functions: Cut/Copy/Paste/Delete Undo/Redo Zoom Out/Zoom percentage selector/Zoom in Validate bindings Full Screen Preview: Shows a preview of the current design of the report. Save: Saves the report but keeps the designer open in edit mode.
   Bands	Shows all the bands such as the Report Header band, Group Header band, Detail band, Data band, and so on.
   Design Surface	Enables you to add the required controls and fields on the Design Surface that you want to display in the report.
   Vertical Toolbar	Contains all the controls that you can drag to the report designer.
   Properties Panel	Shows the properties of the selected item in the report to customize your report.
   Expressions Panel	Allows you to set values for most of the properties of the report controls. It can include data fields, constants, functions, report parameters, and property values of other controls.
   Field List	Displays all the data sources currently populated in the report. You can drag the fields from the Field List to the designer. It lists the parameters used in the report. Based on your requirements, you can also create additional parameters.
   Report Explorer	Enables you to create styles and formatting rules for the report.

   

7. In the Report Designer (New: reportName) dialog box, expand the hamburger menu and select Design in Report Wizard .
   1. In the Select Report Type section, select a preferred report type and click Next.
      Based on the type of report you select, the available columns for the report are determined.
   2. In the Define Report Layout section, select the data fields to be included in the report and click Next.
      1. (Optional) You can select a group from the list available groups to add the group field data to the report.
         You can create multiple groups, each with a single field value, or define several fields in the same group.
      2. (Optional) To choose summary options, select the required check boxes
   3. In the Specify Page Settings section, select the page size, layout, page margins, and color scheme.
   4. In the Specify the report's title field, enter a report title, and click Finish.

   5. (Optional) To include charts in your report, create a pivot grid from the toolbar and use this pivot grid as a data source. You can configure the chart by selecting the Run Designer option. For more information, see Knowledge Article158554 onSupport Central.

8. In the Horizontal Toolbar, select Save.
   You can use the advanced options to further customize the report. For more information, visit DevExpress.
9. Expand the hamburger menu , and select Exit.

Video presentation

The following video (5:40) provides information about Using the Expressions Editor in the report designer for Track-It!:

https://www.youtube.com/embed/asDfBoV1KMI?rel=0

To generate a report

1. On the header bar, expand the hamburger menu  and select Reports.
2. Click the report type that you want to generate, for example Help Desk.
3. From the list of reports, click the report that you want to generate.

1. On the PREVIEW PARAMETERS  tab, specify the required parameters for the report.
    You can also generate reports that do not require any parameters. When generating a report, if you specify an invalid date range parameter, a report is still generated. 
   For example, if you set FromDueDate and ToDueDate both as 2017-06-21, 00:00:00, a report is generated for this invalid date range.
   
2. Click Submit.
3. (Optional) To customize the export settings, click Export Options and configure the preferred settings.

4. (Optional) To export the report, from the Export To menu, select a preferred export option.

   Important

   (2023 Release 01) You cannot import reports exported from Track-It! 2023 Release 01 to Track-It! 2022 Release 01 and earlier. When you try to import this way, the following error message is displayed:
   An error occurred while importing the report.However, you can import reports exported from Track-It! 2022 Release 01 and earlier to Track-It! 2023 Release 01.

To edit, copy, or delete a report

1. On the header bar, expand the hamburger menu  and select Reports.

2. Select a report and perform one of the following actions:

   Action	Steps
   To edit a report	Click Edit . To edit the report title and description, in the Edit Report dialog box, modify the required fields and click Save. Important (2023 Release 01) You can modify or remove the Data Sources of a report. To edit the report contents, in the Edit Report dialog box, click Design Report to open the Report Designer. You can edit and customize the report as required. In the Horizontal Toolbar, select Save. Expand the hamburger menu , and select Exit. Important (2023 Release 01) When you upgrade to Track-It! 2023 Release 01, you can edit reports created in earlier versions of Track-It! and remove data sources to improve the report performance. If, in an earlier version of Track-It!, you have created a Help Desk report Open Tickets by Technician with Ticket and Ticket Notes selected as the data sources, you can remove Ticket Notes from the data sources to enhance the report performance.
   To copy a report	Click More Actions . Select Copy. A copy of the report with the same name and appended with (Copy) at the end is created. You can further customize this report. Important After the copy of the report is created, we recommend the following additional actions before running the report: Click Edit . In the Edit Report dialog box, click Design Report. In the Report Designer dialog box, click Validate Bindings and check if the field mappings in the new report are accurate. In the Properties section, select the report and check the accuracy of the static filter string.
   To delete a report	From the list of reports on the workspace, select the report you want to delete. Click Delete   . In the Delete Record dialog box, click Yes.
   To export a report	From the list of reports on the workspace, select the report you want to export. Click More Actions and then select Export. Track-It! exports the report to the browser with the .trpt extension.
   To import a report	Click More Actions . Select Import. Click Browse, and then select any report file with the .trpt extension. Enter a unique name for the report, and then click Import. Track-It! imports the report to the appropriate module and saves it with the name you entered. Example If you import a Categories report that was exported from the Administration pod, the Categories report is imported into the Administration pod.