Creating custom reports


Use TrueSight Smart Reporting - Platform to create reports and change the appearance of reports. You can also compare and analyze reports by using filters, summaries, and calculations.

The following report authoring options are available in TrueSight Smart Reporting - Platform:

  • Drag and Drop Builder - This option allows you to use a pre-defined data view to build reports. For instructions to create reports using this option, see the procedures in this topic. For information about the out-of-the-box views, see Accessing-out-of-the-box-views.
  • Freehand SQL - This option allows you to define the query, rather than using a pre-defined view. For information about how to create reports using the freehand SQL option, see the Yellowfin documentation.

You can create the following type of reports by using the Drag and Drop Builder:

  • Tabular reports - Display data in the form of tables.
  • Charts - Display data in the form of graphics, and are the graphic equivalent of tables.

This topic provides instructions on creating different types of reports by using the Drag and Drop Builder.

Creating a tabular report

  1. Log in to TrueSight Network Automation - Data Warehouse console as a reporting user. The TrueSight Smart Reporting - Platform Home page appears.

    Click here for the steps to log in to the console.
    1. Do one of the following:
      • Click Start > Programs > TrueSight Network Automation - Data Warehouse > Login.
      • Enter the following address into a web browser:
        https://<appServer>:<portNumber>
        where:
        • appServer is the application server that hosts TrueSight Network Automation - Data Warehouse. 
        • portNumber is the web server secure port that you specified during installation. Default is 9443.

    2. Enter the user name and password for the reporting user.

      Important

      If a user with the name admin exists in TrueSight Network Automation, do not use this user to cross-launch to TrueSight Smart Reporting - Platform from the Network Automation - Data Warehouse console.

      If you cross-launch with the admin user, permissions of the TrueSight Smart Reporting - Platform administrator are replaced by the permissions of the Network Automation - Data Warehouse admin user. As a result, the TrueSight Smart Reporting – Platform administrator cannot perform the tasks associated with the role because the permissions are changed.

    3. Click LOG IN.
  2. Click tsr_create_report.png and click Report.
  3. Select the relevant view from the list of available views.
  4. In the view pane, expand the folders to view the fields for the report.

  5. Drag and drop the required fields in to the Columns section. If you want to filter the report after you generate it, drop the fields in the Filters section.

    Click here to view best practices.

    Best practice

    • Use date filters while creating reports, so that your report retrieves limited data.
    • In the Report Data area, enter a numerical value in the Preview Row Limit field to limit the number of rows visible in the report. However, be aware that this might truncate the data if the number of rows in the report exceeds the value that you specify.
      preview_row_limit.png
    • If you are creating a report for large data, turn off the Auto Refresh feature to ensure that the report does not refresh every time you add or remove a field. You can turn off the Auto Refresh feature from the Report Data area.
      auto_refresh_toggle.png
  6. Click Publish. In the Save Report window, do the following:
    1. Enter a name and an optional description for the report.

    2. Select a folder to save the report into. You will only be able to select folders you have access to.

      Note

      BMC recommends that you save the new report in a folder that is not provided by BMC, so that the new reports are not overwritten during an upgrade.

    3. (Optional) Add tags for the report. Tags are useful for searching reports after you generate them.
    4. In the Report Access area, select Public or Private.
      1. If you select Public, all users on the tenant can access the report.
      2. If you select Private, you can see the User Access tab. Use this tab to specify the users who will have access to the report.
    5. (Optional) Use the Distribution, Report Settings, and Refresh tabs for additional settings.
  7. Click Save to generate and view the tabular report. For more information about publishing and saving reports, see the Yellowfin documentation.

Creating a chart report

  1. Log in to TrueSight Network Automation - Data Warehouse as a reporting user. The TrueSight Smart Reporting - Platform Home page appears.

    Click here for the steps to log in to the console.
    1. Do one of the following:
      • Click Start > Programs > TrueSight Network Automation - Data Warehouse > Login.
      • Enter the following address into a web browser:
        https://<appServer>:<portNumber>
        where:
        • appServer is the application server that hosts TrueSight Network Automation - Data Warehouse. 
        • portNumber is the web server secure port that you specified during installation. Default is 9443.

    2. Enter the user name and password for the reporting user.

      Important

      If a user with the name admin exists in TrueSight Network Automation, do not use this user to cross-launch to TrueSight Smart Reporting - Platform from the Network Automation - Data Warehouse console.

      If you cross-launch with the admin user, permissions of the TrueSight Smart Reporting - Platform administrator are replaced by the permissions of the Network Automation - Data Warehouse admin user. As a result, the TrueSight Smart Reporting – Platform administrator cannot perform the tasks associated with the role because the permissions are changed.

    3. Click LOG IN.
  2. Click tsr_create_report.png and click Report.
  3. Select the relevant view from the list of available views.
  4. In the view pane, expand the folders to view the fields for the report.

  5. Drag and drop the required fields in to the Columns field. If you want to filter the report after you generate it, drop the required fields in the Filters section.

    Click here to view best practices.

    Best practice

    • Use date filters while creating reports, so that your report retrieves limited data.
    • In the Report Data area, enter a numerical value in the Preview Row Limit field to limit the number of rows visible in the report. However, be aware that this might truncate the data if the number of rows exceeds the value that you specify.
      preview_row_limit.png
    • If you are creating a report for large data, turn off the Auto Refresh feature to ensure that the report does not refresh every time you add or remove a field. You can turn off the Auto Refresh feature from the Report Data area.
      auto_refresh_toggle.png
  6. Click Charts.
  7. Click Auto Chart and then click Select Chart Type to open the Select Chart pane.
     Alternatively, click tsr_select_chart_type.png in the upper right corner.

    tsr_auto_chart.png
  8. Select a chart type to use as an output for your report and generate your report.
  9. Click Publish. In the Save Report window, do the following:
    1. Enter a name and an optional description for your report.

    2. Select a folder to save the report into. You will only be able to select folders you have access to.

      Note

      BMC recommends that you save the new report in a folder that is not provided by BMC, so that the new reports are not overwritten during an upgrade.

    3. (Optional) Add tags for the report. Tags are useful for searching reports after you generate them.
    4. In the Report Access area, select Public or Private.
      1. If you select Public, all users on the tenant can access the report.
      2. If you select Private, you can see the User Access tab. Use this tab to specify the users who will have access to the report.
    5. (Optional) Use the Distribution, Report Settings, and Refresh tabs for additional settings.
  10. Click Save to generate and view the chart. For more information about publishing and saving reports, see the Yellowfin documentation.

Creating a Drill Through report

Drill Through is the ability to click on a hyperlink and move from one report to another - typically to show more details. Values related to the row you've clicked on are passed in as parameters into the linked report to filter the data. The report that contains the hyperlink is called the parent report, and the report that contains more details is called the child report.

For example, to display a report of detailed device inventory by customer location, you might want to drill into device inventory by a selected customer location. In the following example, the Inventory Summary by Customer Location report represents the parent report and the Inventory Details report represents the child report.

  1. Log in to TrueSight Network Automation - Data Warehouse as a reporting user. The TrueSight Smart Reporting - Platform Home page appears.

    1. Do one of the following:
      • Click Start > Programs > TrueSight Network Automation - Data Warehouse > Login.
      • Enter the following address into a web browser:
        https://<appServer>:<portNumber>
        where:
        • appServer is the application server that hosts TrueSight Network Automation - Data Warehouse. 
        • portNumber is the web server secure port that you specified during installation. Default is 9443.

    2. Enter the user name and password for the reporting user.

      Important

      If a user with the name admin exists in TrueSight Network Automation, do not use this user to cross-launch to TrueSight Smart Reporting - Platform from the Network Automation - Data Warehouse console.

      If you cross-launch with the admin user, permissions of the TrueSight Smart Reporting - Platform administrator are replaced by the permissions of the Network Automation - Data Warehouse admin user. As a result, the TrueSight Smart Reporting – Platform administrator cannot perform the tasks associated with the role because the permissions are changed.

    3. Click LOG IN.
  2. Create the child report with the following fields:


  3. Create the parent report, as follows:
    1. Click tsr_create_report.png and click Report.
    2. Select the required view, for example, Inventory.
    3. In the view pane, drag and drop fields to the Columns field. For example, Site Name, Customer Location, and # of Devices.
    4. Drag and drop a field, Customer Location, to the Filters area. Ensure that you have dropped this field in the Columns field also.
    5. Click the arrow_icon.png icon in the Customer Location field that you dropped in the Filters area.
    6. Hover over Value, and then select User Prompt.
      ParentReportUserPrompt.png

  4. Create parent-child relationships between the reports that you want to link. Do the following to create parent-child relationships:
    1. Ensure the following:
      • The report that you want to link exists. See  for instructions on creating a report. In this example, the Inventory Details by Customer Location report acts as the child report.
      • You have set the filter values of the reports to User Prompt.
    2. Open the report that you want to use as the parent.
    3. Click Edit, and then click Data.
    4. On the message, click OK.
    5. In the Analysis style area, click Drill Through. The Related Content tab appears.
      drill_through_in_analysis.png
    6. Click the Related Content tab.
    7. In the Drill Through area, drag and drop the report that you want to use as the child report.
      drill_through_area.png
    8. In the Join Type area, click Drill Through.
      drill_through_join_type.png
    9. In the Joins area, in Master Field, select the filter that will be a hyperlink to open the child report (in this case, Customer Location).
      Under Child Filter, you can see the filter that you created in the child report.
    10. In Hyperlink field, select the field in the parent report that will be a hyperlink to open the child report. 
    11. If you want to open the child report in a new window, click the Popup New Window option, and click Update.
    12. Publish the report. In the published report, you can see the hyperlink on the field that you selected.
      linked_parent.png
    13. Click the hyperlink. You can see the child report that you joined with the parent report.


 

Tip: For faster searching, add an asterisk to the end of your partial query. Example: cert*