Creating reports

Use TrueSight Smart Reporting for Server Automation to create reports and change the appearance of the 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 for Server Automation:

• Drag and drop - Drag and Drop builder allows you to use a pre-defined data view to build their reports. For information about the out-of-the-box views, see Accessing-out-of-the-box-views.

• Freehand SQL - These allow you to define the query, rather than using a pre-defined view. For information about how to use the freehand SQL reports, see Freehand SQL Reports in the Yellowfin documentation.  

You can create the following type of reports:

• Tabular report- Displays the data in the form of tables.
• Charts - Displays the data in the form of graphics and are the graphic equivalent of tables.
• Drill Through report - Displays the summarized and detailed information in a single table. You can click a hyperlink to another report and get a deeper insight into your data. You can create Drill Through reports by creating parent-child relationships between the reports that you want to link. You can link reports by using filters in the child reports.

This topic describes how to create different type of reports by using the drag and drop builder.

Best practices for creating reports

BMC recommends following these guidelines while creating reports to improve the reporting experience:

• Disable the Auto Refresh option before dragging and dropping reporting columns.
• Add the required basic filters before adding reporting columns.
• Avoid the use of leaf level filters. For example, applying a filter on the "Patch Name" column.
• Use out-of-the-box filters that provide better reporting performance due to indexes and statistics.
• Set the Auto Sum parameter to none for the metrics field (where appropriate) as these metrics are specific to that hierarchy level. For example, Servers Attempted > Compliance Job Run Result
• Avoid using the attributes available in the Metrics, Dimensions, and Time folders while creating custom reports.

To create a tabular report

1. Log in to TrueSight Server Automation - Data Warehouse. The TrueSight Smart Reporting - Platform Home page appears.

   Click here for the steps to log in to the TrueSight Server Automation - Data Warehouse console.

   1. Use the following URL to open the TrueSight Server Automation - Data Warehouse login page:
      https://<TrueSight Server Automation - Data Warehouse hostname>:<portNumber>/tssa-dw
   2. In the User Name and Password fields, enter the user credentials. By default, the password is hidden. To view the password, click .
   3. In Site, select a site. The Primary Site is the default site.
   4. In Authentication Method, select a authentication method. SRP is the default authentication method.
   5. Click LOG IN.
   6. In the Roles window, select the role you want to use and click OK. Through role-based access control (RBAC), you can be granted multiple roles, but you can use only one role at a time.
2. Click  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 fields in the Filters section also.

   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.
     
   • 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.
     
6. If you are creating reports for the Compliance domain, do the following:
   1. Add the Server result site and role match with job site and role built-in filter to the report.

   2. (Applicable if you have upgraded to TrueSight Server Automation - Data Warehouse version 21.3 and upgraded your TrueSight Server Automation site to 21.3) If you are using the Compliance Rule Result > Rule Result String(Long) attribute, select the Show Duplicate Records option.

      

7. (Applicable if you have upgraded to 

   TrueSight Server Automation - Data Warehouse

    version 21.3 and upgraded your 

   TrueSight Server Automation

    site to 21.3) If you are creating reports for the Job Activity domain and using the Job Run Event > Event Message attribute, select the Show Duplicate Records option.

8. If you are creating reports for the Smart Agent properties and Cloud Servers properties, use the attributes that are available under "<Domain name> Server" folder (for example, Patch Server and Compliance Server).
                             
9. If you are creating reports for the Patch domain to check the patch deploy details, use the Patch Installed Date attribute that is available under the Missing Patch Details folder for Patch Model - detail information.
   
10. If you are creating reports for the Patch domain to check the ERRATA CVE ID details, use the Errata CVE IDs attribute that is available under the Patch Details-Linux Errata folder for Patch Model - detail information.
    
11. If you are creating reports for the Patch domain to check the Patch Installed Date and Patch Installed Count details, use the Patch Installed Date and Catalog - Installed Patch Count attributes that are available under the folders Patch Server and Missing Patch Details respectively for Patch Model - detail information.
    
    
    
12. If you are creating reports for the Compliance domain to check the Component Name and Component Description details, use the Component Name and Component Description attributes that are available under the Compliance Server folder for Compliance model.
    
13. If you are creating reports for the RBAC domain to check the last login time of TrueSight Server Automation - Data Warehouse reporting users, use the Last Login Date (In TSSA-DW) attribute that is available under the RBAC User folder.
    

1. If you are creating reports for the Inventory domain to check the architecture and checksum details of the software deployed on the target servers, use the Architecture, Meta Checksum High, and Meta Checksum Low attributes that are available under the Inventory Common - Software folder.
   
   
2. Click Publish. In the Save Report window, do the following:
   • Enter a name and description for your report.
   • If required, use the Add tags field to add tags. Tags are useful to search for reports after you generate them.
   • In the Report Access area, select Public or Private.
     If you select Public, all users on the tenant can access the report.
     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.

   • If required, use the Distribution, Report Settings, and Refresh tabs. To know more about the tabs, see Saving a Report(https://wiki.yellowfinbi.com/display/user80/Saving+a+Report).

3. Click Save to generate and view the tabular report.

To create a chart report

1. Log in to TrueSight Server Automation - Data Warehouse. The TrueSight Smart Reporting - Platform Home page appears.

   Click here for the steps to log in to the TrueSight Server Automation - Data Warehouse console.

   1. Use the following URL to open the TrueSight Server Automation - Data Warehouse login page:
      https://<TrueSight Server Automation - Data Warehouse hostname>:<portNumber>/tssa-dw
   2. In the User Name and Password fields, enter the user credentials. By default, the password is hidden. To view the password, click .
   3. In Site, select a site. The Primary Site is the default site.
   4. In Authentication Method, select a authentication method. SRP is the default authentication method.
   5. Click LOG IN.
   6. In the Roles window, select the role you want to use and click OK. Through role-based access control (RBAC), you can be granted multiple roles, but you can use only one role at a time.
2. Click  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 also.

   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.
     
   • 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.
     
6. If you are creating reports for the Compliance domain, do the following:
   1. Add the Server result site and role match with job site and role built-in filter to the report.
      
      

   2. (Applicable if you have upgraded to TrueSight Server Automation - Data Warehouse version 21.3 and upgraded your TrueSight Server Automation site to 21.3) If you are using the Compliance Rule Result > Rule Result String(Long) attribute, select the Show Duplicate Records option.

      

7. (Applicable if you have upgraded to 

   TrueSight Server Automation - Data Warehouse

    version 21.3 and upgraded your 

   TrueSight Server Automation

    site to 21.3) If you are creating reports for the Job Activity domain and using the Job Run Event > Event Message attribute, select the Show Duplicate Records option.

8. If you are creating reports for the Patch domain, add the Filter current user Site and Role data built-in filter to the report.
   
   
   
   
9. If you are creating reports for the Patch domain by using the server-level attributes (for example, OS name, OS version, and Server name) and patch-level attributes (for example, Patch Name, Patch Type, and Patch Catalog Group), add the PatchServer Filter to the report.
   
   
   
   
10. If you are creating reports for the Inventory Domain for any asset using the Server and Job attributes, use the filters that are available under the individual Asset folders.
    
                                                                                                                                                                                                
11. If you are creating reports for the Smart Agent properties and Cloud Servers properties, use the attributes that are available under "<Domain name> Server" folder. (eg. Patch Server, Compliance Server, Inventory Server)
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
12. If you are creating reports for the Patch domain to check the patch depoy details, use the Patch Installed Date attribute that are available under Missing Patch Details folders for Patch Model - detail information.
    
13. If you are creating reports for the Patch domain to check the ERRATA CVE ID details, use the Errata CVE IDs attribute that is available under the Patch Details-Linux Errata folder for Patch Model - detail information.
    
14. If you are creating reports for the Patch domain to check the Patch Installed Date and Patch Installed Count details, use the Patch Installed Date and Catalog - Installed Patch Count attributes that are available under the folders Patch Server and Missing Patch Details respectively for Patch Model - detail information.
    
    
    
15. If you are creating reports for the Compliance domain to check the Component Name and Component Description details, use the Component Name and Component Description attributes that are available under the folder Compliance Server for Compliance model.
    
16. Click Charts.
17. Click Auto Chart and then click Select Chart Type to open the Select Chart pane.
    Alternatively, click  in the upper right corner.
    
    
18. Select a chart type to use as an output for your report and generate your report.
19. Click Publish. In the Save Report window, do the following:
    • Enter a name and description for your report.
    • If required, use the Add tags field to add tags. Tags are useful to search for reports after you generate them.
    • In the Report Access area, select Public or Private.
      If you select Public, all users on the tenant can access the report.
      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.

    • If required, use the Distribution, Report Settings, and Refresh tabs. To know more about the tabs, see Saving a Report(https://wiki.yellowfinbi.com/display/user80/Saving+a+Report).

20. Click Save to generate and view the chart report.

To create Drill Through reports

1. While creating a report, set the filter value to User Prompt. Do the following to set the filter value:

   1. Log in to TrueSight Server Automation - Data Warehouse. The TrueSight Smart Reporting - Platform Home page appears.

      Click here for the steps to log in to the TrueSight Server Automation - Data Warehouse console.

      1. Use the following URL to open the TrueSight Server Automation - Data Warehouse login page:
         https://<TrueSight Server Automation - Data Warehouse hostname>:<portNumber>/tssa-dw
      2. In the User Name and Password fields, enter the user credentials. By default, the password is hidden. To view the password, click .
      3. In Site, select a site. The Primary Site is the default site.
      4. In Authentication Method, select a authentication method. SRP is the default authentication method.
      5. Click LOG IN.
      6. In the Roles window, select the role you want to use and click OK. Through role-based access control (RBAC), you can be granted multiple roles, but you can use only one role at a time.
   2. Click  and click Report.
   3. Select one of your views.
   4. In the view pane, drag and drop a field to the Columns field.
   5. Drag and drop a field to the Filters area. Ensure that you have dropped this field in the Columns field also.
   6. Click the  icon in the field that you dropped in the Filters area.
   7. Hover over Value, and then select User Prompt.
   8. Click Publish.
      
      
      
      
2. 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 reports that you want to link exists. See  for instructions on creating a 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.
      
   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.
      
   8. In the Join Type area, click Drill Through.
      
   9. In the Joins area, in Master Field, select the filter that will be a hyperlink to open the child report.
      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.
       
   13. Click the hyperlink. You can see the child report that you joined with the parent report.

Related topics

Use-case-for-creating-a-custom-report

Accessing-out-of-the-box-views