About custom reports
Poetic allows you to set up your own custom reports in addition to the reports Poetic provides. Poetic’s custom reports use the Jasper reporting tool. The reports are added to the list of Poetic reports on the Reports menu.
When you create the report, Poetic, creates a security setting for you to control access to the report. You must then use the security maintenance function to provide access to the report.
For the report criteria, you assign survey questions to the report.
For other text used for the report, Poetic automatically creates a list with the same name as the report. The list automatically includes values for the page titles, browser titles, and help text for the criteria and results pages. You can then add values for other localizable text in the report.
Each output format (HTML, PDF, etc.) that is available must have a Jasper report template (.jrxml) assigned to it. Each output format can also have a plugin class assigned to it.
Adding or editing a custom Jasper report
On the Search Reports page:
- To create a new custom Jasper report, click the Add a report link at the top of the list.
- To edit an existing report, click the Edit link next to the report.
The Report Maintenance page for the report displays.
Setting the report header information
To configure general information about the report, including the name and category:
| Report name |
In the Report name field, type a unique identifier for the report. The identifier is a text string in all caps with the words separated by underscores. For example, After you save the report, you cannot edit the name. The name is saved into the Poetic also creates a security setting named for the name. So for our example, if the report name is Poetic does not enable the security setting for any security role. You must use the security maintenance function to determine who can run the report. For information on configuring security settings, see Assigning security settings to security roles. Poetic also adds a list value to the reports list ( Finally, Poetic uses this value to create a list with the same name as the report. This list contains all of the text needed for the report, including:
The above items use the same list value code in all of the report lists. The list can also include any other localizable text used by the report. You will need to get the appropriate list value codes from the report template or the developer. |
| Display name | The default display name for the report. This is what displays on the Reports menu. This is also the default list value description for the report when it is added to the REPORT_NAME list. |
| Category | From the Category dropdown, select the report category the report belongs to. Each category becomes a section on the Standard tab of the Reports menu. |
| Max rows for download | In the Max rows for download field, type the maximum number of rows to include in a downloaded version of the report. |
| Description | In the Description field, type a longer description of the report and the how it is intended to be used. |
| Active | To make the report available to users based on the security setting, check the Active check box. |
| Can be scheduled | To allow users to schedule the report to run automatically, check the Can be scheduled check box. |
Setting up the report criteria
You can select up to 10 survey questions to use as the available criteria for the report. For each question:
- To search for and select the question, click the Find link next to the question field.
- To edit the question configuration, click the Edit link.
- In the Display row field, type the row in which to display this question.
- In the Display sequence field, type the column in which to display this question.
To remove a question, click the Clear link for that row.
For information on configuring survey questions, see Adding and editing survey questions.
Setting the available report output formats
Uploading the JRXML template
Each output format requires a JRXML template. It is recommended that you use a separate template for each format. The template for each format must be loaded into Poetic.
To upload a template:
- Click Load Template.
- On the Load JRXML Template form, in the Template file field, provide the path and name of the JRXML template. Click Browse to search for and select the file.
- Click Load Template. The Template File Name column is updated to display the name of the file you uploaded.
Downloading a template to a file
To download a template to a file, click Download Template.
Making the output format available to users
To allow users to select the output format, check the Active check box. At least one format must be active.
Providing the name of a custom plugin class
In the Plugin Class Name column, if you are using a custom plugin:
- Check the Use custom check box.
- In the field that displays, type the path and name of the java plugin used to create this output format.
Localizing the text for the report
When you save a new custom Jasper report, Poetic creates a new list. The list name is the same as the report name (for example, MY_EVENT_REPORT).
This list is used to localize the text associated with the report. When the list is first created, Poetic automatically adds the following list value codes:
| CRITERIA.BROWSERTITLE | The browser title for the report criteria page. |
| CRITERIA.PAGETITLE | The page title for the report criteria page. |
| CRITERIA.HELPTEXT | The help text for the report criteria page. |
| RESULT. BROWSERTITLE |
The browser title for the report results page, if the report is displayed on an HTML page. |
| RESULT.PAGETITLE | The page title for the report results page, if the report is displayed on an HTML page. |
| RESULT.HELPTEXT | The help text for the report results page, if the report is displayed on an HTML page. |
You can also add list values for other localizable text in the report. You will need to get the list value codes from the developer who generated the report template or plugin code.
To edit and localize the text for these values, click the Localize report text link at the top of the page. The link does not display when you create a new report, only when you edit an existing report.