Overview
With Custom Reporting, you can specify and organize the columns that appear in your report. You can rearrange the column order, rename column headings, and summarize information per record using aggregate functions. Learn more about adding columns to custom reports in this article.
IN THIS ARTICLE
Adding columns
To add columns on a custom report:
- In the Field Options panel, select a field to add as a column.
- Fields are the basic building blocks that you’ll use to create columns for a report. By checking the box next to a report grouping or report fieldset, you’ll include all fields for that list.
- Select the Add Column(s) button or drag and drop the field into the Report Columns panel.
- In the Report Columns panel, edit column details (optional).
- Column details includes sorting, column name, and aggregation functions. See below for more information.
Customizing column details
After adding columns to your report, you can change their arrangement, sorting, and header names. All of these reflect how the columns appear in the preview and report output.
Column order
Column order affects how columns appear on your report. You can edit how the columns are ordered by manually dragging and dropping the fields. Or, you can select the sorting button to the left of the field, then apply any of the following to update its column order.
- Move to the first
- Move to the previous
- Move to the next
- Move to the last
Column sorting
Column sorting affects the order in which data appears in each column of your report. You can select the sorting button to the left of the column, then apply any of the following to update its sorting status.
- Not sorted
- Ascending
- Descending
Note: If more than one column sort is applied to the Report Columns panel, the column order will control the priority of how the columns are sorted.
Column label
Column label affects the column header names in your report. You can edit column labels by selecting text below the ‘Column Label’ column in the Report Columns panel. The text will turn into a form field for you to edit. Use the hard return key or click anywhere outside of the form to save your changes.
Note: Text below the ‘Column’ column refers to the report grouping and fieldset that you selected the field from in the Field Options panel. You can select his text to change the field to a different one instead of removing it and adding a new field from the Field Options panel.
Aggregate functions
Aggregate functions summarize the results of specified columns in your report. By using aggregate functions, you can retrieve a single value for a specific column after performing a calculation against the results. This can be useful if you want to see summary information per record in your report.
Note: As a general rule of thumb, aggregate functions will ignore blank values.
To apply a function, select the “Change to aggregate column” button. This button appears as an italicized, lowercase ‘f’ in the Report Columns panel. Then, select a function from the list.
The selected field’s data type affects the list of available functions that you can choose from. Fields that have a number value, such as dates, IDs, SSNs, etc., will have any of the following functions:
| Function | Description | Data types |
|---|---|---|
| Sum | Use to add multiple values for a specific record and return the total. | Number |
| Count | Use to count the number of non-blank values returned for a specific column. This function is helpful when summarizing related records for each parent record. | Word, Number, Date |
| Distinct Count | Use to count the number of unique, non-blank values returned for a specific column. This function is helpful when summarizing related records for each parent record. | Word, Number, Date |
| Average | Use to calculate the average value of the selected field related to a specific record. | Number |
| Minimum | Use to return the lowest occurring value for the selected field related to a specific record. | Number, Date |
| Maximum | Use to return the greatest occurring value for the selected field related to a specific record. | Number, Date |
| Value List | Use to return all values in a single row, separated by semicolons, for fields containing multiple values per record. This function is helpful if you select a field for your report that has multiple values for the same column. | Fixed Character Field |
| Month | Use to return the name of the month segment of a date field. | Date |
| Year | Use to return the year segment of a date field. | Date |
| Day | Use to return the day segment of a date field. | Date |
Fields that don’t have a number data type, such as names, yes/no statuses, etc., will only have the ‘Count’ and ‘Distinct Count’ functions.