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# Set up reports

This topic explains how to enter report details.

Note: After installation of Dimensions CM, all Report Builder menu areas are initially collapsed. The collapsed or expanded state of these menu areas is saved when the Report Builder dialog box is closed, that is, the next time the Report Builder dialog box is opened they will be in the same state.

In this topic:

## Enter your reporting criteria

To enter your reporting criteria:

1. Enter a Report Name.

If you do not check the is public checkbox, after the report is created its name will appear in the appropriate object class tree node below the My Reports tree node in the Reports and Lists navigation window. Only you will be able to see this report name in the navigation pane.

Alternatively, if you do check the is public checkbox, after the report is created its name will appear in the appropriate object class tree node below the Public Report tree node in the Reports and Lists navigation window. All users will be able to see this report name in the navigation pane.

Note: If at any stage in the remainder of this procedure you want to clear your currently entered reporting criteria and reset them to the defaults for this object class, click the Clear Report button.

2. In the Context menu area:

1. Select one or <ALL PRODUCTS> products from the Product drop down list.

2. Select from the Type filter the object class types that you wish to include in the scope of the report. The types available for selection will depend on the class of Dimensions CM object and product you selected earlier.

3. In the Report Type menu area:

1. For Type, select the report type.

Depending on the type of report selected, selection in the additional Then by fields may be non-enabled.

Selection in the additional Date span field only depends on the attribute selected in any of the Group by fields; if at least one of them is a date attribute, then the Date span field will be enabled regardless of the report type selected.

2. For Group by and, if selectable, Then by and Date span, select the desired attribute type to be used to group the elements of the generated report. Where present and selectable, click the Ascending or Descending radio button to specify whether you wish the element grouping to be displayed in ascending or descending order respectively—the default is ascending.

4. In the Attributes to Display menu area, system attributes that you include in the Selected list are displayed when you generate the report.

   Note: For report types that support subsequently generated child drilldown reports, these attributes will be displayed in the child drilldown report; otherwise, the attributes will be displayed in the generated report itself.

To manage the attributes in the Selected list, do the following:

1. First expand System Attributes in the Available list by clicking the plus ( '+) sign. This will display a graphical tree of all the system attributes for this object class that are available for adding to the Selected list.

2. To add an attribute to the Selected list, select it (single click) in the Available list and click the right-arrow.

3. To remove an attribute from the Selected list, select it (single click) in the Selected list and click the left-arrow to move it back to the Available list.

4. To move an attribute up the Selected list, select it and click the Up button.

5. To move an attribute down the Selected list, select it and click the Down button.

5. In the Filtering menu area, attributes and/or relationships that you include in the Selected list can have sophisticated Boolean filtering criteria applied to them when you generate the report.

   To manage the filtering, do the following:

   1. Expand System Attributes, User Attributes (if present), and/or Relationships in the Available list by clicking the relevant '+' sign.This will display a graphical tree of all the attributes and/or relationships for this object class that are available for adding to the Selected list.

   2. Select an attribute or relationship (single click) in the Available list and click the right-arrow (which will now be enabled):

      - If an attribute is selected, a value specification dialog box is displayed and for date/time attributes there is an associated find button.

      - If a relationship is selected, a relationship specification dialog box is displayed and for most relationships an associated find button and an associated keywords button.

   3. For a system attribute or user attribute (if present):

      Select a logical operator from the Date must be or Value must be drop down list, if not grayed out. The logical operator specifies how you wish to filter with respect to the this date/time or this value field, for example, filter to show all Titles that match (Equal to) or do not match (Not equal to) the entry in the Value field. The full list of filtering logical operations available is:

      - For date/time attributes: equal to, not equal to, before, after, not after, not before, is null, and is not null.

      - For other attributes: equal to, not equal to, less than, greater than, less than or equal to, greater than or equal to, Is null, and is not null.

      - Provide an attribute value by one of the following means:

      - Directly enter a value in the this date/time or this value field. For text fields, you can use “&” or “*” as wildcards. Note that this works when the logical operator is equal to or not equal to, and therefore is equivalent to the expressions “like” and “not like” in some other query syntaxes. For details, see Report notes and examples.

      - Select one of the pre-populated values from the this date/time or this value selection pick list. Depending on the attribute you selected, you can select certain special values, for example:

      - `<Query at Runtime>` a variable that enables you to specify the value at the time the report is run.

      - `<Today>`, `<Today>`+ 7, `<Today>-7`, `<Today>+30`, `<Today>-30`, `<Today>+365`, `<Today>-365` variables for date/time attributes.

      Note: `<Query at Runtime>` can currently only be selected for one attribute or relationship.

      - For date/time attributes, click the find value button to invoke an associated calendar dialog box to enable you to select an appropriate date.

      - Click OK.

      The selected attribute with specified value will be included in the selected list. If you want this attribute value to be included in a NOT logical relationship, click NOT (which will now be enabled).

   4. For a relationship, provide a relationship value by one of the following means:

      - Directly enter the required relationship in the <Object_class> object to relate to field.

      - Click the find relationship button to invoke an associated find dialog box (access the help if you need assistance in using the find dialog box).

      - Click the keywords relationship button to select one of several pre-populated relationship values. Depending on the relationship you selected, you can select certain special values, for example:

      - `<Query at Runtime>` a variable that enables you to specify the relationship at the time the report is run.

      - `<Current <Object Class>>`, for example `<Current Project>.`

      Note: `<Query at Runtime>` can currently only be selected for one attribute or relationship.

      - Click OK.

      The selected relationship with specified value will be included in the selected list. If you want this relationship value to be included in a NOT logical relationship, click the NOT (which will now be enabled).

   5. Repeat step 5-b and step 5-c or step 5-d as many times as required to build up the compound filter criteria in the Selected list as explained below (the various buttons mentioned below will be enabled or disabled depending on context).

      - To add a filter criterion, complete step 5-b and step 5-c or step 5-d. As each filter criterion is added, it will be placed by default into a logical AND relationship with the previously added filter criterion. To change the relationship, click the relationship and the appropriate button as follows:

      AND | Click to change the logical relationship back to the default AND.
      OR | Click to change the logical relationship to OR.
      NOT | Click to logically negate the currently selected expression.
      AND | Once you have started populating the Selected list, for certain attributes, when you then select in the Available list, the AND button will change to an ADD button. This button performs the same function as the right-arrow button but places the attribute value specifically into a logical AND relationship with the last relationship currently in the Selected list.
      OR | Once you have started populating the Selected list, for certain attributes, when you then select in the Available list, the OR button will change to an OR> button. This button performs the same function as the > button but places the attribute value specifically into a logical OR relationship with the last relationship currently in the Selected list.

      - To delete a filter criterion, select it and click the < button. To delete all filter criteria, click the << button.

      - To modify a filter criterion: select the criterion and click the Edit button; modify, as appropriate, the system attribute value in the value specification dialog box or the relationship in the relationship specification dialog box. The filter criterion will be updated appropriately.

      - To move an attribute or relationship criterion up the Selected list, select it and click the Up button.

      - To move an attribute or relationship criterion down the Selected list, select it and click the Down button.

6. In the Sorting menu area:

   Note: This menu is only applicable to a listing report and a drilldown list.

   1. For Sorted by, select the desired attribute type and click Ascending or Descending to decide how the attributes are sorted in the elements of the generated report.

   2. For subsequent Then by fields, further refine your attribute sorting criteria.

7. To test run your report before saving it or modifying your reporting selections, follow instructions inTest run reports.

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## Report notes and examples

When entering report details, take into account:

- Filter criteria that you enter are optimized by the Dimensions CM desktop client. Consequently, the criteria may appear in a slightly different format to that specified. However, client report results are not affected.

- For item reports, the items retrieved are restricted to the selected project. However, items can belong to more than one project, therefore the number of item revisions retrieved may be greater than the number that are displayed when you run the report.

Example 1: To create a report to find CR requests that are not closed and are critical or severe, or CRs that are raised, your filter in the Selected list will look like this:

Status <> [CLOSED]

AND

Severity/Priority = [1_critical]

OR

Severity/Priority = [2_severe']

OR

Status = [RAISED]

Example 2: To create a report to find items of file extension .`zip` that do not contain the string “output” in the filename, and are owned by JSMITH, your filter will look like this:

Filename = [%.zip]

AND

Filename <> [%output%]

AND

Owner = [JSMITH]

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