Column Reports

With Column reports, you select which columns to display, and which filters to set. The resultant report can be sorted by any of the fields displayed, with a single mouse click. Column reports can be saved as personal or public reports. You are able to select from any fields to which you have read permission. To prepare a new Column report, choose the Create New Column Report option. The screen presented to you will be similar to the following:


Creating a column report

Selecting columns to display and the sort order

  • Select the columns that you require on your report, by double-clicking on each field name; this field will be moved to the right-hand box. If you want to alter the order of the fields being displayed on the report, you can click on a field in the right-hand box and drag it to a new position. To remove a field from the report, drag it out of the box
  • By default, the columns that can first be selected are all the fields to which you have permission. If you want to place a button on your report, click on the Buttons radio button. If you want to select from available calculated fields (expressions), click on the Expressions button
  • Similarly, choose the columns on which you wish to sort the report. You may select up to four columns on which to sort the report in either an ascending or a descending order. The default of ascending order is first selected when you choose a column. If you do not choose any sort order, ExtraView will use the issue number as the sort order in descending order (i.e. the most recently added issues will appear first)
  • If you click on the title of the browser output to a column report, the report is resorted, using the field you selected in an ascending order. Clicking on the title a second time will resort the report again, this time using the field in a descending order. If you sort on a field, then choose a different field to sort the report on, the first field is still used in the sort order, but secondary to the field you just clicked on.

Transposing the rows and columns on the output

  • You may use the option Transpose rows/cols to alter the report output such that the rows on the report display become columns and vice versa. There is a limit to the number of resulting records that can be displayed in this way. This limit is much higher that you will be able to see on a display without scrolling a huge amount in a horizontal direction and is much higher than you could ever print on a sheet of paper.

    • Selected column options

    Once a column has been selected to display on a report, a small button appears to the right of the field. This allows you to set options or attributes, according to the type of field. To view or change the attributes, place your mouse cursor over the button, and press the right-hand mouse button. A window pops up, giving access to the available attributes.


    Selecting options for the Category column

    In the example shown, the user right-clicked on the Category field, and they can now enter an alternative title for the field to be displayed on this report’s output.


    Selecting options on a field that allows calculated expressions

    If the field you selected allows calculated expressions, then the popup window offers a place in which to enter the calculations. Calculated expressions are more fully explained in the Administration guide, but as their name implies, you may use these in one of a number of ways:


    Drilldown option for text fields

    Text fields, such as the issue ID field have one additional option, which allows a link to drilldown into the issue to be placed on the field when it is output to a report. This drilldown may be to the Detailed report, using the View function, or to the Edit screen, using the Edit function.

    Note: You should only place a drilldown on a field that contains an issue number, such as Issue ID or a field with a related issue number. It is likely that using a drilldown will generate an error if there is not a valid ID.

    Field Display Type Expression Results
    Number, Currency, Decimal The result will be numeric. For example, you may add or multiply different fields together: To calculate a field that shows the total of an amount plus 8% tax, use an expression similar to:
    $$AMOUNT$$ * 1.08
    Date, Day The result will be another date. For example, if you want to calculate a due date, one week after a given date, you may use an expression similar to:
    $$DUE_DATE$$ + 7
    Text This can be used to concatenate different text values together. For example, to produce a full name from a field named MYNAME plus a field named MYID, you may use an expression similar to:
    $$MYNAME$$ || ’ ‘ || $$MYID$$
    Note the use of the || to concatenate text strings together. This is because the underlying database uses this convention as opposed to using the more natural + to concatenate two text strings. Also, note the use of single quotes around text literals. This is a standard SQL database convention. Double-quotes do not work, and you will receive an error if you use these.

    Totaling of Numeric Fields

    If there are numeric fields on the report that you have prepared, and the administrator has enabled totaling on the field, then the numeric fields displayed will be totaled.

    Sorting the Output

    You can click on column titles to sort the report by the values in that column. Note that your administrator must have elected to allow sorting on each field, so not every column on a report may be sortable in this way. If it is sortable, a small grey icon appears to the right of the field. Click on the column title or icon to sort the output. One click sorts the column descending, and one more click sorts the column contents ascending.

    Group Headings

    If you click on the rightmost box by a field you have selected as a sort order, then the field is promoted to become a group heading on the output display. This is seen below, when the field Business Area and Assigned To fields were checked and were promoted to group headings.

    All four sort order fields that can be selected can be promoted to become group headings on a column report.


    Sample column report with group headings