Running a New Report in PICSWeb
If you run a Report Template, or select ... > Edit Report by a Saved Report, a window will open where you can customise, save, and run the chosen report. This window is made up of the three tabs shown below.
Once you have entered the necessary details and made any changes, select Run Now to generate the report. This will happen as a background process in PICSWeb. Once the report has been generated, it will be available in the Available Reports tab. You may need to refresh the page before the report appears in the list.
Options
In the Options tab, various options are available to restrict the selection of records based on different criteria. The options available here will depend on which Template the report is based on.
The From and To date fields are mandatory for any report. These specify the period within which records will be included in the report selection. You can add a positive or negative Months Offset to adjust the dates specified.
Optional Fields
Any report templates that are based on a more general report will have the optional fields for that report available. This hierarchy is listed in the Optional Output Fields page.
In the Optional Fields tab, you can use the tickboxes to add various fields to the report output for each record included. The fields available here will depend on which Template the report is based on.
If you have set up any User Defined Forms to be Included in Reports, they will be available at the bottom of this list.
A Find Field search bar is available at the top of the list. You also have options to Add All and Remove All optional fields.
Save and Schedule
More information on scheduling reports is available in the Scheduling Reports page.
In the Save and Schedule tab, the following options are available:
Output Type – Here you can choose the format for the finished report:
Spreadsheet – This is a spreadsheet file which can be downloaded and saved to your device,
Spreadsheet - Across – This is the same spreadsheet file as above, except there will only be one row per main entity in the report, with all sub-entities shown in repeating columns. For example, if you are running a Learner Reviews report, there will be one row per learner, with each review for the learner shown in repeating columns.
Interactive – This is an Interactive Report which can be opened and configured within PICSWeb.
Interactive for Dashboard – This is an Interactive Report which can be opened and configured within PICSWeb and also used to populate a Dashboard Widget. This option is only available if you are licensed to use PICSWeb Dashboards.
Repeat Up To – If you have selected Spreadsheet - Across as the Output Type, here you can specify the maximum amount of sub-entities you want to be displayed on each row.
Custom Title – If no custom title is entered, the name of the report template will be used instead. If you are saving the report, you will need to enter a custom title.
Sharing – When you save a report, it is possible to share it with other PICSWeb users. If you set the Sharing field to Shared, the report will appear in other users' Saved Reports tab for them to run themselves. If the field is set to Private, only you will be able to run it.
Share with Users/Teams – If you have chosen Shared above, here you can specify with PICS Users and Teams you would like to share the report with. If no users or teams are selected here, the report will be added to every other user’s Saved Reports tab.
Notification on Success - This controls if an email is sent to the person creating the report once it has run successfully. Other users connected in the report email (in the Send to Users/Teams lists) are always emailed after a successful run of the report. Defaults to email being sent to the report creator.
Schedule Type – You can configure the report to reoccur based on a schedule. The From and To dates specified in the options tab will roll forward with each new report to look at the same relative date range. The following schedule types are available:
Days of the Week – With this option, you can use the tickboxes to choose which days of the week you want the report to run.
Days of the Month – With this option, you can use the tickboxes to choose which months of the year and which days of each selected month you want the report to run.
Time of day – Here you can enter when in the ticked days the report will run.
Send to Users – Here you can search for PICSWeb Users to send the report to. Once the report is generated, it will be available in the Downloads tab for the chosen users. Reports will only be shared to these teams when they are run as part of the schedule. If you select Run Now to run the report manually, only you will be able to view it.
Send to Teams – Here you can search for Teams to send the report to. Once the report is generated, it will be available in the Downloads tab for the users that make up the chosen teams. Reports will only be shared to these teams when they are run as part of the schedule. If you select Run Now to run the report manually, only you will be able to view it.
Overwrite Output – If this is ticked, each time the report is run it will replace the previous instance of the report. If this is unticked, each time the report is run a new report will be added to the Available Reports list.
Save Report – Save will save the options you have set and add the custom report to the Saved Reports tab. For this to work, you will need to have specified the From and To dates and entered a Custom Title. If you have specified a schedule for the report, it will be start to run according to the schedule once you have saved.