About Report Definition rules
 

Report definition rules define reports of two types:

• Summarized reports.GATZH changes 3/18/2010Examples include a line chart showing the number of work items of a given type resolved each week for the last 4 weeks, broken down by class of customer and work unit. A column shows the average number of complaints entered each month, by severity and product category.
  These reports contain two types of columns. At least one of the columns in the report must be a summarized column;  that is, it contains data that is summarized using one of the following built-in functions:  COUNT(), SUM(), AVG(), MIN(), and MAX().  Examples include counts of class instances (or record counts), total dollar amounts, average elapsed time between the entering and resolution of a work item, the most recent (maximum) date value, and the earliest (minimum) date value.
  All non-summarized columns on the report are considered group by columns, since the summarized data is grouped by, or broken down by, these other columns, display counts of class instances (or record counts) or summarized values based on numeric properties. 

• List-type reports.GATZH changes 3/18/2010 These present unsummarized or detailed data for individual work objects or other class instances.

 Report definition rules are similar to list view and summary view rules. Report definition rules provide much of the functionality of these V5 rule types, plus new features, and are easier to define than the V5 rules.

In addition to producing a report display or chart, report definition rules can be used simply to assemble a clipboard page (typically of class Code-Pega-List) for use in other processing. Your application can reference a report definition rule in these places: XXXX XXXXXXXX

• xxxxxxxxxxxx
• xxxxxxxxxxxxx
• shortcut rules
• declare pages rules V6.2
• read-only grid controls V6.2?
• dynamic select controls V6.2
• autocomplete controlsV6.2

Both developers and managers can create, update, and execute report definition rules.

• Developers — can create and update report definition rules within the Designer Studio as they do any other types of rules. These rules appear under the Reports category in the
  Application Explorer. The following section describes how to complete the rule form when creating a new report definition rule.
• Work managers — can browse and search for existing reports available to them, re-organize these reports within user-defined categories, run these reports, and create new reports within the Report Browser in the Manager portal. See Manager portal — Using the Report Browser.

When a report executes, its results appear in the Report Viewer. The Report Viewer offers many options for manipulating the displayed report, such as () printing it and () exporting it to Excel. Within the Report Viewer, you can also change the design of the report adjusting column headings and width, formatting of values, the order and sorting of columns, and specifying which rows of data to include. You can () Save these changes as new reports. See Report Viewer.

GATZH changes 3/18/2010 When creating a new report definition rule using the rule form, complete the tabs in the following order:

1. Use the New dialog box to enter a name for the report that meaningfully describes, using short words and abbreviations, the purpose of the report.
2. Complete the Design tab to:
   • Define which properties, functions, or expressions are to be included as columns in the report, and the settings that control how each column appears (heading, width, format, sort order, and so on.)
   • Define filtering conditions that define which class instances are to be included as rows in the report or in summarized data.
   • Define other general settings to control the appearance of the report.
   • Optional. Click the Include a Chart button and then complete the Chart Definition dialog to add and configure a chart display of the report’s data within the Report Viewer.  This can only be done for Summarized reports. GATZH changes 3/18/2010 See Defining and Editing Charts

   At any time while completing this tab, you may click the Save & Preview button to save the current report definition and display the results in the Report Viewer. See Completing the Design Tab

3. Optional. Complete the User Interactions tab to control how users can interact with the report within the Report Viewer, such as:
   • Whether users can modify the report, print it, export it to Excel, and so on.
   • Whether SmartInfo icons appear on each row of detailed reports, to display additional information about each row. See Completing the User Interactions TabGATZH changes 3/18/2010
4. Optional. Complete the Data Access tab to:
   • Define joins to other classes, declarative indices, and/or reports. See Completing the Data Access TabGATZH changes 3/18/2010
5. Optional. Complete the Parameters tab to document the name, description, and data type of parameters used in the report definition rule. See Completing the Parameters Tab 
6. Enter a Full Description on the History tab which explains the report in more detail (this more detailed description is displayed in the Report Browser when the cursor hovers over the report listing).
7. Click () to Save the rule or the Save & Preview button to save and preview the rule in the Report Viewer.GATZH changes 3/18/2010

You can't run report definition rules defined on Work- or abstract classes derived from Work- from the rule form, but can run in the Report Browser. When run in the Report Browser, the Applies To class of the report is resolved to the current work pool of the application being run.

Similarly, report definition rules defined on History-Work- or abstract classes derived from History-Work- cannot be run from the rule form, but can run in the Report Browser. When run in the Report Browser, the Applies To class of the report is resolved to the History-Work- class for the current work pool of the application being run.

Likewise, report definition rules defined on Assign- or abstract classes derived from Assign- cannot be run from the rule form, but can be run in the Report Browser. When run in the Report Browser, the Applies To class of the report is resolved to Assign-Worklist.

Report definition rules are instances of the Rule-Obj-Report-Definition class. They are part of the Reports category.