About Report Definitions

Use a report definition to define a report. This rule generates a SQL query against the Pega 7 database, or an external database, or against the Elasticsearch search index, and generates HTML that displays the query results in a wide variety of formats. Users can have the options of a range of user interactions with the displayed results, depending on the settings on the Report Viewer tab.

Basic concepts and terms

Report definitions define reports of two types:

• Summarized reports. Examples include a line chart showing the number of work items of a given type resolved each week for the last four 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.
  Note: 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 reports. These present unsummarized or detailed data for individual cases or other data instances.

The columns in report definitions can contain either property values or the values of expressions using SQL functions. See Using the Calculation Builder.

Note:  Report definition rules are easier to define and work with than the V5 ListView and SummaryView report rules. Managers can create, share, and schedule Report Definition reports through the Report Browser, and modify them through the Report Editor, with little or no assistance from developers.

Where referenced

Query results for report definitions are stored on a clipboard page (typically of class Code-Pega-List. APIs allow developers to run a report definition and access the data returned by its query without having the report definition itself display the results. See More about Report Definitions.

Your application can reference a report definition in these places:

Access

Both developers and managers can create, update, and execute report definitions.

• Developers — can create and update report definitions within the Designer Studio as they do 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.
• 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. Managers need access to a local ruleset, unlocked rulesetto work with the Report Browser. See Using the Report Browser.

Note: Using a single shared, unlocked local production ruleset for reports for all access groups for the whole application simplifies maintenance and migration of report definitions, report categories, and shortcuts in 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 or as a PDF file. From the Report Viewer, you can edit a report using the Report Editor.

You can save the updated report, or save a copy as the basis of a new report. See Report Viewer.

Completing the rule form

When creating a new report definition using the rule form, complete the tabs in the following order:

• 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.
• Complete The Query tab to:
  • Define which properties, or expressions using SQL functions, to include 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.
• Optional. In the Chart tab use the Chart Editor to design a chart to present the report's data. This is only available for summarized reports. See Working with the Chart Editor. 
• Optional. Complete the Report Viewer tab to control how users can interact with the report within the Report Viewer, such as:
  • Whether the Report Viewer toolbar appears, and which commands (such as edit, print, export to Excel) are available there.
  • Whether users can access the column header command menu to delete or reformat column values.
  • Whether and how users can modify report filters.
  • Whether and how users can perform drilldowns for summary reports.
  • General options for controlling the appearance of the report in the Report Viewer, such as the report title and header, and group heading sections.

  See Completing the Report Viewer tab.

• Optional. Complete the Data Access tab to:
  • Define joins to other classes, declarative indices, and/or reports.
  • Define resource limits for the report that control how many rows of data are returned, and how long the report is allowed to run.
  • Define security restrictions and account access.
    Note: use the Access Manager to define column-specific security restrictions for individual users or user groups. The restrictions are applied when the report definition runs.

  See Completing the Data Access Tab.

• Optional. Complete the Parameters tab to document the name, description, and data type of parameters used in the report definition. See Completing the Parameters Tab 
• 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 pointer hovers over the report listing).
• Click to save the rule or the Save & Preview button to save and preview the rule in the Report Viewer.

Defining report definitions on abstract classes

You can't run report definitions defined from the following classes from the rule form, but can run them in the Report Browser:

• rules defined on Work- or abstract classes derived from Work-
• rules defined on History-Work- or abstract classes derived from History-Work-
• rules defined on Assign- or abstract classes derived from Assign-

When you run such rules in the Report Browser, the Applies To class of the report is resolved as follows:

Category

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

	Working with the Report Viewer Working with the Chart Editor Using the Report Browser
	Atlas — Standard Report Definitions Atlas — Standard SQL function rules

Reports category
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