Working with User Defined Reports

User defined reports are easier to create than cards and labels, because all fields appear on the same line (with the exception of Roster reports, which are formatted like labels). However, you have some additional options with reports, because each field has a "header" at the top of the column that normally contains the field name.

2	Choose Actions > User Reports, or click the User Reports toolbar button to open the Maintain User Reports window. This window displays all user-defined reports that are currently available.

3	Click Add to open the Report Type selection window.

4	Choose the primary data type to use for the report (activity, membership, or group data) and then choose the type of report to create.

Note: The data type you choose is very important. If you choose an Activity report, for example, then activities are the primary focus of the report. If you add a membership data field to the report, you could see a member displayed once for every activity her or she attended. Likewise, a Group Data report will mean all address fields will apply to the group, not members who are part of that group. Consider the type of data you are most interested in, and focus the report appropriately. If the data to be shown is primarily member data, the report data type should be "Membership Data".

5	The New Report window is divided into two tabs:

The Define Fields tab is used for specifying the name of the report as it will appear in the reports dropdown, the default report title, and fields to be displayed. Once fields have been selected, you can change the order, and edit certain attributes such as alignment, sort, etc.

The top section of the report varies somewhat depending on the type of report being created. See Maintaining User Defined Reports for more details.

The Preview tab lets you "run" the report with actual data so you can make final adjustments to column widths. You can also change the column order on this tab, and changes will be reflected on the Define Fields tab.

Note: In Preview mode (with the Preview checkbox selected) a divider line may not be visible due to scaling issues, but it will print normally.

6	Once you have added a new report and returned to list of user-defined reports, it is ready for use. Close this window and return to the Reports window, and the new report will be available in the dropdown of available reports.