Creating Custom Report Templates

You may want to present a specific combination of content in a report that is not available in a predefined report template. Using Reporter, you can create custom report templates and choose any attribute available in the Reporter database.

Custom report templates can be based on either stored or live data.

There are two ways to create custom report templates:

•	Duplicate a predefined report template and save it as a custom report template

•	Create an original custom report template

The dialogs in the New Report Wizard are the same as those used when creating a favorite. For more information on favorites, refer to Using Favorites for Frequent Reporting.

To create a custom report template

1.	Expand Reporting | Report Templates. Right-click a report category, then select New | Report.

2.	Click Next.

3.	Enter general information about the report template.

a)	Enter a name and description.

b)	Click Categories to select a report category.

The new report template is then associated with the category and saved in that Category directory.

4.	Click Next.

5.	Select the type of report template and associated attributes.

The report types in the list include: Computers, Domains, Groups, HIPAA Security Standards Compliance, Permissions, Security Auditing, SOX Compliance, Summary, Users and QAS Reporting.

6.	Click Next.

7.	Select the filters.

Use report filters to enforce policies and standards in your organization. Customizing the filters in report templates allows you to see exceptions to your policies.

a)	Click Add.

b)	Click the attribute link.

c)	Select an attribute from the list, then click OK.

d)	Select a Condition value, then click OK.

e)	Click the value link, then select a value.

For example, a user account can have one of the following values: enabled or disabled.

f)

Click OK.

8.	Click Next.

9.	Select the grouping and sorting options.

a)	Drag an attribute to the Grouping box.

The generated report will be grouped on that attribute. You can select more than one attribute.

b)	To sort the report by attribute, right-click and select either Sort Ascending or Sort Descending.

By default, the check mark is displayed next to the Visible feature to indicate that it is enabled.

c)	Right-click an attribute and select Visible to clear the check mark if you do not want the attribute displayed in the report.

10.	Click Next.

11.	Click Finish after you review the confirmation page.

The report template is added to the category directory that you selected. To run the report template, see Generating a Report.

To change the properties for a predefined report template

1.	Right-click a report template and select Duplicate to create a copy of the report template.

2.	Right-click the duplicate report template and select Properties.

3.	Change the properties as required, then click Apply.

You can change the following report properties: General, Attributes, Filter, and Grouping.

It is recommended that you create a copy of the report template before changing its properties. If you change the properties of the original predefined report template, you cannot recover the default settings.

To change the properties for a duplicate objects report

1.	In the Domain category, right-click a duplicate object report (such as Duplicate Computers) and select Duplicate to create a copy of the report template.

2.	Right-click the duplicate report template and select Properties.

3.	On the Attributes tab, select all the attributes that you want in your report, including the attributes you want to check for duplication.

To check what attributes you have already selected, select the Show only selected attributes check box.

4.	Select the Duplicate Objects tab to set the attributes for comparison. To change the source attribute, clear the existing checkbox, and select the desired attribute. In the Target Attribute column, click <Attribute> and select the attribute to compare to the source.

Reporter uses the source and target attributes you choose to determine which objects are duplicated. You can only select one set of attributes to compare. Not all attributes produce meaningful results when used as a basis of comparison.

You can only compare attributes in the same object class as the report type. On the Attributes tab, you can see the report type and the object class for each attribute listed. For example, if you are creating a Duplicate Computer report, and you select Service Display Name, which is in the Service object class, that attribute will appear on the report, but cannot be selected for comparison on the Duplicate Objects tab.

5.	Change other properties as required, then click Apply.

You can change the following report properties: General, Filter, and Grouping.