Reports

Reports can help provide quick ways to run queries on collected survey data. Read this guide to learn how to create, design, schedule, and other functionalities of the data manager reporting.

1.Creating a Report

To create a new report:

  1. Click the Report tab in any project.
  2. Click the New button.
  3. Type a name and description for the report.
  4. From the Parent Project list, choose the project to which the report should belong.
  5. Click Continue.

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The Parent Project property may have important implications regarding who will be able to view the report. It is possible to change the report name, description and parent project at any time by visiting the General tab on the Reports page.

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2.Editing General Report Properties

The General properties of a report include its name, description and parent project. To edit general report properties, click the General tab on the report page. Type the name and description, and choose a parent project, then click the Save button.

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Name and Description

The name and description both appear in the DatStat Extranet. Because the DatStat Extranet may include a large number of reports, it’s helpful to choose a descriptive name and to provide a description with enough detail to distinguish the report from others.

Parent Project

Choosing a parent project determines where a Data Manager user needs to go to find the report. For example,choosing System as the parent project, the report will appear under the Reports tab of the System project. Choosing Project X as the parent project, the report will appear under the Reports tab of Project X.

 

More importantly, the parent project determines who will be able to view the report in the DatStat Extranet. By default, DatStat Extranet users are allowed to view any reports inside of the projects to which they have access, and are not allowed to view reports inside of projects to which they do not have access.

 

Consider this situation for example: there are two projects, one called “HR Surveys,” and one called “Customer Surveys.” Everyone working in Human Resources has access only to the “HR Surveys” project, while everyone in marketing has access only to the “Customer Surveys” project.

 

A report is created on the results of an HR survey, and put into the “Customer Surveys” project. In the DatStat Extranet, no one working in Human Resources can see the report, but everyone working in marketing can.

 

This is clearly not what is desired! Be sure to select the right parent project for the report! In most cases, the report should be in the same project as the survey whose results it displays.

 

Also note it is possible to specifically grant or deny report access to individual users.

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3.Creating a Data Source

The data displayed in all of the charts and tables of the report come from an Illume query. Reports display the summary data returned by a query. Summary data include response counts and percentages, and may include statistics such as minimum, maximum, mean, and standard deviation. An existing query can be used as the report data source, or define a new query. Creating a query is often more convenient when there are simple data requirements (e.g. no complex filters are needed, or a large list of carefully selected variables).

Cloning a query is generally more convenient when the query already exists, or when building and testing a complex query.

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Creating a Query

To create the data source for a report:

  1. Click on the Data Source tab of the Report page.
  2. Choose the Project containing the survey or cross survey view that will supply data for the report.
  3. Choose the survey or cross survey view from the Survey list. (Both surveys and cross survey views appear in the list.)
  4. Follow the steps outlined in Creating a Query to create the query.

Cloning an Existing Query

To clone an existing query:

  1. Click on the Data Source tab of the Report page.
  2. Choose the Project containing the survey or cross survey view that will supply data for the report. The Clone Existing Query list will display all of the queries associated with the survey selected. It may take a few seconds for this list to load.
  3. Choose a query from the Clone Existing Query list.

After step 3, Illume will display the query selected, complete with the list of selected variables, filters, time periods, etc.

 

It is possible to edit this query for the report, and the edits will not affect the original query. Conversely, any changes made to the query from which this was cloned will not affect this query.

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4.Setting Report Styles

Report styles enable a Report Creator to control the fonts, colors and borders on report elements.

To set the styles for a report:

  1. Click the Style tab on the Report page.
  2. Adjust any of the style attributes in the left column. The sample annotation and table on the right side of the page show changes while editing.

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Adjust font and border attributes by selecting values from the appropriate list. Adjust color attributes by clicking on the appropriate color icon and choosing a color from the palette that appears.

  • DM_ReportsFont.gif Use the color icon with the letter T to set text color.
  • DM_ReportsColor.gif Use the color icon with the paint bucket to set background color.

 

Click any color within the color palette to select that color, then click OK to apply it. It is also possible to manually enter a color in the text box at the top of the color palette. The color must be formatted as a web color, with a pound sign, followed by 6 hexadecimal digits (e.g. #FF09C3). This option may be useful for organizations whose publications must adhere to a defined stylesheet or color palette.

  • Font – Sets the font-family (typeface) of the text of annotations, and of the value labels, counts and percentages in data tables.
  • Font Size – Sets the size of the text of annotations, and of the value labels, counts and percentages in data tables.
  • Font Style – Sets the style (bold, italic, etc.) of the text of annotations, and of the value labels, counts and percentages in data tables.
  • Font Color – Sets the color of the text in annotations, and of the text in value labels, counts and percentages in the odd rows of data tables.
  • Bg Color – Sets the background color behind the text of annotations and behind the text of value labels, counts and percentages in the odd rows of data tables.
  • Alt. Font Color – Sets the color of the text in annotations, and of the text in value labels, counts and percentages in the even rows of data tables.
  • Alt. Bg Color – Sets the background color behind the text of annotations and behind the text of value labels, counts and percentages in the even rows of data tables.
  • Chart Bg Color – Sets the background color of all charts within the report.
  • Chart Series Colors – Sets the colors of items within all charts in the report e.g. bars in bar charts, slices in pie charts.
  • Column Header Font – Sets the font-family (typeface) of the text at the head of each column in data tables.
  • Column Header Size – Sets the size of the text at the head of each column in data tables.
  • Column Header Style – Sets the style (bold, italic, etc.) of the text at the head of each column in data tables.
  • Column Header Font Color – Sets the color of the text at the head of each column in data tables.
  • Column Header Bg Color – Sets the color background color behind the text at the head of each column in data tables.
  • Table Border – Determines whether data tables will display a border around their outer edges. Note: Borders for annotations are set separately under the Layout/Design tab.
  • Table Gridlines – Determines whether data tables will display a border between rows.
  • Title Font – Sets the font-family (typeface) of titles at the top of annotations and data tables.
  • Title Size – Sets the size of the title text at the top of annotations and data tables.
  • Title Style – Sets the style (bold, italic, etc.) of the title text at the top of annotations and data tables.
  • Title Font Color – Sets the color of the title text at the top of annotations and data tables.
  • Title Bg Color – Sets the background color behind the title text at the top of annotations and data tables.

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5.Designing a Report

Adding Report Elements

Illume Reports include the following types of elements:

DM_ReportsTextIcon.gif Annotations may contain any custom text and images.

DM_ReportsChartIcon.gif Charts include bar charts, pie charts, line charts and box and whisker charts to represent data in a variety of styles.

DM_ReportsTableIcon.gif Tables display various types of summary data in textual format.

DM_ReportsChartTableIcon.gif Chart/Table combinations display data in both visual and textual media.

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Adding Charts

To add a chart to a report, go to the Layout/Design tab of the Report page and follow these steps:

  1. Click on the chart icon DM_ReportsChartIcon.gif. This will create a chart at the bottom of the list of report elements on the design page, or click the chart icon and drag it directly to the location in which it is to appear.
  2. Choose the variable or variables whose data should appear in the chart. In the left side of the list of variables under the Element Properties tab, click on the variable to include. Each variable selected will appear in the list of Selected Variables on the right.
  3. Move a variable in the Selected Variables list by clicking it and dragging it up or down. Remove a variable by clicking it again in the list on the left.
  4. Illume will display one chart in the report for each variable chosen. If three variables are chosen for a chart, Illume will produce three charts, each with identical style properties.

 

Set the display properties for the chart, described below.

To create several charts of the same type that have a consistent appearance, put one chart in the report, set its properties, and add several variables to it.

To create charts with distinct style attributes, create one chart for each variable.

Setting Chart Properties

Whenever a chart is selected in the Report Designer, the Chart Properties form appears on the right side of the page. (To select a chart, simply click on it. When selected a thick red border appears around it.)

For each chart in your report, the following properties can be set:

  • Crosstab/Rollup – If the query supplying data to the report is a crosstab query, it is possible to choose to have the chart represent the cross-tabulated data or the data without the crosstab breakdown (the rollup data). Note that if choosing to represent crosstab data, the chart cannot display as a pie chart. The Crosstab/Rollup option does not appear for non-crosstab queries.
  • Title – The text typed here appears in bold type at the top of the chart. By default, the chart title is {DS:VariableName}. This is a placeholder that will be replaced with the name of the variable when the chart is rendered. If multiple variables are chosen, Illume creates a chart for each variable, and sets the variable name as the title for each one. If the title is manually typed in, and several variables are chosen, Illume will produce several charts, each with the same title.
  • Subtitle – The subtitle appears in smaller type below the title of the chart. By default, a chart’s subtitle is {DS:Description}, which is a place holder for the variable description that appears in the Data Dictionary. (This is usually the same as the question prompt.) It is possible to replace {DS:Description} with custom text.
  • Type – This represents the type of chart that will appear in the report. When changing the type, the image sample in the Report Designer changes to show the type of chart selected.
  • Data – Choose whether to have the chart represent response counts or percentages for the selected variable.
  • Height – This sets the height of the chart, in pixels.
  • Width – This sets the width of the chart, in pixels.
  • Show Scale Labels – If this box is checked, scale labels will appear near each bar, line, or pie slice on the
  • chart. For example, if the question includes response options 0=No and 1=Yes, checking this option would cause the words Yes and No to appear next to the corresponding bar or line or pie slice on the chart. Scale value labels can take up a considerable amount of space in the printable version of your chart, leaving little room for the chart itself.
  • Max Label Length – If Show Scale Labels is checked, it is possible to set the maximum number of label characters that will appear for each label. Illume will truncate the label to the number of characters specified here.
  • Show Scale Values – If this box is checked, scale values will appear near each bar, line, or pie slice on the chart. For example, if the question includes response options 0=No and 1=Yes, checking this option would cause the numbers 0 and 1 to appear next to the corresponding bar or line or pie slice on the chart.

 

The best way to understand what each setting does is to change the setting and click the Preview button to see how the change affects the display.

Adding Tables

To add a table to a report, follow these steps:

  1. Click the table icon DM_ReportsTableIcon.gif. This will create a table at the bottom of the list of report elements on the design page. It is possible to also click the table icon and drag it directly to the location in which it is to appear.
  2. Choose the variable or variables whose data is to appear in the table. (See step #2 under Adding Charts above for details.)
  3. Set the display properties for the table, described below.

Setting Table Properties

Whenever a table is selected in the Report Designer, the Table Properties form appears on the right side of the page. (To select a table, simply click on it. It is selected when a thick red border appears around it.)

For each table in the report, the following properties can be set:

  • Crosstab/Rollup – If the query supplying data to the report is a crosstab query, It is possible to choose whether the table is to display the cross-tabulated data or the data without the crosstab breakdown (the rollup data). The Crosstab/Rollup option does not appear for non-crosstab queries.
  • Title – The text you type here appears in bold type at the top of your table. By default, the table title is {DS:VariableName}. This is a placeholder that will be replaced with the name of the variable when the table is rendered. If you choose multiple variables, Illume creates a table for each variable, and sets the variable name as the title for each one. If a title is manually typed in, and several variables are chosen, Illume will produce several tables, each with the same title.
  • Width – This sets the width of the table. It is possible to enter a whole number or a percentage value. For example, a value of 600 sets the width of the table to 600 pixels. A value of 90% makes the table take up 90% of the width of the browser’s display area. If choosing a percentage width, the width of the table will change when the person viewing the report resizes the browser window. Pixel widths are constant, regardless of the size of the browser window.
  • Show Totals – Check this to display the total number of participants who chose each response option.
  • Show Percent – Check this to display the percent of participants who chose each response option.
  • Show Aggregate Totals – Check this to display summary statistics including Count, Min, Max, Sum, Mean, Median, Standard Deviation and Variance.

Adding Annotations

To add an annotation to a report, follow these steps:

  1. Click the annotation icon DM_ReportsTextIcon.gif. This will create an annotation at the bottom of the list of report elements on the design page. It is possible to also click the icon and drag it directly to the location in which the annotation is to appear.
  2. Type a title for the annotation.
  3. Type or copy and past text into the annotation body.
  4. Set the width of the annotation. Use a whole number (e.g. 400) to set a fixed pixel width, or a percentage to set a relative width (e.g. 90%). A percentage width causes the width of the annotation to change when the size of the browser window changes. Fixed widths remain constant regardless of the size of the browser window.

Understanding the Annotation Editor

The annotation editor enables Report Designers to compose formatted HTML with few limits. It behaves much like a word processor, and includes the toolbar functions listed below. Most of these toolbar options apply to the selected or highlighted text. To select text, click and drag the mouse across the text to select.

 

Reporting_EnlargeIcon.gif Enlarge editor – Clicking this enlarges the size of the editor
Reporting_ReduceIcon.gif Reduce editor – Clicking this reduces the size of the editor
Reporting_BoldIcon.gif Bold text – This applies or removes boldface to highlighted text
Reporting_ItalicsIcon.gif Italicize text – This applies or removes italic style to highlighted text
Reporting_UnderlineIcon.gif Underline text – This applies or removes underlining to highlighted text
Reporting_SubScrptIcon.gif Create subscript – This causes highlighted text to display as a subscript
Reporting_SupScrptIcon.gif Create superscript – This causes highlighted text to display as a superscript
Reporting_LeftIcon.gif Align left – This aligns highlighted text to the left
Reporting_CenterIcon.gif Align center – This centers highlighted text
Reporting_RightIcon.gif Align right – This aligns highlighted text to the right
Reporting_JustIcon.gif Justify text – This justifies highlighted text
Reporting_NumListIcon.gif Numbered list – This inserts a numbered list
Reporting_BullListIcon.gif Bullet list – This inserts a bulletted list
Reporting_lessIndentIcon.gif Decrease indent – This decreases the indent of the highlighted text, or of the paragraph that contains the cursor
Reporting_moreIndentIcon.gif Increase indent – This increases the indent of the highlighted text, or of the paragraph that contains the cursor
Reporting_FontcolorIcon.gif Font color – This presents a color-picker, from which you can select a color for the highlighted text
Reporting_HighLcolorIcon.gif Highlight color – This presents a color-picker, from which you can select a color for the area behind the highlighted text
Reporting_HLineIcon.gif Horizontal line – This inserts a horizontal rule
Reporting_HyperLinkIcon.gif Insert hyperlink – This creates a hyperlink from the selected text or image
Reporting_TableIcon.gif Insert table – This inserts a table
Reporting_GraphicIcon.gif Insert image – This inserts an image
Reporting_SourceIcon.gif Source mode – This switches the editor into source mode, so you can edit the HTML source directly

 

Known Issues with the HTML Editor

Mozilla Firefox will not allow pasting text copied from an external application into the HTML editor. This is due to a security feature in Firefox aimed at preventing executable scripts from being pasted into a page while the page is in edit mode.

The workaround to this issue is clicking the source-mode button DatStat_Illume_User_Guide_4.6_378_04_rot.jpg and pasting HTML or text directly into the

HTML source. Click the source mode button again to switch back to the formatted HTML view.

To copy extensive sections of text with formatting, use Internet Explorer which does not restrict content being copied into the HTML editor.

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6.Setting Report Access Privileges

By default, reports are visible to those Data Manager users who are allowed to build reports, and to all Extranet Viewers. (Extranet Viewers are those who can log into the DatStat Extranet.) To restrict who is able to see a report, it is possible to specifically define who can see the report and who cannot.

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To grant access to a report, click the Access tab on the Report page, and select one of the following options:

  • All Extranet Viewers can see this report – Choose this option if all DatStat Extranet users with appropriate privileges should be able to view this report. This does not mean that every DatStat Extranet user will be able to see the report. It means that every DatStat Extranet user who has access to this report’s parent project will be able to view the report. E.g. If this report is in Project X, then anyone who is allowed to view data in Project X will be able to see the report. Those who are allowed to view data in other projects, but not in Project X will not be able to see the report.
  • Only the designated Extranet Viewers below can see this report – By choosing this option, it is possible to select which individual users will be allowed to see the report. In some cases, it’s easier to check all of the users by checking the box next to Report User Name, and then uncheck the few names to exclude.

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7.Defining a Report Schedule

It is possible to create a single report, or multiple reports. A single report may be run once upon creation, or it may be updated on a regular schedule. In either case, there is only one set of data at any given time for the report to display.

When creating multiple reports, on the other hand, the Illume updates the report data on a regularly scheduled basis, and it keeps a copy of as many of these data sets as specified, so that at any given time, Users may log into the DatStat Extranet and review the report for this week, or for last week, or for some other past period.

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Creating a Single Report

To create a single report:

  1. Click the Schedule tab on the Report page.
  2. Choose the Create a single report option.

 

This report will be run once – Generates a report on data that will not change.
(I.e. The survey is no longer live, and there will be no new submissions.)

This report will be automatically updated on the following schedule – If the survey is still collecting submissions and the data may change periodically.

 

To automatically update the report, the schedule may be defined according to when it will be updated.

  • Daily means the report will be updated each day after the day of publication.
  • Weekly means the report will be updated each week beginning 7 days after the day of publication.
  • Monthly means the report will be updated once a month, beginning one month after the date of publication.

 

Illume will update the report at the time of day specified in the Time field.

 

The following data options are available:

  • Include all data – includes all data from all submissions.
  • Include data collected in the interval since the last report was created – This includes only the data that was submitted between the last time Illume updated the report and the current update. E.g. If the report runs every Friday at midnight, this would include data submitted after 12:00 a.m. on the previous Friday and up to 12:00 a.m. on the current Friday.
  • Include data from the past ___ days – This will include only data that was submitted in the X days prior to the report being updated. For example, if the report runs at midnight on the first of each month, and this is set to 5, the report will include only data submitted in the last 5 days of the prior month.

 

NOTE: Choosing the second option, This report will be automatically updated on the following schedule, the latest version of the report the one with the most recent data always overwrites any older version. Only the most up-to-date version will ever be available for review.

Creating Multiple Reports

A “multiple” report is a report run automatically on a schedule with older versions preserved. A typical “multiple” report may run once a week, with several weeks’ worth available at any given time.

 

To create a multiple report:

  1. Click the Schedule tab on the Report page.
  2. Choose the Create multiple reports based upon the following criteria option.

 

In addition to the options described above under Creating a Single Report, the following options must be specified:

  • Max # of Reports – The maximum number of reports to keep available. For example, to run a weekly report and keep 12 weeks of reports available, set this to 12. When the number of available reports surpasses Max # of Reports, Illume deletes the oldest reports.
  • Start Date – The day on or after which Illume should begin running and updating this report.
  • End Date – The date on which Illume should stop updating this report.

Unpublishing

When unpublishing a “multiple” report, Illume deletes all of the copies of the report! Be careful with this!

Ad hoc Data Refresh

The owner of a report, can refresh the report data at any time. Click the View Published button on the Report page, then click the Force Report Refresh link on the report page.

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8.Viewing Reports

Extranet Viewers see published reports through the DatStat Extranet. Data Manager users see reports listed on the Reports tab of the Project page. Data Manager users can view reports, but can edit only those reports they created themselves.

Reports can be viewed in two ways:

  1. The Preview button at the top of the report page displays a preview of the report a Report Designer is currently working on. This is helpful when designing a report to see how changes affect the report’s appearance. If no changes have been made since the last time the report was published, the Preview button will be disabled.
  2. The View Published button displays the published version of the report. This button will be disabled if no published version of the report exists.

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When clicking View Published, a link will be at the top of the report called Force Data Refresh. Click this to update the report with the latest available survey data. When forcing a data refresh, the updated data appear on the DatStat Extranet as well.

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9.DatStat Extranet

The DatStat Extranet is a feature for Illume. The DatStat Extranet enables Survey Designers to publish reports to an internal or external website for non-Illume users. Reports may include charts and tables to display survey data, as well as custom HTML and images.

Survey Designers can schedule reports to be updated regularly, and can configure how many versions of a report remain available. For example, you can schedule a report to run every Friday and 10:00 a.m., and you can tell Illume to keep 12 weeks of reports available.

Users with the Administrator Role can create an unlimited number of Extranet users, and control which reports each user can access.

 

Accessing the Extranet

Extranet Users can gain access to the Extranet Reports by logging in at the DatStat Gateway login page.  Only Extranet Users will be able to see or gain access to this area.

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Navigating the Extranet

Each Tab in the Extranet is a Project. In each may be at least one report that is viewable by the logged in user.

If there are a number of Project and Sub-Projects it is also possible to see a more complete view by using the Projects tab on the Left of the screen.  This provides a Project Tree to navigate through.

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Viewing Reports

Steps to View a Report:

  1. Select the Tab, if there is more than one, for the report to view.
  2. Click on the Bold Name of that Report

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