On the 3: Define Rules for your Data screen, you can add filters and groupings using several built-in rules that consist of functions, and filters to manipulate data.
The options are:
- Computed Column
- Mapped Column
- Conditional Fill
- Filter
- Group By
- Order By: Allows you to order the rows of a report in ascending or descending order.
- Remove: Allows you to remove a column from the report.
- Remove Duplicates: Removes duplicate data.
- Get System Tag Value
Note: Start with no filters, run the report, and then add one filter at a time to make sure that you're filtering out only the rows that you don't want.
To select your rules
- Drag and drop rules from the Rules sidebar into the blue area.
- Select Continue to the Next Step button:
- If you selected .xls or .csv as your output, you will be redirected to the Finish screen.
- If you selected .pdf, .html, .txt, or .xml as your output, you will be redirected to the Design your Template screen. Select Continue to the next step.
Tip: Always select This is a summary group. The report will generate a Details sheet with the raw data and a separate sheet with the summary.
If the numbers in your report are off, the Details sheet can serve as a useful troubleshooting tool to begin analyzing how to adjust your filters. Best practice strategies to successfully manipulate your data include:
- Create rules for calculation first before grouping by/assigning/formatting, etc. This will ensure the calculation is acknowledged on the report and will display in the correct format.
- Start each update with a new rule and run the report/test to determine it’s the correct data. Due to not having any revision history on the report, this will help you troubleshoot issues with the report you're creating.