Creating Reports¶
Begin creating a report by clicking the "Create a Report" link at the top of the Report List page, as shown in the image below. When you click the link, the Add Data Sources page displays.
Icons, Badges, and Buttons Used in the Reports UI¶
This table describes the icons, buttons, and badges used in the OI Reports user interface.
Add Data Sources Illustration¶
This image illustrates the first page you see when creating a report. To get started, click the "Add a Data Source" button.
The Progress Bar¶
The progress bar indicates what step you are on in creating a report, and also includes "Back" and "Next" buttons for easy navigation:
In addition to tracking where you are in the report creation process, the colors indicate the step you are on (blue), steps already configured (green), and steps yet-to-be configured (gray).
Blue: the step you're on.
Green: already configured steps.
Gray: either not yet configured, or an optional step, like joining data, or setting a schedule.
Red: an error is present in one of the steps.
Adding Data Sources to a Report¶
When you add a data source, its data displays in the Data Preview table, and all the actions you can take in regard to the attributes occur in the "Data Source Details", and "Select Data" sections, including:
- Select or deselect attributes to include via the Select All/None links
- Select individual attributes to include by sliding the toggles next to each attribute
- Change an attribute's data type by clicking the filter icon that appears when you hover over it.
How to Add a Data Source to a Report¶
Follow these steps to add a data source to a report:
- Select the radio button (IoT or IDL) for the location of your data source. The data source selection window opens.
- Select the file type (CSV or Parquet).
- Select the folder that holds your data source. Files contained in the folder display on the right side.
- Click the "Add Data Source" button. The window closes and your data source displays in the data preview table and a new tab is created in the Data Sources panel, where you can view the attributes of the data source.
Data Preview and Right Panel Illustration¶
This is an example of the Preview Data table and the Data Source and Attributes panel:
Data Preview Table¶
Data Preview shows the column headings and data contained in a data source. It responds to any changes you make in the right "Data Sources" panel, where the data source attributes and other information displays.
Data Source and Dataset Details Panels¶
While the Dataset Preview table in the center is relatively static, the panel on the right is where you work with both the Data Source itself, and the attributes that become a dataset.
Data Source Functionality¶
As you add data sources, each has its own tab, and if you create joined attributes between two or more data sources, a new tab is created which contains all the attributes of both data sources as well as any attributes that you have joined together. Tabs are numbered serially as data sources are added. Joined data fields can be viewed by clicking a tab that indicates a joined dataset, for example, "1 + 2", as shown in the image above.
Illustration of Data Source Details¶
In addition to showing the data source name and the path to the data source in its location, you can perform actions directly on the Data Source (as opposed to its attributes) through the action icons in the Data Source section:
- Edit data source properties
- Delete a data source from the report
- Include or exclude the data source in/from the report
Attributes Functionality¶
When you add a data source to a report, information and attributes display in the right panel and you can view the contents of a data source by clicking a tab, as shown in the image above.
Changing the Data Type of an Attribute¶
You can change an attribute's data type when needed. This is helpful when creating joins between different attributes that represent the same kind of data, but may be of different data types. To join two attributes they must be of the same data type. You can only change the data type of an attribute in the data source itself.
Illustration of a Data Source Opened for Editing¶
This shows the data source window. When you hover over the field you want to edit, the Edit icon displays, which opens the editing window for that field:
Editing a Data Source Field¶
Here is an example of the Edit window where you can change the data type:
How to Change an Attribute's Data Type¶
Follow these steps to change the data type of an attribute:
- Click the data source name.
- Click the Edit icon that displays when hovering over the attribute name in the Available Fields panel.
- In the Edit Field pop-up window, leave the Field Alias as-is, and enter an optional label to display in the UI.
- Select the data type you want the field to be from the Data Type drop-down list.
- Select a Unit of Measure that corresponds to the data type you select.
- Select a Partition Key if applicable and click "Update".
Selecting and Filtering Data¶
Selecting data for your report takes place in the Data Sources panel. Your selections instantly reflect in the Data Preview.
Selecting the Data for your Report¶
The right side of the page is where you select the data attributes to include in your report, add filters, and create joined datasets. The Preview Data table instantly responds to your selections. You can take the following actions in the Data Sources panel:
- Select tabs to quickly view data source attributes, as well as joined datasets.
- Toggle off any attributes you don't want to include in your report.
- Add filters to attributes to narrow the data to use in the report.
- Set filters on time/date attributes to determine the date/time included in the report.
- Create joined datasets to merge data from fields in different data sources that essentially represent the same kind of data; e.g.,"Product Number" and "Part Number".
How to Select Data for your Report¶
Follow these steps to select data for your report:
- Select the tab for the data source you want to use. Data source information and attributes display beneath the tab.
- Slide the toggle to "off" for attributes you do not want to include in the report.
Filtering Non-Date Attributes¶
Filtering allows you to focus precisely on the data you want in your report. When you add filters to an attribute a filter icon displays next to the attribute name. This is an example of where the filter icon displays when you hover over an attribute name.
How to Add a Filter to a Non-Date Attribute¶
Follow these steps to configure a filter for a non-date attribute:
- Select the filter icon next to an attribute you want to add a filter to. The Filter drop-down list opens.
- Select an operator (=, >, <, etc.) in the Filter field.
- Enter a character in the Value field. The filter is now active and a filter icon displays next to the attribute name.
Configuring the Date / Time Range for a Report¶
When you select one of the Date/Time attributes, the filter display defaults to "Between" (you can change this) so you can add a fixed, custom date range, or you can click the drop-down caret to see relative date ranges, as shown here:
Joining Data¶
When you have fields/attributes in separate data sources that represent the same kind of data, for example, "date of manufacture" and "start date", you can join the data together for your report. The two attributes to be joined must be of the same data type; for example, if "date of manufacture" data is "date" type, and the "start date" data is "timestamp" type, you cannot join them until one is changed to the same data type as the other.
Example of Join Functionality¶
When you finish adding data sources and want to join some attributes of the same data type together, the Join Data functionality allows you to do this. In this image, the user has already dragged fields from Data Sources 1 and 2 to the Join, named Demo Join, and has clicked the Save button, and the join dataset:
How to Create a Join¶
Once you have added at least two data sources, proceed to the Join Data step and:
- Enter a name for the join, then select the "data source 1" tab.
- Drag an attribute from "data source 1" to the first "Join on" field.
- Select the "data source 2" tab and drag the attribute to be joined to the second "Join on" field. Click "Apply".
- To add a "Where" clause (condition), click the drop-down in the "Join on" field and click "Add Where".
- Drag a field into each empty fields, select an operator (=, >, or <), and enter a value.
- Click "Apply" to save the join, or if you want to add more joins, click the "+ plus" icon and repeat steps 2-5.
How to add Additional Joins to the Same Join¶
- Click the + icon next to the Apply and Cancel buttons, and repeat steps 1-4 above.
How to add an Additional (Separate) Join With a Different Name¶
- To create an additional joined dataset with a different name, click the "Add Join Dataset" button at the top of the right panel, and repeat steps 1-6 from the "How to Create a Join" topic above.
Scheduling Reports¶
You can schedule reports to run automatically on the date and time you choose.
How to Schedule a Report¶
Follow these steps to schedule your report to run:
- Toggle on the "Enable Schedule" button in the Schedule Report Execution area. Radio buttons display with time increment choices.
- Select the time increment for running the report, e.g., hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly. Additional fields display according to your selection.
- If you selected "hourly", enter a time; if you selected "daily", "weekly", or "monthly", enter a day and time.
- Click Next. The Save dialog displays.
Saving a Report¶
Saving a report creates a listing on the Reports List page, and you can add a description and determine where to visualize the report.
How to Save a Report¶
Follow these steps to save your report:
- Enter a name for the report.
- Enter an optional description.
- Select a radio button to indicate whether to visualize the report in a Dashboard or Visual Explorer (VE).
- If you select VE, select a VE project from the drop-down list.
- Click Finish. Your report is saved and displays in the table on the Reports List page.
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