Report templates are used to generate most reports. You can modify/ create new report templates to create customized reports. There are several built-in report templates that you can copy & change to suit your needs.
Example 1 - adding a custom field to the Work Order (Detailed) report:
Let us assume that you created a new custom field (a user specified field) called "ApprovedOn" for tasks & work orders (Note: You can define custom fields by using the "Define Custom Fields" option in the "Administration" menu on the main window). The "ApprovedOn" field will now be available as an entry on the Custom Fields tab on tasks as well as on work orders. On a task this field should be left empty since each work order created from a task will have a different approval date.
Now let us add the approval date to the "Work Order: Detailed" report. In the main window click on the Plan button to start the planning report (pictured below). Click on the Add/ Edit button found next to the Report Template field at the bottom left of the window. This will bring up a list of all report templates available to you.
Scroll down the list of report templates in this list (shown below) till you find the "Work Order: Detailed" report template. Double click on it to open it. Since this is a built-in system report (the Owner column is blank) it cannot be modified. Instead you will be asked if you would like to make a copy of the report template to modify it. Select Yes and the report editing window will open up.
You will see that the name of the report has changed to "Copy of WorkOrder". You can change the name to suit your needs e.g. call it "ABCWorkorder" as shown below. Leave the Type & SubType fields as is. Now click in the Report Template field to modify the actual template contents (how to use the Report Designer).
In the template below we have dropped the task/ work order class ("Class: [[wo.class]]") and instead replaced it with "Approved Date: [[wo.approvedon]]" in the middle column of the third row of the table. Make sure that there are no spaces between the two square brackets ([) e.g. it should be "[[" NOT "[ [".
There are a variety of report functions & options available for your use to customize the report. See Editing a Report Template for more information on these functions.
Once you are done click on the OK button to save your changes. This brings you back to the report window. Click Add to save the report template you have created. Make a note of the report template name since you will select this report template when you run the Planning Report. You will now see your newly created template in the Reports list window (you may need to scroll through the list to find it). Click on the Cancel button to close the Reports list window and return to the Planning Report options window.
Using the modified report template: Now you should be back in the Planning Report options window. Click on the dropdown arrow next to the Report Template field. You should find your newly created template in the list. Select it. Click on the OK button to run the Planning Report. You should see the report generated with the custom field in it for each work order printed.
Problems? Check the troubleshooting section in Editing a Report Template.
Example 2 - adding a field for equipment in the Work Order (List) report:
If you look at a work order report generated using the "Work Order: List" report template you will see it has a variety of columns as shown below but no column with the equipment the work order is associated with.
You can create a new report template by editing and creating a copy of the "Work Order: List" template. In this new template we replace the column Instructions with a new column Equipment. First change the name of the column. Then select the [[wo.Instruction]] field in the table and delete it (you can use the scissors icon in the top toolbar). Now you have an empty table cell. The equipment is a multi-valued field (multiple equipment can be associated with a work order). So you must include the list bullet so that if there are multiple equipment they will be listed one after another. Otherwise it will produce two columns if there are two equipment associated. Put the cursor in the empty table cell and click on the list bullet icon in the top toolbar to create a list. Press the space bar key a couple of times to insert some space after the list bullet - useful if you want to add several different equipment fields in the list. After the list bullet click on the Insert Field button and insert the [[equipment.name]] field. Move the cursor a couple of spaces right over the spaces you inserted. Click on the Insert Field button and insert the [[equipment.description]] field. The cell contents will be as follows:
• [[equipment.name]] [[equipment.description]]
For example as shown below in the new report template "Copy Of WorkOrder: List":
You can now select this report template "Copy Of WorkOrder: List" when you want to print a list of work orders with the associated equipment in the list.