Chapter 7: Report Distribution and Viewing

CHAPTER 7: REPORT DISTRIBUTION AND

VIEWING
Objectives
The objectives are

Describe the options for distributing reports

Discuss the web viewer and options available

Explain available download options

Introduction
Management Reporter 2012 has several options available for distributing reports.
After a report definition is created, a report can be generated to a single location
in the report library or it can be generated to multiple locations with multiple
forms of delivery. Management Reporter can publish secured and personalized
links to reports in network locations or in Microsoft SharePoint sites.

Report Distribution
Within a report definition in Report Designer, you can generate a report to a
single location or to multiple locations. These locations include multiple report
library locations in the report library, multiple Microsoft SharePoint document
libraries, multiple network locations or all of these options at once.
A report library location is required for any of the options. The report library
location determines if a user can view a report. By default, all users in
Management Reporter have access to the Public folder in the report library while
only administrators have access to the Library (root) folder.
A single report library location can have either a single network location or
SharePoint document library or multiple network locations and SharePoint
document libraries associated with it. Also, multiple report library locations with
multiple network and SharePoint locations can also be associated within a single
report definition.

Figure 6.1 shows the relationship between report library locations and
report link locations.

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FIGURE 6.1 REPORT LIBRARY AND RELATED REPORT LINK LOCATIONS

Single Location
1. In Report Designer, open the Summary Income Statement report definition.
Click the Output and Distribution tab.
2. In the Output name field, enter a name for the generated report. This name
does not have to be the same as the report definition name.
3. To view the report after it is generated, select the View report when
generated check box.
4. Select Generate to a single report library location and click the ellipsis to
browse the report library or type the report library location where youd like
the generated report to be published.

Multiple Locations
1. In Report Designer, open the Summary Income Statement report definition.
Click the Output and Distribution tab.
2. In the Output name field, enter a name for the generated report. This name
does not have to be the same as the report definition name.
3. To view the report after it is generated, select the View report when
generated check box.
4. Select Generate to multiple report library locations.
5. Click in the Report Library Location pane and click Select to browse to a
report library location, then click OK to add the location to the report
definition. You can also type a report library location for the generated
report.
6. To add another report library location, repeat step 5. To remove a location
from the list, select a location, and then click Remove. To change an existing
location, double-click the location, and then type or browse to a new report
library location.
7. If you want to generate a link to a SharePoint document library or another
network location, double-click in the Related Report Link Location pane,
and then type an address to a network location or a SharePoint location. You
can also click Browse to browse to a destination folder, and then click OK to
add the location to the report definition. These address paths can also be
copied into or from other report definitions.

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FIGURE 13.2 IS_DTL EXCEPTION REPORT

Web Viewer
As mentioned in Chapter 1, users can interact with financial reports in multiple
ways in the web viewer. Adding comments, jumping to key lines, viewing
summary lines, viewing charts and drilling into account and transaction detail can
all be accomplished in the web viewer.

Add comments to a report

You can add and respond to comments in any report that you have access to.
Comments appear in the report.
1. In Report Designer, open the Summary Income Statement. To open the
report in the web viewer, click File, then View Report or press the View
Report icon in the Management Reporter tool bar.
2. Click to the right of a row in the report to add a comment. This will
highlight the row.
3. Click Add Comment. The comment box will open on the right side of the
report.

4. Type your comments in the Comment dialog box.

5. Click Save. The comment is displayed in the fact pane.
NOTE: Rows with a comment display a comment icon next to them. When
the report is closed, the comments are saved and can be viewed by anyone
viewing the report.

Jump to key lines in a report

Quick links are created based on key rows such as totals and description rows
from the row definition. To jump to these key lines, select the Go To button. A
list of available quick links will appear. Clicking on a quick link jumps to that
row in the report.

1. In Report Designer, open the Summary Income Statement. To open the

report in the web viewer, click File, then View Report or press the View
Report icon in the Management Reporter tool bar.
2. Click Go To from the application bar.
3. Select Net Income.

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View only summary lines on a report
Summary lines are created based on key rows such as totals and description rows
from the row definition. To view only these key lines, select the Show button,
then select Collapse Details. The report view updates to display only the
summary lines on the report.

1. In Report Designer, open the Summary Income Statement. To open the

report in the web viewer, click File, then View Report or press the View
Report icon in the Management Reporter tool bar.
2. Click Show from the application bar.
3. Select Summary lines only. The report collapses to show only the total and
description rows.
4. Click Show and select Summary lines only. The report expands to show all
rows in the report.

View different reporting units on a report

A report that uses a reporting tree will have the Reporting Tree button enable in
Web Viewer. Clicking this button will display a list of units. This list will only
show the units that are available for the user viewing the report.

1. In Report Designer, open the Summary Income Statement. To open the

report in the web viewer, click File, then View Report or press the View
Report icon in the Management Reporter tool bar.
2. Click Reporting Tree from the application bar.
3. Select Finance from the list. The report updates to display the report for only
Finance department.

View charts on a report

Charts created in the desktop viewer can be viewed in the web viewer.

Create a chart in the desktop viewer

1. Open the desktop viewer by going to Start, Programs, Report Viewer.
2. Select Report Library in the navigation pane and double-click the
Summary Income Statement.
3. Select the sequential rows or columns of data to include in the chart. You can
include data from the financial, account, or transaction levels of the report.
You can select data in the following ways:
a. Right-click a row or column in the report, and select Select Row
or Select Column from the context menu.
b. Once you select a row or column in the report, you can rightclick and select a chart or click a chart icon in the toolbar. The
row where the active cell resides is used to create the chart.

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c. Select a row or column, hold down the Shift key, and use the
arrow keys on the keyboard to select sequential row or columns
of data.
4. Select the type of chart in one of the following ways:
a. Right-click the report data, select Quick charts, and then select
the kind of chart to create.
b. Click the appropriate chart icon in the toolbar.
5. A separate window opens to display the chart. Click the pin icon in the chart
toolbar to pin the chart to the fact pane. It docks underneath the last docked
chart. Optionally, you can right-click the chart and select one of the
following options:
a. Copy Copy the image to the clipboard to paste into other
applications.
b. Show Legend Show or hide the chart legend.
c. Chart Type Select and create a different chart using the same
data.
d. Palette Select a different color palette for the chart.
e. Series If a row was selected for the chart, all columns are
listed. If a column was selected, all rows are listed. Select Add
All to chart all series or select Clear All to clear all series.
f. 3D Convert the chart to a 3D image.
g. Add Chart Title Opens the Chart Title dialog box. Type the
name of the chart and select formatting options. Click OK.

View a chart in the web viewer

1.
2.
3.
4.

Open the Summary Income Statement in Web Viewer.

Click Show and then click Show Charts and Comments.
Click a chart to open the chart gallery.
Click the back arrow in the chart gallery to return to the report.

Drilling Down in Web Viewer

If the report contains underlying detail data, the standard arrow cursor converts to
a pointing-finger cursor when placed over a cell. Underlying details are found in
two design situations.

The report definition includes a reporting tree and the reporting unit
selected has children included in the display

The report design detail level allows access to account or transaction

details and access is not suppressed in the row definition

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When a user drills into a reporting unit, the next level of detail is determined by
the reporting tree definition. In the Departmental Income Statement, drilling into
the Personnel Expenses row of the Summary Unit results in the display of the
salary data related to each unit. Notice that this corresponds to the reporting tree
definition. The level beneath the summary unit contains the individual
departments.
When a user drills into the Sales & Marketing Personnel Expenses row,
account details from the Sales & Marketing Personnel Expenses display. The
breadcrumb bar displays the detail level along with the reporting unit and
account. Levels in the breadcrumb bar can be selected to take the user back to the
previous detail level. For example, clicking Financial takes the user back to the
Financial data for Sales & Marketing.

Downloading a report
Reports can be downloaded from the web viewer to Microsoft Excel, XPS or
Management Reporter Report Viewer. To download a report, select Download
from the application bar, then select the download application. The report opens
in the selected application after download completes.

Summary
In Report Distribution and Viewing students explored alternative options
available for distributing reports and discovered how to interact with reports in
the web viewer.

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Quick Interaction: Lessons Learned

Take a moment and write down three key points you have learned from this
chapter
1.

2.

3.

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