Creating Reports with Report Builder

Report Builder allows the user to report on project details using the different views available within PPM, i.e. within Programme/Project, Organisation and Strategies.  In each case the report will return all projects associated with, or linked to, the view criteria selected.

The Report can be run against each of the three “Views” in Cora PPM.

• Programme/Project
• Organisation
• Strategy

Note:    One of the three Views must be selected by the user, by ticking on the radio buttons.  The default view is ‘Programme/Project”.

Note:  Depending on your configuration, you may have more or fewer fields available for selection.

Select “Type” for your report output.

Note:  The same concept applies for Organisation and Strategy.

For the first example, we will focus on the parameters within the Programme/Project Report Type.

Select the programmes and projects you want to include in the report.  You can check the boxes or use the search function.  In the following example we have selected Capital Programme.

Select the Project Types.   You can check the boxes, use the search function or you can “Check All”.

Select the Project Stage.   You can check the boxes, use the search function or you can “Check All”.

Project Status allows the user to select what status they want to include as part of the report.  For example, RAG status

Filter Formula

A formula can be used to apply an additional filter to the data that Report can return.

Click Edit to open the “Change Report Filter” pane.

In the following example we will apply a formula to see a criteria for the minimum number of Late to Finish Tasks that a Project can have before it is included in the report results.

To set the formula, click into the Formula box and enter the formula for the Project Variable that you wish to use.  

For this example use the formula iif(PV81>20,true,false) where we are saying that only projects with more than 20 Late to finish tasks should be included in the report output.

Remember to ensure that the parameter for Late to Finish tasks has been chosen in report controls.

The applied filter(s) will show 

Note:  Filters provide the ability to apply any numbers of different criteria to the query that can be performed by report builder.

 Select Headings allow the user to select what report headings/columns they want to include in the report

Use the single chevron between the sections to choose the report headings. 

To the right-hand side of the Selected Headings box, use the up and down arrows  to define which columns/report headings should come first in the report.

Note:  The reports generated by report builder take a snap shot of the current status of the project(s) at the point at which they are being run.  There are no date filters available within report builder. 

Select what other parameters you wish to choose as follows, by clicking within the relevant tick boxes.

If you have selected the parameters Next Task or Next Milestones, you may also indicate how much further into the future you wish displayed (in days).

If you have selected the parameter Audit items, you may also indicate how far back you wish to view (in days).

If you have selected the parameter Baselines, from within the Project Details Section, you may also indicate how many baselines you wish to view, from the drop-down box.

You can select the parameter to fix the project name width by selecting “Use full width, or select from the drop-down to pick the width based on character spacing.  For example, if you don’t know the project name character lengths for the projects you selected, you should just use full width.  However, if you know that most of the project name widths will be fairly short, instead of it being an uneven width, you can predefine the width. Some users prefer to have a small gap between project names and other data so as to provide some visual significance between the project name and the rest of the data selected in the report. 

As you select items in the left pane, they are automatically summarised on the right.

When you have built your report, you have the options to DELETE, SAVE or RUN the report.

Click RUN at the bottom of the screen  to view your report.

The report will be generated following the format requested.

Note:  You can click the BACK button to go back to the control screen and change the parameters and criteria used to build your report.

Click EXPORT to export the report.