Le Kremlin-Bicêtre Reports in Prime 14: A Primer
Part Three – Adding Custom Reports to the Menus
This article shows how to add your custom reports to the Prime 14 menu system. A custom report is one that you created or one that was added later to the system. When we speak about a report, it is an object in Access that can be a form, report or query. These are all used to get information out of Prime.
There are multiple locations from which you can choose to run a report in Prime 14. Setting up a report to show up on one menu often means it will also show up in several other places. For example, putting a report into the subReportList table so it shows on the Preview Search Screen means it will also show on the Report Selector and Report Tree View Screens. The place you choose to make the report available is dependent upon who will be running the report, how often it needs to be run, and how important it is.
No matter what method you use, to work correctly your report must follow a strict naming convention. This is important since the code is set up to recognize these first letters.
Queries – must begin with a ‘q’, e.g., QReport.
Forms – must begin with an ‘f’, e.g., FReport.
Reports – must begin with an ‘r’, e.g., RReport
Report Creator Reports – must have;
A name that begins with an ‘rc_’
Followed by the name of the table used, e.g. Clients
Then the name of the report, e.g., rc_ClientsClosedOffice.
Since the Report Creator creates Access compatible reports and their names begin with an R (‘rc_’), they can be treated as normal reports and added to other menus in the same ways a plan Access report can. The ‘Clients’ portion of their name means that they show up on the Report Creator Screen when you choose Clients as a record source.
No matter where you list your custom report, it must be present in the front end on your computer. If you create a report (that is a Form, Report or Query), it must be put in the ‘master front end’ on your network and pushed out to all users so everyone has it in their front end. Otherwise, although the name of the report might show on the list of reports (since the name is just listed in a table), trying to run it would result in an error message like, ‘Form not found’,
Reports can be run from:
- The Navigation Pane
- Manually, using the Criteria (QBF) Screen
- The Report choice on the ribbon bar then use
- Preview Search or
- Tree View Search or
- Reports Selector
- The Custom Report Page
- Your Frequent Reports
- The Today Screen Worksheets
- Management Worksheet Recommended Reports
- PBI Worksheet Recommended Reports
- Staff Worksheet Recommended Reports
- The Report Creator
- The Navigation Pane
The Navigation Pane is like the File Manager in Windows. It shows all the objects included in your Access Database. To run a report from here all you need to do is open the Navigation pane on the left, type the name into the search box, and open the report. If no search box appears, right click and choose to display the Search Bar.
Be sure the option to display all Access Objects has been selected or the Navigation Pane will not show the form, report or query you are looking for. For example, if the Navigation Pane is set to only show Tables, a search for a particular query will not display anything, even if the query exists.
The limitation in running a report from the Navigation Pane is that it only works with reports that prompt for criteria, e.g., ‘Enter beginning date open’. Otherwise the form might open up and show all records or no records.
- Manually use the Criteria (QBF) Screen
If the new report runs using a criteria screen, its name can be typed into the Criteria Screen and run. If your custom report is called fAgeRace14 and uses the Client table, you could choose to run the FBasicCl1 report. When the Criteria (QBF) Screen opens, go into the lower right corner and erase FBasicCl1 next to Form Pick and type in fAgeRace14.
This is a temporary solution and you should use #3 to have it show up on a menu and automatically go to a Criteria Screen. You might use this manual method to test a new report before you decide to add it to the menu.
- The Report Choice on the Ribbon Bar
The ribbon bar top line choice gives you three tools, Reports Selector, the Preview Search and the Tree View Search to help you search for, find, and run a report. The Preview Search and Tree View also allow you to preview what the report will look like. All three screens rely on the subReportList table, so adding your report to this table for one menu will cause it to show up on the other two.
There are two methods for adding a report to this table. One is to use a form and the other is to directly modify the table.
- Using a Form
If you choose the Report Selector from the top line menu, there is a group that says Search/Add Reports. Under this section is a button that says ‘Add your Query/Form/Report.’
Pushing the button brings up a form that allows you to add your report by filling out the blanks on the form, including the name of the report, your description and how the report is to run. The two ways a report can run are either by ‘Prompt’ or by a Criteria Screen, e.g., ‘qbfClientsC’ for Client reports. You can also use this screen to attach a preview screen to your report. You do this by doing a screen shot of the report results and then add the screen shot to this screen.
You could also do the same steps by:
Going to the report Preview Search screen,
Previewing a report,
Press the ‘Toggle Buttons’ button.
Then go to the bottom left of the screen and press the navigation arrow pointing at an *, which mean a new record. You would then fill out the description fields for the report. This screen also allows you to integrate a screen capture into your report.
- Directly Modifying the Table
Earlier versions of Prime distributed reports across five tables. Now they are stored in a single table, subReportList. Use the Navigation Pane to open that table up. Find the row that lists a report that runs under the table you need using the necessary method (Prompt, qbf screen, etc.). Copy this row and then click on the arrow pointing at the * in the lower left part of the screen. This brings up the bottom empty row. Paste your row into this and then change the name of the report and the description. It should now work. However, you might need to use one of the two forms mentioned above to add or modify the screen shot.
- The Custom Report Page
The Custom Report form allows you to add a report to a single page and then have it show up on the ribbon bar, Touch Tiles and Treeview Main Menu. Each of these menu choices has a way to open this Custom page under their Report section.
This form is like a book page in the old versions of Prime. You can modify this page, fCustomReport, by opening it in design and adding buttons, option groups, pull downs, etc. to run your reports. This might be too complex for basic users. However, it is a good choice for special reports that might not run correctly from a prompt or a criteria screen.
Explaining the details on how to add reports to this form is beyond the scope of this article, since to do so means adding controls and code to the page. However, we could assist you adding your reports here if you thought having your custom report(s) show up on this page was a good idea.
- Your Frequent Reports
In order for your Frequent or Recommended Reports to run properly, it is necessary to first add them to the subReportList table as described earlier. This is necessary since the worksheets use this table to determine how the reports should run.
There are three ways to add a report to your list of Frequent Reports.
- Push a Button
- Type a Value
- Modify a Table
- Push a Button
If you added the report to the Report screens, it becomes easy to add it to your own personal frequent reports. Use the Preview Search or Treeview methods of looking at and running a report. Find your report in the list and single click on it. Then press the ‘Add to Frequent’ button. Your report will now show up on your list of frequent reports on the ‘Today Screen’.
- Type a Value
The second way to add a report to your list of Frequent Reports is to open the Today Screen under the View choice on the ribbon bar. Go to the Frequent Report Tab. Scroll down to the bottom of the list where there is a blank line. Type in the exact name of the form and then any description you wish in the comment field, such as, ‘Run weekly to look at open cases.’
- Modify a Table
Open the subFrequentReports table using the Navigation Bar on the left of the screen. Enter the name of the report, your comment and your staff number into the table. The report will now show on your list of frequent reports.
- Making a Report show up on the Recommend Report Tab on the Today Screen
In order to make finding useful reports for staff easier, you have the ability to put recommended reports on the Today Screen under the Recommended Reports tab. You can choose to make these reports show up on the Staff, PBI and Management Worksheets. There are different lists for Staff, PBI and Management Recommended Reports
The same method is used to add a Recommended Report to any of these three worksheets (Daily, Management, or PBI).
Modifying a Table
Open up the subFrequentReport table from the Navigation Pane. To add a report, type in the information on the blank row at the bottom of the table (or press the arrow pointing at the * to go there without scrolling). You enter the report name, the staff number and your description. The staff number you enter determines where the report shows up. The following shows what staff number to enter to make the report appear where you want it:
Your Staff Number – Your list of Frequent Reports
9999 – List of suggested reports on the Staff Daily Worksheet
8888 – List of suggested reports on the Management Daily Worksheet
7777 – List of suggested reports on the PBI Daily Worksheet
Passwords – When on the Today Screen – Daily Worksheet page, you might wish to open the Management or PBI sheets to make sure your recommended report shows up there. The password to open the PBI daily worksheet is PBI. The password to open the Management daily worksheet is mgt.
If you want the report to show up on several of these recommended report lists, add a separate row for each. The Management, Staff and PBI lists are sorted by their description. This means you can determine the order they display by how you describe them.
- My report on open cases
- Closed cases report
The order these appear in could be switched by changing the numbers that begin their description.
- The Report Creator
Adding a report to the Report Creator is very easy, since all you have to do is name it correctly. If you name the report with an rc_TableYourName format, it will automatically show up in the list of reports under the Report Creator. To determine the exact format needed for tables other than clients, open the Report Creator and choose another table as a record source. Then look at the format used by these reports, e.g., rc_EligibilityProblem. Remember, the reports you create here can also be added to the Reports Screens mentioned above, since they are Access compatible reports.