Fundamentals

Introduction

Data structures, the preparation of original data, and their presentable display are fundamental elements for writing reports, particularly to understand how parent and child information interact. This is crucial in reporting to efficiently structure reports in a hierarchical form (Parent-Child) or in tabular form.

The creation of data sources in Docusnap365 is guided by specific “Presentations” that represent different views such as Hardware, Systems, etc. In the inventory process, original data are transformed into a format suitable for presentation, ensuring quick delivery to the respective client. When creating data sources, these presentations are used to make the selection of required information intuitive. Based on this data source definition, tables are then created that can be used in reporting.

The following examples aim to simplify and illustrate the complexity of report creation.

Example 1: Software on Windows Systems

As a first example, a report is created listing the software installed on each Windows system. First, a data source must be created. The report should be structured so that the fully qualified hostname and operating system are displayed at the top level, followed by the individual installed software products.

Create Data Source and Prepare Report

• Navigate to the “Data Sources” configuration area via the gear icon in the upper right corner.
• Click “New” to start the data source creation wizard:
  • Select segment: “Systems”
  • Set object type: “Windows Workstation”
  • Select properties:
    • Overview: Fully Qualified Hostname, Operating System
    • Software: Name, Publisher, Installation Date, License Key
• Enter data source name: “Windows-Systems-Software”
• Enable the option “Automatically generate report.”
• Set report title: “Windows-Systems-Software”
• Choose report format: Blank Report
• Select report template: A4 (Portrait)
• Save data source

Report Designer

After generating the data source and creating the report, it can be opened in the report designer. To do this, select “Reports” from the “Configuration” area (gear icon in the upper right corner), find the created report, and edit it.

Structuring the Report

To organize the report according to the given structure, it is crucial to distinguish between parent and child information, based on the selected features and hierarchy levels of the data source. In the report designer, the created tables are displayed under the “Data Sources” section. Relationships between tables are immediately shown under the table name and always run from the subordinate to the parent table. For example, under the table “WindowsWorkstation_Software”, a connection named “WindowsWorkstation_Overview-WindowsWorkstation_Software” is listed, with the separator “-” delineating the parent from the subordinate table.

Data Bands and Customization

To create the report according to the desired example, the next step involves dragging the table WindowsWorkstation_Overview into the workspace by drag and drop. This action opens a dialog window where the properties “Fully_Qualified_Host_Name” and “OS” are selected. After confirmation, a data band with the selected properties is created in the workspace. The result can be viewed in preview in tabular form.

To list the associated software below a system, another data band with the software information is needed. For this, the table WindowsWorkstation_Software is dragged and dropped into the workspace below the previously created data band. After selecting the properties “Name” (software name), “Publisher” (manufacturer), “Installation_Date” (installation date), and “License_Key” (license key) and confirming this selection, another data band with the selected information is created below the existing data band. In the preview, a table now appears with the Windows systems and another table with the software products.

To systematically structure a report on the software products installed on various systems, a connection between the data band displaying the software products and the data band displaying the systems needs to be made. This is done by double-clicking on the corresponding data band. In the dialog that appears, select the menu item ‘Main Component’ on the left side. The parent table is set as the main component. After confirmation and switching to the preview view, the report is displayed in the structured format.

The preview now shows the structured display of the Windows systems and the software installed on them.