Ad Hoc Reporting
Ad hoc reporting enables anyone to generate new reports quickly and easily. With just a few clicks, the report's data and form of presentation can be selected before the report is run.
General options
The following general options allows setting up the overall functionality of ad hoc reporting.
Default render format
Defines the default render format for ad hoc reports. The following formats are available:
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PDF - provides fast rendering and loads all pages at once but requires a PDF viewer on the client machine and will only be displayed after all pages are finished
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JPG - provides fast rendering and displays the first page as soon as possible. Only one page can be displayed at a time.
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PNG - provides slower rendering and displays the first page as soon as possible. Only one page can be displayed at a time.
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Default value: JPG
Ad Hoc Base Directory
Ad hoc reporting loads both its layouts and data views from a directory structure and its sub-directories. This option defines which type of directory will be used.
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Internal Webserver - This option uses the built-in ad hoc layouts, which provide layouts for all typical use cases with different generic styles.
The internal templates are stored in the foldertemplates
of the installation. -
Directory - With this option enabled, the ad hoc reporting tool will search an external directory for layout and data views. The layout and data views visible to the user can be restricted by setting permissions.
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i-net Drive (Plus Feature) - With this setting, the ad hoc reporting will search the Drive application in the given sub-folder for layouts and data views. The layouts and data views visible to the user can be restricted by setting report permissions in the Drive. All sub-folders of the given folder will be included. The set folder must be located under the Drive-root, paths to a sub-folder are not possible.
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default value: Internal
Layout Base Directory
If the layouts and data view should be read from an external directory, this directory has to be set here.
Drive subdirectory
If the i-net Drive is selected as the base directory of ad hoc reporting, this options defines the subdirectory which will be scanned for layouts and data views. Leave this field empty to let ad hoc reporting use the whole Drive (not recommended).
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default value: adhoc_root
Storage Type
When enabled, this option allows any user to store their created ad hoc report. These ad hoc reports can be reloaded on demand on the reports page, allowing the user to continue an ad hoc report. The following options are available:
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Disabled - Disables the feature.
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Directory - Store the reports directly to the hard disk. Requires to set a target directory.
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User home folder in i-net Drive - Requires a Plus-license and the user home directories enabled in the Drive. Stores the reports into a hidden folder in the user's home folder.
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default value: Disabled
Root Directory
The Root Directory option sets the directory where the ad hoc reports stored by the user are located on your server. The user store feature will only be available if this directory is set and exists.
CSV data upload by users
The data upload feature enables your users to upload their own data in form of CSV files and to design and execute ad hoc reports using this data.
Enable Data Upload
If CSV data upload option is enabled, user can use the ad hoc reporting tool even if they have no permissions for data sources or data views. The data uploaded by a user will be stored in the temporary directory of the server and will be overwritten on any subsequent upload or, in case of an anonymous user, when the session expires or the user logs out.
Note: The feature is only visible to users configured to use Dataviews since it generates a dataview from the uploaded CSV. A user with datasource module permissions will get datasources instead of dataviews and therefore will not be able to upload CSVs.
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default value: Activated
Upload Limit in KB
This option limits the amount of data a user is allowed to upload. If the limit is exceeded the upload will be aborted.
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default value: 1024
Maximum Columns
The column limit is the maximum number of columns allowed for a CSV file. If the limit is exceeded, the uploaded file will be handled as invalid and cannot be used. This option helps to prevent excessive load due to corrupt CSV files.
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default value: 100
Download Features
Enable users to download rendered report files created using ad hoc reporting.
Download/Upload of save points
The Download/Upload of save points option enables users to download the current configuration of their ad hoc session. The downloaded file can be uploaded to any ad hoc session of any user to re-create the configuration in this session. This settings file does not contain security relevant data.
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default value: Disabled
Download as report file
Any user of the ad hoc interface can download the resulting report in addition to rendering it when the download option is enabled. The downloadable file is a complete report file and can be executed and edited by the i-net Designer as well. For security reasons the report file only contains the name of the referenced data source, it never contains the actual connection settings.
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default value: Disabled